We’ll take this story with a grain of salt (especially since the author began by proudly noting her role in the Posh/Simon Fuller modeling agency rumor), but The Daily Mail reports that Blake Lively’s Victoria Beckham’s new muse.

We mean ‘muse’ the same way we mean ‘design’ for Brad and Angelina. The female Becks has declared her love for Gossip Girl and landed a cameo, but now she’s allegedly angling for Blake to ‘model’ her next collection.

By model she could mean star in a campaign or in the line’s lookbook or even, but hopefully not, on whatever runway or in whatever presentation Victoria shows in February.

Again though, this writer also calls Victoria’s dresses her, “eponymous couture,” so we’ll believe it when we see it.

Alien Invasion: According to a McQueen spokesperson, ladies are clamoring for the “alien” shoes from S/S10. Some want to wear them, some want them as art. We loved hearing that the process to make them is copyrighted. {Grazia}

In Goal: Before she debuted at Christopher Kane (in 2007), Karmen Pedaru was the goalie on the Estonian soccer team. Very cool. She also has a dental phobia. We know that pain and that’s less cool. {W}

Aspirational Hair: Serena’s the new Rachel. Blake Lively’s hair gets 713,000 hits with a Google search. We’re not loving the outfits but we would take the hair any day (as long as its not in that awful braid.) {NY Times}

Not Posh: Contrary to rumors, Victoria has no plans to become a model agency owner. We’re not gonna lie and say we wouldn’t have wanted to be a fly on the wall during an open casting with VB. {Vogue UK}

“I dress just like Serena! I own half her wardrobe.” — Blake Lively in Nylon, while we relish how un-Serena-like she looks on the cover.

The minute I saw the hair at the Alexander Wang show last week, I was pretty certain it would end up being my favorite, and I was right.

That super long, messy thick side braid was at once totally runway edgy and completely wearable, even if you’re not a supermodel. Though Frankie Rayder was spotted rocking hers at the gas station party later. You know it’s good when the girls don’t want to change after the show. It’s sure to become a major beauty trend and I cannot freaking wait for my hair to be long enough to properly pull this off.

Now let’s take a look at the dark side of the trend, as evidenced by Blake Lively last night at the Emmys. I like to think that, perhaps, she had taken note of the Wang moment and was trying to make it her own, but it was just a massive fail in my opinion. And she could do so much with her amazing head of hair. It was pulled too tight in the front and the braid itself look like a bit of a stiff mess. Plus, everything starts out neat and tidy and then…I just don’t know what happens.

I’ll be sticking with the looser Wang version, for sure.

Thoughts?

1. Security guards at the tents are meaner than ever this season.

2. This season’s cadre of Diane admirers included Blake Lively, Tina Brown, Candice Bergen, and every editor on the planet.

3. Diane needs a bigger venue and I have some serious personal space issues.

4. Safari prints and crochet will be worn this spring by many, many twenty-something girls investing in perhaps their first pieces by a proper designer.

5. DvF’s grandkids are ridiculously cute (seated between both their parents) and jumped up to give her a hug and flowers as she made her walk. I am dying to know what they call her, because you know it’s not Grandma.

6. My runway pictures were not so good—get thee to Style.com to see the clothes, but click through to see the models play with their hair for Jeremy.

— PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

This summer we at Fashionista have been drooling over long hair and fingering our own locks, cursing them for not growing faster. The grass does always seem greener, doesn’t it?

You have hair far past your shoulders and then you think, “Hmm, that Alexa Chung sure has a cute little crop going on…” Snip snip! But two weeks later, and you’re shaking your fist at pictures of Blake Lively and her flowing locks.

Last summer I cut my hair from shoulder length to boy short à la Agyness. I was glad I took the plunge, but then let my hair grow out. My hair is back to shoulder length and I was imagining in a few months how nice and long it would be.

And then I saw this photo in Style.com’s round-up of Lollapalooza fashion.

“‘One of Target’s top executives got nervous about being that closely associated with the show, given the [debauchery] its characters get into,’ says an on-the-set source. For example, Blake Lively’s character, Serena, killed a man, and most of the characters frequently get wasted, do drugs and have promiscuous sex.” —The New York Daily News on why Anna Sui’s line for Target won’t have a starring role on an upcoming episode of Gossip Girl after all.

The streets of Soho were lined with people waiting for a Gossip Girl glimpse.

And we couldn’t have had better luck, walking up just as Blake and Leighton filmed a scene that found them sauntering up Prince St having a somewhat heated, though not entirely angry, discussion. A truck moved out of the way just as they stopped in front of the Karen Millen store and we were able to snag a pretty decent shot.

What do you think of Blair’s footwear? Of course, I’m totally obsessed with Serena’s maxi dress.

Enjoy the pic larger after the jump. We’ll swing by tomorrow and see if any of the boys join the set.

xoxo, Fashionista

We’re imagining Anna’s lips disappearing into a thin line of anger: Forbes has announced that in the first half of the year, Elle has sold more ad pages than Vogue.

For fashion magazines (and any magazine, really) ad sales are where the big money comes pouring in. With the state of the economy, everyone’s ad sales are down, Elle is down 22%, Vogue is down 32%. Some more numbers for you: last year, Vogue had 10% more ads than Elle, but for the last six issues, Elle sold 970 pages and Vogue sold 956.

It’s pretty close, but are these the winds of change? Vogue has been the most elite and respected fashion glossy for decades though many fans of the magazine have been grinding their teeth over recent cover choices like Blake Lively and Sienna Miller (a frequent cover girl) - choices that Forbes dubs too “down-market” and possible signs that Vogue is slipping.

We would die of happiness if we thought this meant models and designers would regularly be gracing the covers of these popular fashion magazines, but Elle’s recent cover girl choices haven’t been spectacular lately either. Is this just going to be changing of guard, that doesn’t really change anything all that much?

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

It wasn’t going to be long before designer Sean Monahan of Sea New York hit our radar. He’s kind of perfect for the current climate — a former Wall Street analyst who ditched his career in finance and turned designer.

He started out dressing his best friends which quickly turned into dressing Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Ricci, Leighton Meester, Blake Lively, Chloe Sevigny, and Alexa Chung. He wanted to create clothes that “make girls smile,” an ethos that whacks the sometimes unbearably heavy gravitas of fashion across the head.

Stocked by Barneys and Milk, his clothes are happy, lighthearted and full of frills, pretty prints and easy to wear dresses so it’s no wonder an army of models are also fans. His clothes kind of embody the “off-duty model” look.

Meanwhile, he’s quietly adding some big names to his design team. Monica Paolini, his best friend, muse and former design director at Betsy Johnson and Jill Stuart, is now on board as well as Emilie Roy of Dior.

There could be perhaps no two houses as misaligned as Betsy Johnson and Dior, so it will be interesting to see what the two new creative forces come up with.

As long as it stays light and fresh, we’re pretty sure we’ll love it.

—CHARLEY B.

Inside Scoop: Your only look inside last night’s ball. #36 is an incredibly uncomfortable picture of Anna and Blake Lively. {Vogue}

Met Times: Eric Wilson on the ball, Kate Moss’ wad of gum and Helena Christensen’s silly dress. {NYTimes}

Come On Boys: Jack Bauer Kiefer Sutherland headbutted Jack McCollough at SubMercer last night and that half of Proenza’s still in the hospital. Reports say it’s over a girl but it’s pretty obvious that can’t be right. {Guest}

When we told you that Blake Lively would be Vogue’s February cover girl, most people flipped out and claimed that this was just the worst of many recent examples of the economy informing the magazine’s cover choices (as in, going more mainstream to up those single copy newsstand sale numbers).

A lot of fans bemoaned the death of Vogue and advised that critics would be happier reading Vogue Italia or Vogue Paris because neither would ever do such a thing.

But now it’s come out that Pixie Geldof, sister to Peaches and poser for Agent Provocateur and Pringle of Scotland, is on the February cover of the beloved Vogue Italia, and appears inside the issue in a 14-page spread with fellow spawn of fame, Daisy Lowe.

So does that mean that the recession has finally hit Vogue Italia, too, and they desperately needed to get some press to follow up the madness of last July? Or was Steven Meisel really so taken with the socialite that he convinced EIC Franca Sozzani to agree in a very public way?

We’ll probably never know, but you can guess which side we’re on.

From a conversation last night:

“Did you know there’s dissent in the Gossip Girl wardrobe closet?

The main costume designer is clashing with the other stylists and producers on set because they think he’s making Blake look like a “trashy whore” and they’re convinced he was responsible for her awful Golden Globes dress.

Very funny.”

Yikes. We have to say, we kind of agree, but wouldn’t (and yes, it pains us to say this) Olivier be responsible for that particular look?

Just saying…

When we posted the first images of Blake Lively’s February Vogue cover, the discussion took a quick turn from does she or doesn’t she look amazing to who’s landed April’s cover.

Thanks to a few readers and some sneaky emails / texts, we think we have the answer. But since it isn’t nearly as fun to just tell you, let’s play a game. The clues:

1. “If you think this one is bad get ready. Vogue is now turning into TV Guide, April’s cover is even less deserved.”

2. “A cheesy television actress who came from a teen show - with bad commercial movies.”

3. She’s a former WB star.

4. The actress is “shaplier” than Katie Holmes, (which makes her prime for April’s Shape Issue) but shares the same initials.

Think you know the answer? Click to find out ours:

Pop Quiz!

This really weird video that starts out with Taylor Momsen and ends with an equally bleached blonde stunt double is:

a) Part of Nike’s new underground campaign - note gratuitous shots of Little J’s sports bra’s swish and insanely bright Nike sneakers.

b) Part three of Gossip Girl’s sneaker invasion, Ed for KSwiss, Leighton for Reebok? (Can Chace land Puma? Will Blake follow up her Vogue cover with an Adidas campaign? Will someone on Gossip Girl actually wear sneakers?)

c) The missing part of Taylor’s awkward Teen Vogue gym story (in which she’s also rocking Nikes)?

d) Part of something we don’t know about, and you’re going to tell us…

The rest of Blake’s shoot is now live on Vogue.com, completely with the interview.

That is all.

Back to class!

Check out Vogue.com tomorrow for the full story (Hint: Think “Old Hollywood,” but don’t worry, we’ll remind you) and interview with Blake. In the meantime, some choice quotes after the jump!