Oh the horrible things we’d do for a piece of Proenza or Valli.

Thankfully, we can keep it civil via Rent the Runway; they let you rent what you want without hassle or potential jail time.

The site’s an online community where shoppers can rent designer dresses ranging in price from $50-$200. After signing up for an invite you can browse through everything from Doo.Ri to Brian Reyes, Malandrino to Matthew Williamson which means that even though you’re determined to make it through the holidays without buying a new dress, you don’t have to wear the one you wore last year.

They’ll deliver same-day in New York City and next-day everywhere else and if that’s not easy enough, they’ll even send you two sizes on your first rental, so you don’t have to worry if your temporary Tuleh will be just right.

There goes the only-wear-once problem.

UPDATE: Click here to become a member.

Stella McCartney sent pants-less looks down her runway as early as her Spring 2008 collection (September of 2007, when Gaga was still just a noise babies made). She carried the look through to last spring’s line-up of pants-less suits and rompers, but this season almost every designer jumped on the bandwagon.

Charles Anastase showed a killer nude and black playsuit; Marc layered pants-less options under military jackets; Miuccia showed hotpants in Milan last night; Brian Reyes’ opening look was nothing but a white bodysuit. As if a lack of pants wasn’t enough, Alex Wang sewed sheer panels into his and Jenni Kayne added a matching leather bandeau, conservatively draped with a grandpa cardigan, of course.

But, well, you know which question remains.

Overall, New York Fashion Week kept to a very neutral palette, but when color was needed designers went straight for neon yellows and lime greens to brighten their quiet visions of spring.

We spotted it at Jonathan Saunders, Brian Reyes and Marc by Marc, of course. But Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi of Preen, Yigal Azrouel and Clare Waight Keller at Pringle all paired their bright yellows with dove grey for a pretty fresh look that even I (I never wear color) would consider working into spring.

Each day of NYFW presented more and more examples of belly baring for S/S 2010. From Alex Wang and Brian Reyes to Yigal and Charlotte Ronson, and about a dozen other in between, skinny model tummies were everywhere. And this got me quaking in my booties, no doubt.

First, my midsection is not my favorite area of my body on the best of days. But more importantly, I’m not sure that someone like myself, nearing (gasp!) 34 years of age needs to be baring anything even close to my belly, unless I’m in a beach/pool type setting.

Unless, that is, I suddenly become Gwen Stefani overnight.

Sure, they look cool on the models. What doesn’t? But I don’t think I’ve worn a half shirt since the 80s and I’m thinking I never need to again. I’ll leave it to the rock stars and the supermodels.

What about you?

Brian Reyes has had a loyal following of influentials since he first launched his collection in 2006. The Elle crew was the first magazine to get behind him in a major way and they were out in full force this morning, from Robbie, Joe, and Anne to the rest of the fashion news team, and celebrity guest blogger, Becki Newton. Longtime fan Rachel Bilson and her stylist Nicole Chavez were also in the front row yet again.

But this season brought a new major face…Carine! I get pretty excited when I’m at the same show as CR, so I can only imagine what it feels like for a designer knowing she’s watching their show for the first time.

What I always love about Brian’s clothes, and what I saw again in this collection, is that he brings in the uptown training he got at Oscar but makes it young and cool and something I really, really want to wear. Now there were some teeny tiny shorts that will definitely work on the adorable Rachel B. Me, not so much.

But the prints were gorge and the dresses were incredibly “it” girl appropriate. Usually, black isn’t what comes to mind when I think of Brian’s clothes, but the dresses in that color were some of my favorites.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for some awesome Vogue Paris credits.

As Fashion Week approaches, we hear about all kinds of collaborations and sponsorships—some totally logical, some seemingly pulled out of thin air.

This one, though random, we’re kind of digging: Pret A Manger, a favorite lunchtime sandwich chain, is sponsoring all the backstage catering for Oscar de la Renta, Jason Wu, Brian Reyes, Preen, Tory Burch, and 3.1 Phillip Lim.

We’ve always frequented the one near Bryant Park, and over in the Garment District when on appointments, so it’s all the more handy to have them right backstage while we preview the clothes, hair, and makeup. We hear Oscar specifically requested the Turkey Club on his menu though we’re more chicken and avocado sandwich girls.

And, designers, we promise to be really careful not to spill, just like Raquel with her pie on that couture shoot in The September Issue.

Labor Day weekend used to mean back to school shopping. Now it means beer and BBQs and maybe, if we can stand it, back to Fashion Week shopping.

But if you’re still looking for a valid excuse to spend money in the next few days, how about for charity?

Each October, Glamour asks six designers to participate in their Fashion Gives Back project. This year, they’re recruited Jason Wu, Alejandro Ingelmo, jewelry designer Pamela Love, Brian Reyes, Bensoni, and Lorick, (Abigail, of Gossip Girl fame) to design a series of limited edition totes. They range from sketchy black lines from Wu to a dreamcatcher heart from Love and are exclusively available at Bloomingdales.

At $35, they’re not only affordable, but adorable. And the best part is one hundred percent of the proceeds go to Dress for Success.

Unless of course you are still in school, in which case these are way cooler than the last book bag we carried.

We’re huge fans of Brian Reyes, both the man and his gorgeous clothes.

Unfortunately we’re not often able to purchase said clothes on our budget. Enter his first sale on Gilt Groupe.

The clothes are super cute and the prices are even cuter. Some of our favorites are already sold out but there are still some great pieces left. The trench coats are an amazing deal as far as we’re concerned.

Go now before it’s too late!

Just to quickly recap the very swingin’ Whitney Art party last night, Britt was totally right, bandage dresses took over the room. (To be noted though, Britt did opt for something very hot herself!)

The music was old-school (loved). The champers ran out two hours in (did not love). And the room was filled with amazing art and all the cool kids from Camilla Belle and Hilary Rhoda to Anne Slowey and Joe Zee.

We can’t lie, though, the highlight of the evening was not running into Brian Reyes and snagging an invite to his huge new design space (though that was lovely) or perusing the pieces of art that, sadly, we didn’t have the funds to bid on.

No, it was Bradley Cooper. What can we say: we’re girls, he’s way dreamier in person, and the smile, god, the smile. Even cynical fashion types swooned in his presence. We saw at least two ladies hand him their cards.

Sorry, enough with the crushing when we should be talking about fashionable things. He just does that to us.

But so does a great dress. And the best-dressed of the night was definitely Lake Bell in red BCBG which clearly stood out in the sea of Herve.

One of our absolute must stops when we head to LA is West Hollywood boutique, Beckley. The store is so well-edited and full of our favorite lines like Brian Reyes, Zac, and Subversive.

As of today, they’ve opened on online boutique. There’s totally different merch than at the actual store. But the style is still the same. And it’s oh so good.

We were even more excited to realize that the Melrose Ave. store sells Charlotte Olympia shoes, which we’ve been obsessing over big time since London fashion week. They’re literally not available online anywhere that we can find. They’re barely even available in the US.

We hope store owner Melissa, answers our prayers and puts ‘em on the web, stat.

Pretty please.

Everybody’s trying to break into accessories these days.

First, the news was that See by Chloe, Proenza, Hussein Chayalan and Ohne Titel would all be breaking into shoes (and since then, Proenza’s quietly started giving out bags to their friends, which everyone hopes will actually make it to stores.)

Then, Marc announced he’d be expanding into a full line of swimwear for Marc by Marc, while Brian Reyes announced he’d be launching a line of lingerie (ok - swimwear and lingerie are not exactly accessories, but they do fall into that small things/cheaper things category).

Not too long after, Prada announced plans to design costume jewelry, and Yigal said he’d make the shoes from his Spring 09 runway for the stores.

And now? 7 For All Mankind is launching their own shoe range for Spring, retailing between $150 to $350, which may seem too close to their denim price range, but is probably a bit less than most 7 customers usually spend on their shoes.

Clearly, companies are hoping their shoppers will still be out there looking for cute things to acquire, but they know it’ll be with a much smaller budget, so they’re trying to make more things at lower price points so everybody can still get their buzz. Because as Elle MacPherson put it today, her lingerie line is doing better than ever because “when a woman can’t afford a dress in the luxury echelons, she may opt instead to part with £20 on underwear that makes her feel good.”

But the question for all these other high-end brands persists -

Bendon, the New Zealand-based lingerie company, is coming to America. Except, they’re coming via The Limited, which we’re all familiar with via trips to Limited Too in fifth grade. And apparently, when we buy lingerie from Elle MacPherson’s Intimates (a personal favorite) and Stella McCartney (a browsing favorite), we’re really buying Bendon re-packaged and repriced via licensing deals.

There are two interesting points to be taken from these facts.

1. That The Limited’s version of Bendon will retail between $35 and $38 for bras, and $14 to $16 for underwear - less than half the price of Elle’s versions, and nowhere near the price stratosphere of Stella’s - meaning, The Limited might pose some stiff competition in the lingerie department very soon, and this may or may not be related to the fact that The Limited is no longer owned by Limited Brands, the parent company of the very overpriced Victoria’s Secret, and so now they’re free to expand in that market.

2. That The Limited has been around since forever, and just now they’ve decided to put out their own lingerie, right when Brian Reyes has decided to do the same, and right when Marc’s decided to put out his first full swimwear line under Marc by Marc. All new ventures in a decidedly shaky market / economy, all new ventures including itty bitty non-clothes.

Coincidence? Or has everyone decided that true shoppers will find a way to drop at least $50 every couple weeks and have just figured out the best way to truly service the price point?

*Editor’s Note: Sorry! Changed that fact at the end of point 1 - The Limited is no longer owned by Limited Brands!

Market news these days usually goes like this:

Mid-tier company X’s same-store sales down 20%. Fast fashion brand Y’s sales down 2%.

So what are moderately (this is very relatively speaking) priced lines to do? Expand, apparently.

Today brings news that Brian Reyes will expand into lingerie for next Fall, and Marc Jacobs will launch his first full line of swimwear for Marc by Marc, under a licensing agreement with Swimwear Anywhere Inc., the same company that designs swimsuits for Carmen Marc Valvo for much cheaper than the designer name suggests.

Some people might wonder why designers would sink money into new ventures in such uncertain shopping times, but we think this is probably a good way for people to drop $150 on a cute purchase and still feel like they’re on the gainful side.

Because the Brian Reyes / Marc by Marc girl will probably find a way to shop no matter what’s happening in the stock market, so it makes sense to accommodate her new spending allowance, no?

…Because they were all over the New York runways for Spring.

They came huge (Threeasfour, Jenni Kayne), they came small (DVF, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Phillip Lim), they even came minuscule and in body art-like swirls on sheer tops and leggings (Ohne Titel).

We fully expect to see them in every store come February, but the bigger question remains: Will we see them on every girl come April?

Only if we don’t mind looking like disco balls (or Sienna Miller circa 2006)…

Brian Reyes showed so early in the morning that they let us bring our coffee into the tent.

In one front row, sat Joe Zee, Robbie Myers and Kate Mara. Across the runway was the Vogue team and Emma Roberts. The only people who conversed were Roberts and Mara.

Both sides, however, seemed pleased with the perfectly girly, made-for-starlets collection. For the most part, Reyes stuck with a neutral color palette. Toward the end, he introduced some prints, including a perfectly striped, slouchy shirt dress, and even mixed and matched patterns. There were lots of mini skirts, a few ruffles and almost everything came with a belt.

At one point, Roberts grabbed her stylist’s arm and said, “Oh. My. God. I have to have that.”

We felt that way about a lot of it, too.

Here’s a fun fact to start the morning: Rachel Bilson is designing a dress with Brian Reyes.

She announces the collaboration in next month’s NYLON. the But don’t get too excited - the dress won’t be for sale.

The design is meant for Rachel’s best friend’s wedding. Somehow, Ms. Bilson has been called upon to design the bridesmaid’s dress, so the aisle can look as cute as possible while Ms. Bilson’s best friend marries OC and Gossip Girl mastermind Josh Schwartz.

Brian Reyes is a red carpet favorite of Bilson, so we’re sure the two will have no problem agreeing on the design.

We’re betting it’ll be short and lavender in a sort of collision of OC style and the Fall runways.

Maybe with a matching headband?

We do not love the show Ugly Betty, but we do enjoy the May cover of W Magazine, which stars America Ferrara.

This marks the second time in two months that a major American fashion magazine has put a woman on the cover who isn’t a sample size. The difference is this:

Jennifer Hudson’s article in Vogue was all about the actress’ hunt for an Oscar dress, and the challenges and joys that go with finding clothes to fit her body. Meanwhile, America mentions in the W piece that she hates it when the press call her “lumpy” (which she’s certainly not), but otherwise, she’s much more into discussing her career than her style.

We think this is a great thing, since America seems to be dressed just fine without the help of Andre Leon Talley. That blue Brian Reyes dress she wore to accept her Golden Globe was killer.