My first stop this morning was backstage before the Carolina Herrera show where I first caught up with the beauty peeps. Even though they’ve got their own thing going on over at Milk, the MAC artists like Diane Kendal are still working it at the tents too. Today’s look was fresh, clean, groomed, classic beauty. No reason to go off type for the CH girl. Orlando’s hair was pretty awesome, with metal bits woven into the messy updo. A modern take on the chignon if you will.

Then it was over to the next room to have a first look at the clothes. 38 looks in total, each worn by a different girl with Natasha opening and Magdalena closing. Let me just say I wasn’t loving what I was seeing. Everything was, of course, beautifully made. But the prints were just not pretty to me. And while I realize that orange is kind of happening, I’m not its biggest fan. There were lots of dresses but also plenty of shorts.

Graydon, Glenda, Anna (with bodyguard again), and Emmy Rossum (whose fame forever eludes me) all waited patiently in the front row. Now once the clothes were on the girls and out on the runway, I definitely like them much better. But I’m still not sold on those prints at all. The last dress on Magdalena did look quite stunning, even if it almost took her down in the middle of her walk.

Nice recovery, lady.

Going to the Chapel: Congratulations to Milla Jovovich and new husband Paul W.S Anderson. She wore Temperley London for the ceremony and a mini dress she designed for the reception. And of course, she looked gorgeous. {Blasblog}

Were You Wondering: Brad Goreski, Rachel Zoe’s second assistant and the only boy of the threesome talks about the second season of The Project. {Valet}

A Stylist’s Stylist: ‘‘Accessorize when you can’t fit the clothes,” says crazy talented Arianne Phillips. You know, the woman Madonna and pretty much every major film studio goes to for their costuming needs. {T}

Quartered Covers: Not that we don’t love all of V’s covers, or that we’re not feeling LOVE’s double covers, but the four covers of September’s Another Magazine are exquisite. And if all those girls show up to their Fashion Week party, well Marc & Gaga might have some competition. {DailyFeed}

Earlier this summer, Carolina Herrera waved aside any Elle Woods’ prejudices and gushed about the color orange, calling it “the new red” and using it prominently in her lovely Resort 2010 collection.

I love orange, and am totally willing to jump onto the trend, but unfortunately something about an orange dress - on me- is not quite right. I have yet to find an one that I can rock like Karlie or Sessilee did on the runway, instead I end up looking like an elementary school teacher dressing for Halloween.

Enter orange accessories. I’m particularly drawn to this clutch and these pointed flats that I saw on Net-a-Porter. Both are from Jil Sander, where Raf Simons also gave us some beautiful orange dresses for fall. Loving that clutch: great color, great design.

Barney’s has a ton of orange wallets and accessories, mostly by Valextra. And of course Hermes has gorgeous options. But the pickings are still a little slim at this point. Tell us, have you spotted any good jewelry or shoes in “the new red”?

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

The Vanity Fair International Best Dressed List has always somewhat baffled me. Maybe baffled isn’t quite the right word, but I’m always amused by what a mixed bag it is.

Of course, I don’t expect it to be a straight-up list of fashion folks, as that doesn’t truly represent the people covered regularly in VF. But man, do they throw in some random curveballs.

This year is no exception. Not surprisingly, both Michelle and Barack Obama (dad jeans, notwithstanding, I guess) make the list along with a smattering of royals, other world leaders, and their spouses. Think Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Sheikha Mozah of Qatar.

The fashion crowd is represented by Natalia V. and husband Justin Portman, Rachel Roy, Georgina Chapman, Tory Burch, and Franca Sozzani (love!), among others. On my questionable list is Stacy Bendet’s “Hello Kitty meets Joan Jett. Randomness” personal style. She’s a choice that makes me go…hmmmm.

We are so excited for September.

While the official list won’t be released until August 17th, we just received a huge rundown of events for Fashion’s Night Out, the New York City fashion celebration this September 10th. Over 300 retailers in all five boroughs have already signed up to party from 6pm to 11pm. We’re a little overwhelmed by it…in a good way.

We already told you about Alex Wang at Barney’s. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Also at Barney’s? The Olsen twins (girl crush times two!), Jonathan Adler and Lisa Perry, on hand to teach you how to knit. After you learn, you can knit a square to be included in a blanket to be sold to benefit the September 11th Memorial Fund.

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

This season on the runway, we noticed a flood of cocktail dresses with pockets on the side.

Apparently, we weren’t just looking for a tenuous style thread -

The London Times confirms the trend with a story by Lisa Armstrong about the recent flood of evening pockets, as explained by Luella Bartley:

“Bartley thinks a slouchy insouciance is the key accessory when you’re wearing something traditionally formal these days, and that pockets give a woman the wherewithal to display just that.”

It’s true that the more dressed up we get, the harder we want to look like we don’t care.

But we also remember when Renee Zellweger arrived at the Costume Institute in her Carolina Herrera dress, and all of our friends texted us one word: “What?!”

Of course, maybe that was just the dress, and not the pockets…

One major change made in adapting the Gossip Girl books for TV:

Blair’s mom is now a designer.

Her character seems inspired by Carolina Herrera; a social lady creating elegant clothes for her peers. In the first episode, Eleanor even wears a white shirt and flowing skirt— one of Carolina’s favorite looks.

But while Eleanor’s character may be Carolina-inspired, the clothes she “designs” are coming from Abigail Lorick, an ex-Ford model who says she aims to answer the question “What has become of the modern lady?”.

On her website she writes:

” [The Lorick lady] is polite and considerate. She makes a point to keep her manners in check even when everyone around her has forgotten her please and thank yous.”

Her pencil skirts and little scarves seem perfectly upper east side to us, but we’re not sure that exactly describes bratty Blair and Serena.

If that sounds like you, though, you can pick up some Lorick at Otte’s NYC boutiques.

Just remember to say thank you to your salesgirl!

—ANNA FIELDING GRIGGS

In fashion math, $200 will get you 1 pair of Lanvin flats on sale at Barneys, 10 Tarte lipglosses, or half the sleeve of the Chanel penguin sweater.

It could also get you into the Carolina Herrera show.

American Express recently announced a deal with IMG - the company producing New York Fashion Week - which makes tickets to runway shows available to Amex gold card holders.

$200 buys you a seat for two collections — in a specially constructed 26 seat skybox in the tents, complete with food, beverages, a giftbag, and a very small view of the back of Anna’s head.

Or at least, it did.

The 450 packages available went on sale 5 days ago, but they’ve already all been snapped up by Coco fans, DVF lovers, and would-be Olsen spotters.

The ticket proceeds go to American Express, but the company is paying IMG a substantial sponsorship sum for their special seats. IMG says that it’s a way to keep charging labels the same amount to show their work, despite rising production costs.

But insiders say the deal is why more designers show outside the Tents - They want total control over the show’s environment, guest list, and advertising, and feel that IMG is more concerned with its own brand than those showing in Bryant Park.

Despite the nay-sayers, IMG plans to offer similar deals for other fashion week events it produces (in London, LA, Berlin, and Miami). They’re tapping into a growing desire to see real live size zeros stomp the catwalk:

In November, labels like Oscar de la Renta and Valentino re-enact their spring collections in Dallas, during four days of 18 runway presentations. Every seat is for sale, and prices start at $25 a show.

This could be a great way to demystify fashion for those who don’t breathe the industry - but it might also kill some of its magic.

Will fashion shows lose their appeal? Or will fashion be better when it answers to the people as well as the press?

—ANNA FIELDING GRIGGS

The red carpet tends to be a win-win situation for designers and celebrities. Stars get photographed in amazing clothes, and designers get priceless publicity.

And of course, celebrities have their favorite designers - based on the fit, the style, or the friendship. But can we add “for profit” to the list?

We’ve started to wonder about long term celebrity/designer pairings, like:

Reese Witherspoon & Nina Ricci

Renee Zellweger & Carolina Herrera

Charlotte Gainsbourg and Balenciaga

Emma Watson and Chanel

Perhaps we’re witnessing the logical conclusion of a mutually beneficial relationship:

Permanent product placement on a hot celebrity commodity. But how much do we think the stars get paid to serve as walking billboards?

—ALLIE MERRIAM

Have a peek at the girl at left.

Is she sporting a Proenza Schouler for Target dress?

Actually, no.

The girl is wearing a Forever 21 sundress in the company’s newest ad campaign.

The series also includes a radish printed black blouse (cough - Carolina Herrera - cough) and a handful of sunglasses so big, they were probably designed to view a solar eclipse.

But back to this dress:

It’s funny when Forever 21 rips off a runway look, but here, Proenza Schouler already ripped off their own runway looks for Target…

Thinking of a way to describe it, I keep coming back to this:

“The cold pizza of fashion.”

On the upside:

If you couldn’t get your hands on a Proenza for Target dress before it sold out, now you have another chance…

Of sorts.

Vogue’s Ten Best Dressed List is finally up online. Among those anointed as this year’s Oscar royals are Reese Witherspoon (yes), Nicole Kidman (sure), Kirsten Dunst (really?), and Anna Scott, the wife of Vanity Fair’s Graydon Carter, in an old-school Carolina Herrera gown that almost demands a tiara.

Absent from the list is Jennifer Hudson, who was styled by Vogue’s own Andre Leon Talley… until halfway through the ceremony, when she changed into a Cavalli gown chosen by Jessica Pasteur and promptly won an Academy Award. Emily Blunt, who impersonated a Vogue staffer on film, is also not included.

Reese Witherspoon’s dress by Olivier Theyskens might top the style charts, but Zac Posen’s gown for Gwyneth still wins a contest of sorts. Here’s a raw, unedited, unresearched, slightly mad scorecard for designers, dresses, and the Oscars. Zac, it seems, gets a Mr. Popularity award for two major dresses of the night…

Armani - 2 - Cate Blanchett (four stars - intergalactic); Beyonce (four stars - when your mom stops making your clothes…)
Balenciaga - 1 - Nicole Kidman (three stars - rouge encore)
Calvin Klein - 1 - Emily Blunt (four stars - is she a new Sienna?)
Carmen Marc Valvo - 1 - Queen Latifah (three stars - she looks better than the gown)
Carolina Herrera - 1 - Jada Pinkett Smith (three stars - great dress, weird on Jada)
Chanel Couture - Kirsten Dunst - (two stars - the hemline…)
Christian Lacroix - 1 - Helen Mirren (four stars - regal)
Escada - 1 - Naomi Watts (three stars - flouncy)
Lily Et Cie - 1 - Celine Dion (four stars - it looked like Versace…)
Marchesa - 1 - Jennifer Lopez (four stars - they do have some talent!)
Nina Ricci - 1 - Reese Witherspoon (five stars - runway worthy)
Oscar de la Renta - 2 - Jennifer Hudson (one star - takes “vamp” too literally); Jessica Biel (four stars - young, hot, and tasteful)
Prada - 1 - Meryl Streep (three stars - yeah, we get it)
Proenza Schouler - 1 - Maggie Gyllenhaal (four stars - well East Coast girls are hip…)
Valentino - 2 - Kate Winslet (four stars - smart, easy); Anne Hathaway (three stars - the big bow…)
Vera Wang - 1 - Rachel Weisz (three stars, eh)
Versace - 1 - Penelope Cruz (four stars, and yes, it’s the same dress that Carrie Bradshaw wore in France, in a different color)
Zac Posen - 2 - Gwyneth (four stars - structure paradise), Portia Dei Rossi (four stars, first lady)