You arrive in the Place Vendome - it’s calm, civilized, Cartier sits on one side, Chanel on the other and The Ritz holds court in the middle. Suddenly, you hear a slight roar and land in a fashion mosh pit.

Vivienne Westwood’s Gold Label show is about to begin. It’s being shown in a building with one glass wall which means all of Paris is sticking their face up against the glass to get a good look. They might be looking for Kate Hudson, whose name is prominently placed front row. But the Hollywood starlet never shows and the crowds make do with Beth Ditto and Georgia May Jagger.

The program notes advise, “I always hijack my fashion shows to talk about culture and politics. The collection is called +5°. Somewhere between 400 ppm and 500ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere the earth will settle down to a new equilibrium of 5° hotter than now. Our luscious comfortable world will be gone. What is left will support hopefully 1/5 of the population. We must plan…How do we prepare for a world to help survivors; just in case there is time to affect this irreversible event, what can we do?”

Then Pamela Anderson storms down the runway, swinging her blond locks and twirling for the pit in a swept up pink tutu and one wonders, “Really Vivienne?”

The Fall 09 collection is 100% Westwood, stripes and glitter over silks and wools pulled and twisted every which way. Colorful socks and printed tights emerge from hefty platforms. There are crystal headbands and violins around the neck. People clap and laugh, Pam still dances, Eliza Cummings closes and even though Vivienne’s show notes go on to demand, “Buy Less!” you want to buy every single thing you just saw - even if you can really only wear it in a dream world.

This morning before catching the train, we did a double take when we saw a poster for the new Reese Witherspoon vehicle: Four Christmases. We weren’t marveling at her super-shiny hair, nor were we reminiscing about how cute Vince Vaughn once was, no, what caught our eye was the shiny glint of a Cartier Love bracelet on Reese’s wrist. All we could think was, “Are you kidding?”

But now we’re thinking, maybe you know what brought this on. Pop quiz!

a. Does Reese’s character, Kate, just have a thing for Cartier? She’s also wearing a Tank, which is the present of choice for graduations and milestones.

b. Is this an ad for Cartier, like product placement paid for by the jeweler as a subtle nod to all the people who would love to say they share her taste (especially in platinum with diamonds)?

c. Is this just good art direction, like when Louboutins show up in cold medicine commercials because the soles are so pretty? (ps she may be wearing said shoes here.)

Pencils!

—BRETT KANE

We know stylists work hard - it can’t be easy to dress divas, guarantee red carpet success and compete in a very small, very competitive industry - but we often wonder how hard it can really be when all the big names knock down your door with the prettiest clothes and accessories .

So we’re kind of thrilled that Rihanna’s stylist is working a little overtime to promote smaller, particularly British, labels.

The singer lit the Empire State building last night for Cartier Love Day wearing the colorful PPQ dress to the left. Then, she wore a colorful ruffly Poltock & Walsh skirt on the Today Show this morning, (Topshop - PLEASE pay attention), and she’s been out and about in plenty of outfits we don’t recognize, which is very refreshing.

Sure, people like Mischa Barton and the Olsens wear underground brands all the time, but Rihanna’s far more mainstream which means she has potential to bring indie brands into a bigger spotlight with the kind of break that only comes with devoted celebrity fans.

To Rihanna’s stylist, keep it coming.

Remember Ashanti?

We didn’t either, until we heard this:

Like Eve, the R&B singer will serve as a face of Cartier’s Love Bracelet this season.

She’s gorgeous, poised, and quite eloquent, so we’re sure she’ll be a fabulous spokeswoman for AIDS relief and research, but the choice does have us a little perplexed since we haven’t heard her songs on the radio since… um… college?

So Ashanti is really like the Minnie Driver of hip hop: Totally great, totally talented, but somehow still sliding off the radar despite buzz from 1999.

Maybe this is prelude to a comeback? After all, if diamonds are forever, perhaps they can inject her with some sort of longevity.

We hear from some chatty party planners that diamonds have a brand new face:

Eve.

The rapper, actress, and designer of Fetish Clothing will add “bejeweled spokesmodel” to her name this spring, when she helps Cartier with their Love Charity bracelet.

Based somewhat on the iconic Cartier Love bangles, the Love Charity program sells limited-edition baubles, with all proceeds going to good causes.

In the past, everyone from Eva Mendes to Rachel Weisz has donned a bracelet and partied for charity, but now that Cartier’s run out of celebs-who-arrive-everywhere (including Julianne Moore, Ms. Mendes, and Rihanna), they’ve picked someone fresh, and dare we say it, gorgeous.

No word yet on what Eve’s Love Charity bracelet will look like, or which other celebrities will be sharing her spotlight, so stay tuned.

Fashion week was, among other things, a blur of stacked Cartier Love bracelets, stacked wooden heels, and stacked Bulgari rings.

In all the above cases, more is better, and if you can afford to pile on two out of the above three, then you can stop reading.

We found these perfectly stack-able rings by Canadian designer Kate Szabone. The best part? You get five of them to go stack crazy, for $50.

You can custom pick your own set, from gold, silver and oxidized silver. And while the edges might not be engraved with “BVLGARI,” they’re actually a much cooler shape and not quite as flashy.

They’re perfect twenty-four hour jewelry.

Just in case your watch doesn’t go with that outfit.

When we spot a Cartier LOVE bracelet, we usually think of Elizabeth Taylor and the great pile of them she must have accumulated.

We’re totally forget that their design was inspired by the chastity belts warriors locked onto their wives in Medieval England.

It’s almost unsettling that the bracelet’s design of screws, meant permanently lock on the wrist of a lover, has come to represent such a strong symbol of love.

So in this strange case of Adventures in Copyright, we’re going to go ahead and say that Forever 21 makes a little bit more sense.

Their Polished Love Bangle is the same size and width of Cartier’s, but they’ve foregone screws in favor of simply engraving the word “LOVE” around it.

And for $5.80, literally .03% of the price of Cartier’s, you can rock an armful of love bangles with your new Marc by Marc spring dress.

Now that’s love.