I know a bit about clothes and maybe kind of a lot about shoes, but when it came to sunglasses, I was clueless.

Until last week when I spent the morning at Silver Lining Opticians. It’s a hole in the wall on Thompson Street run by Jordan Silver and Erik Sacher and an absolute mecca of vintage frames.

But before I really got it, I needed a tutorial. Here’s how he explained it to me: In the early 80s, a man named Leonardo Del Vecchio started offering designers the opportunity to license eyewear. Before then, designers had treated the accessory as an extension of their ready-to-wear collection. For example, Christian Dior was one of the first brands to offer eyewear and he made super high quality frames that correlated to the kind of product on his runway. But Luxottica gave designers an “easy option,” and over the years production quality’s steadily declined.

photo courtesy wwdMeet Camille Miceli.

She’s the woman responsible for the brilliant plastic, paper chain necklaces on Louis Vuitton’s AW09 runway.

After stints at Alaia and Chanel, she worked in Louis’ PR department right when Marc took over as Creative Director before working her way to the head of costume jewelry collections, a post she’s held since 2003.

But today, WWD announces she’s moving to Dior in October rounding out Bernard Arnault’s all-star cast of John Galliano, Kris Van Assche, and Victoire de Castellane.

While she and Galliano obviously share a funky aesthetic, it’s quite different and it’ll be exciting to see what she whips up for AW10 in such a different environment.

ABC’s: Agyness Deyn’s the face of Anna Sui’s AW09 cosmetics campaign. You can buy the makeup and Sui’s new line of hair products at her Soho store, though we’d avoid whatever made Agy’s hair look like that. {BeautyCounter}

More to Love: More facts on Fashion’s Night Out, including this scary tidbit, “one-out-of-10 retail-industry employees [are] out of work.” We’ll bring you the full report on Monday so you can start making a game plan for September 10th. {WSJ}

Now We’re Talking: A few behind the scenes shots of Charlize Theron for J’Adore Dior. It’s the fragrance’s tenth anniversary and these images should put Vogue to shame. {InStyle}

Cintra-Gate: We’re pretty sure the Gray Lady writer isn’t going to put out the fire she started yesterday with her JCPenney piece with these kinds of apologies. Not that we think she really wants to. {The Cut}

Oh how we wish we were in Paris to see these couture confections in person. But we’ll just have to settle for the internet with most of the rest of the world.

The first pictures we’re seeing look as delish as we expect from Mr. Galliano (showing at Dior’s famed headquarters on avenue Montaigne)

We can’t wait to see the collection in its entirety but already we’re liking the various states of dress (and undress, especially sans pants). And of course the hats.

What are your first impressions?

I don’t know much about beauty.

I’m a wash my face and go kind of girl, after three swipes of mascara at least, but I’ve always been slightly obsessed with liquid eyeliner. But despite all of the brands I’ve tried - MAC, Nars, Dior, you name it - I’ve never been able to perfectly apply both lids in under ten minutes.

And so this weekend, while roughing it at a friends house in the woods, I was confused when she emerged after three minutes in the bathroom with perfectly applied cat-eyes. “Um, excuse me,” I asked, “how did you do that?”

“Bobbi Brown liquid eyeliner gel,” she said. So I bought it Monday morning, on my way to work no less, and have been using it these three days and love it so much that if I was the kind of girl who carried make-up in my purse, this would be the make-up.

It’s insanely easy to apply and it stays pitch black all day. Also, it doesn’t move - I know this because I furiously rubbed my eyes from exhaustion yesterday and it was still there afterward.

So if you’re already addicted to it, great, if not, check it out.

Reader Jen found this familiar looking pink and orange dress by a brand called Single on the Cusp website. (In case you don’t live in one of the few cities with a Cusp it’s basically Neiman Marcus’ answer to Barneys Co-op.)

Anyway, since she was so obsessed with the Christian Dior resort original that Eva Mendes wore to the house’s Spring 08 couture show, she placed it immediately.

And since that picture ran everywhere for months, because Eva looked drop dead amazing, it’d be kind of hard for anyone remotely into either fashion or Eva not to realize that it’s a total rip of Galliano’s fitted-on-top, poufy-on-the bottom sherbet creation.

Yes, you’d have a hard time finding the original Dior a year later, but that doesn’t mean you should spend $300 on the copy.

I’m still not used to the kind of fashion show where people care more about Harvey Weinstein than Patrick Demarchelier, more about Katy Perry than Anna Piaggi.

But I guess that’s why I don’t work in PR and why I watch for editors’ reactions instead of the runway at a show where it’s only half about the clothes.

Dior’s afternoon show, held in a tent at the Place de la Concorde end of the Tuileries, boasted movie stars, dramatic music cut with MGMT, ridiculously caged Cindy Lou Who hair, and handbags, of course.

From my perch above the runway, I watched Galliano’s parade of modern warrior princess clothes. Raquel, Caroline Trentini and Tanya D teetered on their carved heels - think Basso & Brooke - wearing snakeskin corsets and chiffon mini dresses made for Tinsley. The Dior beauty ambassador sat front row, the paparazzi crush snapping away at Eva Green and Marion Cotillard right next to her.

The show ended with a string of sheer gowns and a runway strut from Galliano in a particularly deep-v vest. As my new French friend said to me, “Beaucoup de boobies this season, n’est-ce pas?”

Irina speaks! En Francais (she’s at Dior couture),…until she gets to Bob Dylan…

We know Dita von Teese loves to wear Dior couture for those times when she’s wearing clothes, and she definitely sat front row at the show, but we have to admit we had no idea she’s the star of the house’s next ad campaign.

At least that’s what it seems like if the video at left can be believed.

Surprisingly, we’re not so into the close-up of the sunglasses, but the rest of the shoot seems like a fresh departure from their previous ad landscapes.

And yet still, somewhat of a shock.

Julia, 22, Hair/Fashion Stylist

Got Her: Catwalking on Greene Street in SoHo

Stalked Her: Because her hot pink lips and jet black bob caught our eye from across the street.

Shot Her: Because she was the ultimate anti-“florals for Spring” and what we first thought was simply a jacket worn backwards turned out to be made that way (a la 90’s Celine Dion/Galliano).

She Says: “The bag is Miu Miu, the other one is from Trader Joe’s. I got the jacket on sale at Century 21, it’s by Ilaria Nastri. Everything else was stolen from various shoots.”

We Say: “Maybe Kriss Kross had something there… “

— JAZZI McGILBERT

Suzy Menkes’ new video just went up on IHT’s website.

In it, Menkes declares, “There’s only one icon who mattered in Paris this season, and that was Amy Winehouse.”

She takes us on a whirlwind tour of the runways, from the beehives at Dior to the cat-eyes at Commes Des Garçons and attributes fashion’s interest in the cracked out singer to Karl Lagerfeld’s initial fascination with her retro look.

The best part is when Menkes informs the audience that Winehouse’s most popular song is called “Rehab.” And that in that song “she sings, “No, No, No,” but the fashion world is saying ‘Yes, Yes, Yes’.”

We’ve struggled with this question for a while now.

The word “corset” usually makes us think of the word “tacky”. But this spring, when everyone’s wearing their underwear as outerwear, we wonder if we’ll be seeing tiny, laced waists and heaving breasts walking past us on the street.

Women’s Wear Daily profiles Mr. Pearl today, corset maker to Gaultier, Dior, and of course Dita Von Teese. He says, “To me, a corseted body, with the shape of the indentation at the waist, is beauty in extreme; it represents absolute femininity.”

We agree, so long as it’s done correctly. This is one trend that requires a significant investment if it’s to be worn well.

Please do not buy a corset from Victoria’s Secret and wear it with jeans; stay away from H&M’s lingerie section or you risk looking like Lindsay Lohan pre-Rachel Zoe. Explore the look with Vivienne Westwood or Kiki de Montparnasse etc.

The look can be head turning if done subtly and on the right occasion, but a poor quality corset made of cheap satin and lace would be disastrous.

So would you wear one?

John Galliano kicked off Couture week in Paris yesterday with a spectacular-as-always show for Dior, while the rest of the world mourned the crashing stock market and slowing economy.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Choo, the British luxury shoe brand, announced that while most retail outlets continue to suffer, their profits reached record highs last year. And last week, WWD reported that 2007 was Chanel’s most profitable couture year ever.

We’ve noticed this trend over the last year, luxury sales growing, or at least not dropping, while the rest of the industry suffers. While analysts often attribute it to the rich getting richer, and being generally unaffected by minor economic trends, we wonder if it has something to do with the recent push to bring luxury to the masses.

We know, or at least hope, that the average fashion fan isn’t saving for a couture gown, but we also know plenty of girls who skip meals for weeks to buy $600 Jimmy Choos, or pay rent late to afford $300 Tom Ford sunglasses, foregoing weeks of retail therapy at mid-range stores in lieu of one major luxury item.

If more people put their money toward a piece of the luxury market, do the levels of retail directly below suffer?

Someone recently asked me if I ever change my look, hair and make-up speaking. I was a little taken aback until I realized that I really don’t - I’ve been doing the “natural” thing my whole life, using only neutral makeup.

So I decided to make a few changes:

First, inspired by Marni’s runways, I purchased a pink lipstick, and even wore it during the day. Then I even threw on some sparkles a la Zac Posen for effect.

Now I’m thinking about buying a bright mascara instead of my usual black.

Colored mascara’s been popping up on the runway for a few years now, starting with blue at Dior, gold at Gucci and this season’s white lashes at Erin Fetherston.

MAC has a bright teal that would be perfect for spring, and I’ve read a billion times that blue mascara is supposed to “make eyes pop” as it’s always put, but I can’t help but feel like I might end up looking like a little raver who forgot that she’s supposed to be at work.

Would you wear colored mascara? Or is this just too out there for everyday life?

At the bottom of our old Caboodle lives a massive jar of MAC Silver Dusk, (a legitimate must-have from high school). We unearthed it this weekend for the first time in years, despite second thoughts of looking too “junior-high”.

We swept some across our eyelids and cheekbones, mostly because we were sick all of last week and needed to look a little more alive. We’re feeling much better now - and yet we’re still using the sparkles.

Now, we’re dying to bust out our old Hard Candy eye liner. It’s pink with giant squares of actual glitter, a look we haven’t rocked since 8th grade dances. We’re dying to line our eyes with it some night this week. But is that ok?

Erin Fetherston, Zac Posen and Christian Dior were just a few of the Spring Runways to feature a glittery eye. But we’re a 23 year old who’s not prancing down a runway on her way to work (ok, maybe we are, but it’s only in our head).

So we have to ask, are we too old to wear glitter?

Kate Spade announced Friday that she’d exit her own brand, which is now owned by Liz Claiborne. The question is, will it survive without her?

It’s true that Liz Claiborne is a millionaire franchise, with Juicy Couture and C&C California under its umbrella. But those brands aren’t built on a person’s lifestyle, and Kate Spade is more like Martha Stewart than Monica Botkier - her bags aren’t just cute, they’re a nylon embodiment of a cool way to live.

We know when magazines are named for women, they tend to fold when their founder leaves - witness Mirabella and Jane.

But what about clothing labels?

Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, and Cristobal Balenciaga are gone from their brands, yet their legacy keeps going. But those houses were founded before websites, product placement, and publicists. Kate Spade’s label was decidedly modern, and it wasn’t really built on beautiful handbags - it was built, instead, on living beautifully.

Sending whip-smart thank you notes. Smiling through your sunglasses. Looking incredible just off a plane. That’s Kate Spade.

It took Halston years to revive after the man himself faded; Perry Ellis is gone; Anne Klein and Bill Blass are just now getting back.

Does Kate Spade need Kate to keep going, or did you forget forever ago that she was even real?