The holidays mean parties; in the next few weeks we’ll be digging through our closets for the perfect party outfits.

Luckily, December’s British Vogue’s given us a way to make those outfits better without breaking the bank.

Glitter!

Who doesn’t love a little shine? Instead of a light smattering, makeup artist Lisa Eldridge says that the look should be “bold, simple and beautiful, with the rest of the face kept bare and natural.” This grown-up version of glitter looks best in jewel tones like emerald or cobalt, and in a solid block of color over the eyes instead of shadow or liner. We noticed it on a handful of SS10 runways like Louis Vuitton, Betsey Johnson, and Derek Lam and it works well in liquid liner, glitter eye pencil, or loose glitter pot form.

We love Housing Works not only because you can always find the best stuff there, but because of all the good work they do.

Their sixth annual Fashion for Action charity event is coming up and they just announced the details. The event, which raises money for homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS, will be co-chaired by Derek Lam and sponsored by Essence magazine.

The four-day affair kicks off with an opening night benefit at the Rubin Museum of Art and continues with a huge public sample sale at the Housing Works Thrift Shop in Chelsea. Over 150 designers have donated $1 million worth of merchandise to be sold at 50-70 percent off retail prices. Hooray! A bunch of new names have been added to the list this year like Acne, Band of Outsiders, Bottega Veneta, Lanvin, and Karl Lagerfeld.

All the details about how you can take part after the jump!

Makeup for spring is almost always lighter and dewier than its fall counterpart. But one of my favorite trends so far is the use of pastel and Easter egg shades, but in a totally non-precious way. I’m not usually one for light purples, pinks, blues, and greens in beauty. But I’m truly starting to think about them in a new light.

Hints of the purple hair streak trend had already popped up in editorials before Jack and Lazaro sent them (and green too) down the runway at Milk. The shimmery mix of shades at Derek Lam even feels slightly rock star, in a Jem and the Holograms kind of way. And the robin’s egg blue at Luella is simply cheeky and downright fun.

I’ve only just now switched into my dark and moody fall black and bordeaux phase (current obsession: MAC Resolutely Red) but I’m already excited to try something outside my normal comfort zone this spring.

Also, does this trend not have Drew Barrymore’s name written all over it?

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

Anti-Fug: I’m starting to worry that my favorite outfits always get Fugged. This is the Olsens at Opening Ceremony’s Tokyo opening this weekend; they look perfect. {GoFugYourself}

A Friendly History: Juergen Teller talks about the origins of his relationship with Marc Jacobs, his campaign process and the controversies they’ve faced together. {TheMoment}

Peachy Keen: Peaches Geldof continues her random TV reign. She’ll cover New York Fashion Week for GMTV, “Fashion is the thing that establishes creative talent and a person’s aesthetic individuality, but most of all it’s a fun way to express yourself,” she says. {PressAssociation}

In the Dollar Dumps: The Post reports Derek Lam’s having a few financial issues. He’s allegedly losing $1 million per month and his CEO’s been MIA for all of August. The CEO, of course, denies the whole thing. {PageSix}

The public relations department over at Derek Lam is in need of incredibly organized, responsible, and professional fall interns.

The internship’s not paid, but you will get the enviable task of working on the upcoming season’s show. Watching the seating chart come to life is something not to be missed.

Also be prepared to log in, and log out, loads of samples - which we found to be the very best way to learn everything you need to know about a collection, its fabrications, and what’s working from both an editorial and sales perspective.

Details after the jump!

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

That Girl: So Juliette Lewis might not be starring in that Erin Fetherston flick, but red-haired Columbia kid and musician Reni Lane is. {Nylon}

Chanel-o: Karen Elson’s already shot Chanel’s Cruise ads with Baptiste Giabiconi and Karl behind the camera. She’s got the wig, the high waisted not-pants and the jewels. We’re jealous. {Modelinia}

Goodie-Nude-Shoes: Around this time of year we consistently wish we could change the shade of half the shoes in our closet from black to nude. So for your shopping wish list, enjoy. {FabSugar}

The Met Ball might have been Monday but the fashion pack just keeps going and going, so we made the three obligatory stops last night and this is what we saw:

— At Derek Lam’s store opening, curved glass walls separate different sections of the store - think shoes from bags from dresses from coats - and totally distort your vision, but look amazingly cool.

— Every editor was there - Anne S., Robbie M., even Anna - though we didn’t read NYMag’s Rihanna tweet until after our cab made it above Houston. Too bad, we would have greatly appreciated seeing RiRi’s new blonde highlights in person.

Natalie Massenet’s much-anticipated The Outnet finally launched this morning.

The site’s as easy to navigate, though not quite as pretty, as Net-a-Porter and stocks about 200 brands right now. You can search by designer, by category and by percentage off or click on Dress Me where they’ve sorted product by occasion. Also, they’re doing seventy-two hour pop-up sales on rotating items.

There’s a note on the site that Marc Jacobs will be in next week and we’ve spotted some amazing finds like this Derek Lam grecian dress, this cream Zac Posen bag and this awesome Mulberry jacket.

But remember that part about how it wasn’t going to be all recycled Net-a-Porter product? True, we probably spend an inordinate amount of time on the mother site but we’ve seen all of this before, this Chloe dress, these Marc shoes and this 3.1 Phillip Lim shift - all at the exact same prices - except for these sequined Miu Miu’s which are $100 less at Barneys right now.

There’s a gem of a Burberry trench, some beautiful pieces from Nina Ricci and we spy the Louboutin zipper heels. It’ll be swell to have a Net-a-Porter sale year round, but let us know when there’s something we haven’t seen.

Derek Lam shot his first ad campaign in San Francisco last week.

He and most of his contemporaries have managed to make do without advertising in the past, but this month we’ve seen Rodarte’s proper campaign debut in V and Zac Posen’s first ever ad, for Spring 09, shot by Ellen Von Unwerth for Spanish Indie mag Fanzine 137.

Lam’s going a more traditional route launching his ad in the August issues of Bazaar, Vogue and Elle. Solve Sundsbo shot Karmen Pedaru on the beach at Pier 59 wearing the brown fur coat and suede bag from look 9.

We love seeing the ads, but wonder if they’re worth the precious pennies. We’d bet no one’s reading V and learning about Rodarte for the first time or that the woman reading Vogue’s going to buy Derek Lam now that an ad’s alongside his editorial presence.

Meanwhile, who’s next? Proenza? Alex Wang?

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

Stiletto liberals rejoice:

Barack Obama is getting his own Fashion Line.

Starting next month, about a dozen items - mostly totes and tees - will be on sale at Obama.com and they’ll be different from those MoveOn sweats in one crucial way:

They’ve been sketched out by Diane Von Furstenberg, Derek Lam, and other CFDA members, including Tracy Reese, whose Obama scoop neck can be seen at left. The clothes will also have a launch party at Charles Nolan’s studio on September 9 - during New York Fashion Week.

Robin Givhan reveals the whole project in the Washington Post, noting “the risk, of course, is being perceived as highbrow or shallow. Obama’s opponents have derisively dismissed him as an elitist and a celebrity. And it was the fashion industry that spawned the celebri-monster known as Paris Hilton. Having Seventh Avenue on his roster of supporters would not seem conducive to a Dockers-man image.”

We’re not completely sure that fashion did spawn Paris Hilton - unless Page Six is considered a direct arm of the style industry - but she’s got a point. She’s also got a guarantee from Tracy Reese that she will sport the Obama tee at some point this Fashion Week, and that’s a really big deal.

Note that this isn’t the only fashion initiative tied to Democrats this season - Anna Wintour famously hosted a Calvin Klein dinner for Michelle Obama last month, and the Senator’s wife was also the inspiration for the September cover of Harper’s Bazaar, which starred Tyra Banks.

Come August, NYLON Guys also gets into the mix - they’ve donated their entire back cover to Obama’s campaign, a first for a national fashion title.

Meanwhile, McCain has the devout support of Hills star and designer, Heidi Montag.

We’ve been noticing Arlenis around a lot since we spotted her at that Banana Republic show a whole six days into her modeling career. So we kind of freaked out when we saw her on the homepage of WWD yesterday, clad in Derek Lam resort, doing her best model-wearing-glasses face.

Pout on, Arlenis.

Reader Sarah, who works for a model management company, just sent us a nice tip:

There’s a Derek Lam sample sale today, at 601 W. 26th St (the Chelsea Art Galleries) on the 17th floor.

But we kind of wish she’d e-mailed us about it yesterday, since she added that that’s when she saw “the lovely Caroline Trentini browsing the clothes.”

Sigh.

Exactly what Gossip Girl wouldn’t do.

But thank you for the info anyway! Maybe we’ll sneak over on our way to Barneys later…

Each time a model pounded down the runway in something floral last week, Miranda Priestly was in our head, “Florals…for spring. Groundbreaking.”

But these were for Fall, and they were everywhere: Erin Fetherston, Peter Som, Michael Kors, Sari Gueron and Derek Lam to name just a few.

The idea is appealing. On a disgusting rainy/slushy/snowy day like today, a purple floral mini would make the day a little more bearable.

But the truth is that we’re already a little over the floral thing, and for most people, it’s only just started. When we saw Anna in that yellow and blue-flowered skirt (a couple times) last week, we didn’t think, “Oh, how pretty,” (and it was!) We thought, “Oh, it’s that Prada skirt. Again.”

Maybe it’s because we work in fashion, or maybe it’s because we have the attention span of a six year-old, but we feel like florals (especially the Balenciaga kind,) have been dominating editorials for months, and so to just now see them on the street, we can’t help but feel over it, and totally surprised (and bored) to see it again for Fall.

We’re pretty sure we’re still going to rock some cute floral dresses with gladiators in a couple months, but come October, we think we’ll probably have moved on to stars or swirls or something in between.

Would you invest in key floral pieces for fall? Or will this trend never make it off the runways?

Forget Mary-Kate, this season Band of Outsiders, Adam Lippes, Obedient Daughters, Derek Lam, and Preen are channeling Elmer Fudd. So you can show off your purple dresses at the Box but I’ll be hunting wabbits in my long johns and duck boots. Shhhhh, be vewwwy, vewwwy quiet.

—BRETT KANE

Reader Willemijn writes all the way from the Netherlands with the latest copyright probe:

A silk gown from Derek Lam’s Spring ‘06 collection has been swiped by Rachel Pally!

Although Rachel’s dress is made from jersey, the inspiration is clear:

With the twisted asymmetrical strap, the draped bust, and the deep blue color, the only way to tell which one is Derek’s is the swooshy cloud it makes when you walk - something so special and exciting, it’s even more valuable than the imported fabric and great fit of the gown, as seen at left on Jeisa Chiminazzo.

Rachel Pally sells her knock-off on ShopBop for $242. Meanwhile, Derek’s dress retailed for around $3000 when it was in stores, but now that it’s a season old, you might be able to hunt it down on sale… if not, we like this one.