“The fatter the general population, the thinner the idealized woman. And for all the public posturing and blogging, the only force that stopped people from buying clothes and magazines was the souring economy, not righteous indignation over skinny models. Fashion doesn’t just reject the overweight and the obese. It also gives the average a hard time, too; it makes them worry about every cookie eaten at the end of a meal or every exercise commitment that goes unmet. Fashion is a purveyor of status. It is a badge of honor for having outrun, outfasted saddlebags — unless they are floral-printed and made by Dolce & Gabbana. Those who can indulge in fashion feel their prize is that much more valuable.” —Robin Givhan in an article on why it shouldn’t be surprising that thin is still in in the fashion industry.

It’s been a long time coming, but we of the weak eyes are finally getting our due.

It started on the runway: Natasha Poly looked sexy with her chignon and frames walking Michael Kors for Fall 08, and then Charles Anastase accented his sweet but sexy Spring 09 collection with black glasses.

Now they’ve gained real momentum. Terry Richardson (whose big frames we love) hilariously chronicled Lily Donaldson’s visit to the eye doctor (a process that ends in the always uncomfortable eye drops that we are all too familiar with) for US Vogue and the new Dolce & Gabbana and D&G ads include shots of bespectacled models.

Apart from advertisements for their actual glasses collections, this is the first we can remember them being used so very prominently in fashion advertisements. And boy, did pictures of Justin in those black frames at the CFDAs get our hearts pumping.

There are some serious fashion idols that rocked frames (Yves Saint Laurent and Iris Apfel come to mind) but now glasses have become a versatile accessory, and even our friends with 20/20 are joining in.

Those of us who suffered through elementary, middle and high school embarrassment eventually coming to self-acceptance and love of our glasses, felt a little bitter at first towards those who just threw on the frames now that it was cool. But ultimately, we feel rather proud that glasses are being embraced.

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

Dolce & Gabbana are feeling the recession just like the rest of us. Well, maybe not just like the rest of us. But their business is certainly not immune and so in an effort to keep their customers, they are in the process of cutting prices across all of their brands by 10-20 percent, starting with the spring collections.

And they’re not trying to skimp on the quality. The designers worked with suppliers and manufacturers to tighten up business across the board and then pass that savings down to the consumer.

Now, that doesn’t mean every piece is now affordable for every person - this is still a high end line. But we like the direction they’re moving in.

“The idea is to peel off the superfluous because there are too many clothes, too many seasons, too much advertising — too much of everything that is tacked onto the final price. We want to go back to how things were 20 years ago. It’s about drawing the line,” Domenico Dolce told WWD.

And we say “Amen” to that. We’d love to see more of the ingenuity and creativity that comes with smaller budgets.

Last month, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce warned everyone about their upcoming Spring 09 men’s ad campaign, which will feature “men on their knees praying” which will surely offend everyone.

This week, paparazzi shots caught the Italian duo filming a cameo in the upcoming movie Nine, in which they act as priests, alongside Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Penélope Cruz, and Sophia Loren.

Clearly, Dolce and Gabbana are having a heavenly moment - But will this translate into Fall 09? Because it’s been a while since anyone’s put a model in a halo.

Dolce & Gabbana’s February interview with Interview is now online.

Read it to find out their thoughts on each other, their current customer, etc.

But really, we just wanted to show you this picture.

It’s almost the weekend!

To: Tips@Fashionista.com

From: FadeIn@Italy.com

Looks like Dolce & Gabbana are goin’ down. It appears Neiman Marcus is pulling D&G from all of its stores. The troubled company has been on a downward spiral for months now, very quietly. No more fancy showroom on 5th Ave - now unremarkable digs downtown. No more Director of Operations for the NY/US office, with no replacement. Now it looks like they’re getting pulled, and not just at Neiman, but other major/specialty stores in the US. Watch and wait.

xo FC

Um, we’re not totally sure about the above, but if you are, you know what to do. On a side note, is this why they’re launching a controversial ad campaign and $36 eyeshadow? Stay tuned…

For those of you still hungry for more Spring 09 ad campaign news, get excited:

Dolce & Gabbana still has more ads to come out alongside their shots of Karlie, Caroline and Mariacarla, this time of men “on their knees praying.”

The Italian duo swears everyone will take it the wrong way and claim they’re offending religion, claiming that they’re actually promoting a “return to values.”

Either way, we’re sure this is a call for every reporter to get Dolce’s PR on speed dial - As a matter of fact, we haven’t really heard much about them in a while…

It’s official: This season’s trend for established supermodels will trickle into Spring 09, with WWD confirming Claudia Schiffer as the new face of YSL (replacing Naomi) and Dolce (replacing a trio of young things playing GG).

Also, she gets to keep her post as the face of Salvatore Ferragamo, but we’re pretty sure she’s definitely out at Chanel, with either Heidi Mount or Sasha rumored to be taking her spot.

We guess YSL, Dolce and Salvatore have the money to pay a supe whatever she asks, a much different situation from Donna Karan, who’s recycling runway shots for her Spring campaign - undoubtedly saving a lot of money in the process by not paying for a photographer, a venue, all the people involved, and probably not Constance Jablonski who’s technically the campaign girl - instead of renewing Kate’s contract for however many zillions she made for Fall 08.

Dolce & Gabbana’s having their Fall / Winter Sample Sale next week, so we hope you’re still in the market to shop -

What: Both Dolce & Gabbana and D & G Dolce & Gabbana

Where: At the Metropolitan Pavillion, 123 W. 18th Street, near Sixth Ave. The sale will occupy two full floors! (the fourth and fifth)

When: Monday, October 27th, through Friday, Halloween! Monday (1 - 6pm), Tuesday and Wednesday (9am - 6pm), Thursday (9am - 8pm), and Friday (9am - 5pm).

Why: So much more fun than sifting through all the slut costumes for halloween, we think.

Have you seen the posters for Zac and Miri Make a Porno?

They have little stick figures and say something like, “Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks made a movie so steamy/outrageous/titillating that this is all we can show you.”

We thought it was cute. But then we read that the original posters were just too scandalous for America, which is why they had to scratch the real life pictures and go with stick figures.

You can see the original at left, and we’d hardly call it “titillating”. Especially not compared to the gigantic Calvin Klein ad featuring a naked, writhing Eva Mendes outside our office, or the pages of men wearing Dolce & Gabbana skivvies in every magazine, or even the pictures of Angelina Jolie in this month’s W.

What would’ve happened if, when Tom Ford’s toe-sucking fragrance ads got banned, he broke out a sharpie and drew a stick figure’s toe in another stick figure’s mouth?

Um, hope you’ve already had lunch.

“If Jennifer Lopez, who was sitting in the front row, ever gets to play Florence Nightingale, these frocks will surely get a starring role.” - Lisa Armstrong of the Times UK on Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring collection.

Looks like Karl Lagerfeld has some competition:

It seems his new / old muse, Claudia Schiffer, won’t just be posing for him at Chanel anymore.

We hear Ms. Schiffer just booked the campaign for Dolce + Gabbana’s resort collection, which we should see this December in major fashion books.

But will this include a swimsuit shot?

We can only hope -

Just because Ms. Schiffer is over 40 doesn’t mean she can’t rock a designer bikini better than most major yoga devotees.

But what will Karl think?!

Naomi Campbell was expected in Brazil this weekend for Sao Paulo Fashion Week, but the model never made it down to South America.

The reason?

Naomi’s handlers told press it was because of her airline incident and subsequent assault conviction, which was preventing her from boarding a plane.

The curious thing?

Naomi was spotted by Style.com a few days ago on Dolce & Gabbana’s runway for their most recent Milan show.

Guess she could have taken the Chunnel?

Guess we’ll all be wearing men’s bathrobes instead of cropped jackets this Fall?

What do you get when people from MTV, Sears and High School Musical join forces?

They say, “summer blockbuster”. We say, longest commercial ever.

The American Mall, the network’s new musical, centers around a Utah mall that’s “a home away from home for teens everywhere”. High school kids work in the mall, shop at Sears, wear clothes from Sears, carry bags from Sears and just really love Sears. And, just in case you don’t get it, there will be co-branded commercials during the TV movie that tell you to shop at Sears.

The actors, playing the kids who love Sears, will also appear in Sears’ online ‘lookbooks’ and at screenings across the country to promote Sears.

Sears hopes to set the tone for back to school shopping by making kids all over the country ask their moms to take them to Sears.

It actually kind of sounds like what Sex and the City did for brands like Manolo and Dolce minus the teensiest bit of subtlety.

We hear that Madonna will eschew some of her Dolce + Gabbana costumes on her tour for those by Ricardo Tisci, the head designer at Givenchy.

Madge will wear some ready-to-wear pieces by the French house helmed by the Italian designer, and also some of their recent couture collection.

The singer has already been spotted out and about in heaps of Givenchy clothes - here she is in People Magazine, getting called out on her severely chic ensemble.

Another link to the label made famous by Breakfast at Tiffany’s?

Justin Timberlake is the new face of Givenchy’s men’s perfume and the latest pop star to collaborate with Madonna on a hit song.

Laura from Men’s Health just alerted us to the coolest thing to happen to Google since G-chat.

You can personalize your homepage even more - and that doesn’t just mean choosing where your icons go - it means picking an entire designer or artist theme.

Options include fashion darling and artist Jeff Koons, Coldplay, glass-blower extraordinare Dale Chihuly, Dolce & Gabbana, Oscar De La Renta and signature Diane Von Furstenberg prints including the one from that dress we’re still obsessed with.

So now you have something to play with until lunch.

Enjoy!