The best part about holiday shopping, aside from apple cider, is the overflow of shopping events (especially in the wake of such financial disarray).

Next week, Elle and Armani Exchange are teaming up to make you shop. And by Elle we mean Style Director Kate Lanphear.

The party’s next week, Tuesday, November 10 from 6pm-8pm at Armani Exchange’s Fifth Avenue store at 20th Street. You’ll get to preview Armani’s holiday collection, drink champagne and snack your way through the store. (Email RSVP@armamiexchange.com)

And if you spend over $100, you get to customize your own A/X t-shirt with Kate on hand to dish bedazzling advice.

If a tee designed by Kate isn’t the perfect pre-holiday treat, then we’re not sure what is.

Pumpkin Pie: Is Danny Roberts the cutest thing we have ever seen? YES! Check out his Coco Rocha painted pumpkin. {Igor + Andre}

Prada Pop-Up: Architect Roberto Baciocchi has designed a seriously awesome temporary Prada store in Paris. Even if you can’t afford to splurge on the designer pieces, you should at least check out the architectural masterpiece. Talk about eye candy! {AR}

Dapper Diane: It’s pretty clear we love Diane Kruger and everything she wears. But whose style does she admire? {Vogue UK}

This Is It: Michael Jackson is probably the only man who can bring hip-hop royalty, fashion royalty, and actual royalty together in one room. Derek Blasberg talks about his royally cool night. And we get a wee bit jealous. {Blasblog}

Gaga Goes Gossip: Lady Gaga guest stars on an episode of Gossip Girl set to air November 16. We’re kinda over Gossip Girl and think the show has lost its luster, but we might just have to tune in for this one! {People/TV Watch}

Elle Boy: Joe Zee wants to make over your boyfriends for his column in the magazine. Maybe he can make them listen to what you’ve been saying for years. {Facebook}

The Ombre Effect: First, it was Katie Shillingford rocking a new ‘do on Jak & Jil. Now, this article from Refinery29. Is ombre the newest in hair trends? And where does one secure a colorist talented enough to pull it off well? {Refinery29}

Elle is hosting a panel discussion at Barneys next week called “The Mystery of Perfume” —apparently it’s fragrance week here at Fashionista.

The theme of the event instantly made me think of the book Perfume, though I doubt a scent-driven murderer will be discussed at all. Though I highly recommend the novel. But fragrance and what inspires it, how it’s made, etc really is one of the most interesting topics in the beauty world.

Robbie will be there, along with beauty director Emily Dougherty and a few perfumers including perhaps the most interesting one we’ve ever met, Frederic Malle. The man has mad skills when it comes to creating scents, and if you can get him talking about Paris in the 70s, you’ll definitely hear a crazy Karl story or two.

All the details and how to reserve your spot after the jump.

Best Of: Now that Fashion Month is actually and officially over (too many forgot about Giles yesterday), the best of the month’s fashion’s been rounded up for your viewing pleasure and consequent envy. {Style}

Watch Out: Just in case you were trying to ignore her, two days after Becka Diamond was named NylonTV’s newest host, the actress is Who What Wear’s Girl of the Month - a coveted title that means she’s not going anywhere. {WWW}

Real or Rubbish: There’ve been a few whispers suggesting that once Condé Nast finishes their 25% cuts, they’ll bring Elle on board from Hachette. In that case, does Condé own every mainstream fashion magazine? And imagine a holiday party at which Katie Grand, Anna Wintour and Joe Zee all answer to the same boss. {FWD}

Believe it or not, the most awkward part of this video, in which Katy Perry interviews Karl Lagerfeld backstage after his Lagerfeld show on behalf of Elle, isn’t when Karl says he’d define himself with a Lily Allen song (don’t they like, not get along?).

In fact, we’re kind of torn on whether or not it’s the lilted maybe French with a touch of British accent Perry puts on at times or when she tells Karl that she really likes the metal dresses, to which he says, “I think that’s not metal, in fact it’s leather because leather is softer and more body friendly than metal can be a little harsh.”

You can never watch too much video of Karl, so enjoy. And remember, Karl does not like Sundays.

“One day in a vintage shop I found… a pair of skinny acid-wash jeans. It was like, Ahhh! - a halo was shining around them. I wore them every day. When I got my first big break, I thought, ‘Screw it, I’m wearing the jeans to the interview with the editor in chief.’ I wanted to see what would happen if I was real. I remember telling her, ‘I’m not your typical fashion editor. I work hard and I know my stuff, but you should know, I’ll be the one wearing acid-wash jeans.’ I got the job.” — Kate Lanphear in this month’s issue of Elle.

Brian Reyes has had a loyal following of influentials since he first launched his collection in 2006. The Elle crew was the first magazine to get behind him in a major way and they were out in full force this morning, from Robbie, Joe, and Anne to the rest of the fashion news team, and celebrity guest blogger, Becki Newton. Longtime fan Rachel Bilson and her stylist Nicole Chavez were also in the front row yet again.

But this season brought a new major face…Carine! I get pretty excited when I’m at the same show as CR, so I can only imagine what it feels like for a designer knowing she’s watching their show for the first time.

What I always love about Brian’s clothes, and what I saw again in this collection, is that he brings in the uptown training he got at Oscar but makes it young and cool and something I really, really want to wear. Now there were some teeny tiny shorts that will definitely work on the adorable Rachel B. Me, not so much.

But the prints were gorge and the dresses were incredibly “it” girl appropriate. Usually, black isn’t what comes to mind when I think of Brian’s clothes, but the dresses in that color were some of my favorites.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for some awesome Vogue Paris credits.

We’ve interviewed stylists and editors and publicists and designers, but we’ve never entered the world of blogging, or even the internet for a Life With.

So welcome to the world of Who What Wear.

We know you love their site. We love their site. And I made it a priority to sit down with Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power while in LA at the end of July to learn how they left the world of print and moved onto the internet. And more importantly, how they ended up putting together one of the most successful fashion sites among the millions.

Inside, how they blew up, where they’re going and what the launch of their book means
to them.

ELLE needs interns.

Who at ELLE? As fun as it’d be to be Joe Zee’s twitter intern, the assistant to the Style Director needs a few helping hands this fall.

The perfect people will be detail oriented, responsible and professional (we’ll keep writing these qualifications, but please note these are requirements for any job). Also, if you apply, you should be obsessed with fashion - not shopping, but fashion.

You’ll help with sample trafficking and organizing as well as planning Fashion Month. You might even help with more creative tasks like working on the storyboards etc. It’d be nice if you’re a college student, you’re not disqualified if you aren’t, and they’d like you to work three days a week starting now.

We knew Naomi, Claudia and Eva’d landed Dolce and Gabbana’s new fragrance campaign, but we didn’t know each had a movie to go with their print ad.

The Italian duo’s anthology collection, inspired by Tarot cards and multiple personalities, doesn’t launch until September, though they’d like your anticipation to start building now so they’ve released the first peek of the first video.

This one stars Texan Tyson Ballou as Le Bateleur (the magician). We see is him in an elevator and him donning a monogrammed bathrobe which doesn’t, so far, make us want to buy perfume.

But Naomi’s up next week, July 30th, and though the sneak peeks are literally blink-or-you’ll-miss-it short, we are looking forward to the full length clips.

We hardly recognized January Jones in the August issue of Elle since we really only know (and love) her as the WASP-y chic, increasingly independent wife of Don Draper (swoon!) on Mad Men. She actually looks a little like Naomi Watts here with Donatella.

But we digress. She looks slick and cool and we appreciate that they didn’t do a modern “Betty” photo shoot, what we’re really excited about is that this means that Mad Men will be returning to us soon. August 16th in fact.

Of course we love the drama and the plots. But what lured us in from the beginning was the styling and the set design. It’s just perfection. Who knew AMC had it in them?

This picture comes straight from Elle Creative Director Joe Zee’s Twitter at the Christian Lacroix couture show in Paris. And we have to agree with his tweet, “How can a man who designs THIS stop designing? Again, fashion injustice!”

That is one heck of a beautiful creation. Here’s what else Joe had to say (er Tweet?) about the rest of the collection before heading to Givenchy in a sudden rainstorm.

“The mood may have been somber and the clothes black but it was still pure French sophistication at Lacroix. Magnifique ca!”

“Even the shoes were quiet and restrained at Lacroix where he reinterpreted the classic Belle de Jour pump with the square buckle.”

“You can’t help but shed a tear for Mr. Lacroix as he receives a standing ovation for what could be his last s …”

There may be some investors interested in saving the company, but it’s not looking good.

It’s pretty clear that Elle is skewing its cover choices a bit younger lately. While we’re huge Gwen Stefani fans, we weren’t at all psyched about Megan Fox.

And perhaps even less so about Miley Cyrus, here on the August cover. Though at least we can appreciate how incredibly famous she is, whether we like it or not.

The fact that we don’t hate the picture is actually throwing us off, big time. We’ve never seen Miley’s hair and makeup look so subdued. She actually looks rather lovely, don’t you think?

But don’t you worry, she’s still the same girl we love to mock.

Picture This: There’s no video yet from Vanessa Bruno’s short film, just stills. But we’ll take Lou Doillon any way we can get her. {Fashionologie}

And They’re Off: Recession be damned, there will always be couture. Even if Anna isn’t there to watch it happen. {FWD}

With One Notable Exception: A “restructuring” plan has effectively wiped out most of the jobs at Christian Lacroix. {WWD}

An Awesome Spectacle: We must have these glasses, like immediately if not sooner. {Garance}

More Coco to Love: A new American trailer for Coco Before Chanel makes us very excited for the September release. It also makes us think about how much we loved Audrey Tatou in Hors de Prix, the last thing we saw her in. {Elle}

We’re #3! Forbes rounds up the most stylish cities in the world. Though we’re guessing Cathy Horyn no longer agrees about their choice for the top spot. {Forbes}

We Cannot Tell a Lie: If we were pregnant, we would totally want to dress like Nicole Richie. {People Stylewatch}

Through His Lens: “I was in bed with Charlotte Rampling. I felt like the king of the castle.” Indeed, Juergen Teller. Indeed. {The Independent}

A Softer, Smoother Madge: More shots from Madonna’s LV campaign have hit the interwebs. And they’re just as crazily retouched as the first one we saw. {Catwalk Queen}

Ads, Ads, and More Ads: Campaign shots abound over at Modelinia and it’s making us feel the need for a trip to the country. {Modelinia}

Tommy Wants To Rule the World: We love the fashion paparazzi shots on Jak & Jil. We also love Tommy Ton’s taste in music. {DazedDigital}

Sui and GG: Pictures have surfaced of Anna’s Blair/Serena/Little J/Vanessa-inspired collection for Target. We’re liking, lots. {Refinery29 via The Cut}

Football Moms: I love the NFL and can be spotted every Sunday of the fall/winter proudly donning my Peyton Manning jersey (go Colts!) But this seems pretty darn niche: Reebok is launching NFL maternity gear. {WWD}

Bird is the Word: Juicy Couture has created a pricier, but more grown up line. We’re reserving judgment until we see it in person. {Elle}

We’re imagining Anna’s lips disappearing into a thin line of anger: Forbes has announced that in the first half of the year, Elle has sold more ad pages than Vogue.

For fashion magazines (and any magazine, really) ad sales are where the big money comes pouring in. With the state of the economy, everyone’s ad sales are down, Elle is down 22%, Vogue is down 32%. Some more numbers for you: last year, Vogue had 10% more ads than Elle, but for the last six issues, Elle sold 970 pages and Vogue sold 956.

It’s pretty close, but are these the winds of change? Vogue has been the most elite and respected fashion glossy for decades though many fans of the magazine have been grinding their teeth over recent cover choices like Blake Lively and Sienna Miller (a frequent cover girl) - choices that Forbes dubs too “down-market” and possible signs that Vogue is slipping.

We would die of happiness if we thought this meant models and designers would regularly be gracing the covers of these popular fashion magazines, but Elle’s recent cover girl choices haven’t been spectacular lately either. Is this just going to be changing of guard, that doesn’t really change anything all that much?

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE