Tonight, Fendi played host to the launch of John Baldessari’s book (written and curated by contemporary arts expert Sharon Coplan Hurowitz.)

If you don’t know Baldessari’s work, we would highly suggest taking a look. It’s conceptual and multi-format, but in our opinion, not the least bit contrived. (A retrospective is currently touring from the Tate to LACMA to the Met.) And from the looks of the crowd at the party tonight, we’re not alone. The uptown store was packed. We especially loved the decked out piano, and when Elew (who we hear is Donna Karan’s favorite) started getting all jazzy on it.

Unfortunately we couldn’t stay for the whole set as we had to jet to celebrity colorist Rita Hazan’s fete a few blocks away. (Stay tuned for a very fun Life With Rita soon!)

But all in all it was a colorful evening. Plus we were home in time for fashion’s new favorite TV show, Glee, on the DVR. Good times, good times.

“Karl Lagerfeld’s boudoir show for Fendi made you think a giant pair of old pantyhose had fallen over Milan.” —Cathy Horyn talks Milan, which she didn’t particularly enjoy, in The New York Times.

Celine, Director of PR for Eres and Bourjois

Got Her: Jill Stuart show, New York Public Library

Stalked Her: Because redheads can definitely pull off red, especially this Isabel Marant dress with an Eres bra showing (of course!)

Shot Her: Um, that necklace (Fendi) and those booties (Stella) made us squeal just a little bit. And the purple!

She Said: “This is my friend’s necklace that she never wears. I told her she was stupid for not wearing it.” We agree.

We Say: We wish we were as cool as all the French girls we see. It just looks so darn effortless. Sigh.

Well, now, isn’t this a little fun fact right up our copyright-obsessed alley?

Turns out that Sonia Sotomayor, our newest nominee to the Supreme Court, once battled fashion counterfeiters with a serious vengeance.

Back in 1986, as a lawyer in private practice at Pavia & Harcourt, she represented the Fendi family and even took part in something called the “Fendi Crush” where they literally smashed a bunch of phony Fendis in a garbage truck, smack dab in front of Tavern on the Green.

When we were younger, we loved Legos. Making little towns could entertain us for hours— or until our Barbie showed up and totally towered over her supposed home.

And we think that these Jean-Charles de Castelbajac customizable Lego sunglasses that we found on Dazed Digital, are too funny.

The sunglasses are available in red, white, and yellow, and can be customized by adding Lego as you please.

While we think that in some cases, paying to DIY a designer product, like this $5,500 Fendi baguette and this lettered black Roger Vivier bag, can get kind of ridiculous.

That said, we can’t help but want to try to create our own Lego masterpiece. And at just over $150, the shades are quite a bit cheaper than the make-you-own purses.

With Ray Ban offering up their Colorize kit, and items like the One-Dress being sold, we have to ask, do you get nervous at the thought of being left to your own devices and prefer your purchases to be ready-made or are you willing to shell out to DIY your designer goods?

—MELISSA ELLIOTT

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.

A reader just sent us the link to this Steve Madden bag and our stomach kind of dropped.

We expect him to copy the Fendis, Givenchys and Christian Louboutins, but as always, it’s so much more painful to watch a small, independent designer get ripped off.

Alexander Wang launched bags less than two years ago, just a few styles, all slouchy, all zippered, all made from incredibly soft leather and all at relatively reasonable prices (around $700). Steve Madden’s sold bags forever, all plastic and all shiny and not always rip-offs - the handbag ‘designers’ obviously lack the shoe ‘designers’ budget (because they do go out and buy loads of Chloe and Chanel and Louboutin shoes, rip them up and rebuild them to make the copies spot on).

But someone in that department loved Alex’s Brenda Zip bag so much, they went and made their own and called it the B-Zipcross. Then they threw in a copy of Alex’s model-loved Donna Hobo just for good measure.

Sometimes, Steve really pisses us off.

If you spend a lot of money on things you want now, you’re probably a lot happier than people who resist the urge and save their money for an unnamed future purchase - at least according to a study released by professors at Columbia and Harvard.

They say a few days of guilt is nothing compared to the people who’ve bypassed Fendi for years only to feel like they’ve missed out on life.

In this story in the London Times (which we think might have been sponsored by luxury brands begging shoppers back), the author talks about splurging on expensive non-necessities like it’s therapy, but speaking from experience it’s more like a sugar high.

We can justify just about anything, but in ten years will the abundance of shoes in our closet make us feel like we’ve lived life to the fullest or make us wish they’d turn into an apartment? Maybe not worth worrying about right now, but we’d like to hear the professors on the other side of this argument.

Which makes you feel better, splurging on that Chanel bag you saw Kate Moss carrying or seeing more than $7 in your savings account?

Steve Madden’s officially on track to win copier of the year.

This time, he’s appropriated Fendi’s suede basket booties. The Steve Madden version’s patent leather - because fake patent leather’s the cheapest material one can get. But the key points are practically identical - from the front platform to the skyscraper heel to the angular cut-outs to the peep-toe shape, the major difference is quality, detail and of course, the price tag.

Yes, we understand the gaping difference between $760 for Fendi and $89.95 for Steve Madden.

But on top of the quality the former gets you is the thinner stiletto, the scooped peeped toe, the gold side zipper, the flattering shape, the exquisite suede and the knowledge it’ll last you more than a season. It’s enough to make you wait for a sale and pray that your size is still available.

Sorry Steve - maybe next time.

—CARSON GRIFFITH

Gareth Pugh showed his first full menswear collection in Paris last night.

The “visionary” collection - super skinny pants, platform patent boots, chain mail vests - might’ve sparked LVMH’s interest, according to The Telegraph. Delphine Arnault, Bernard’s daughter, sat in the front row and personally congratulated Gareth on his show.

The editorial darling could be a big financial risk for LVMH (whose stable of fashion brands include the more reliable likes of Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs) and a much needed breath of fresh air on the heels of their Lacroix sale.

If forced, we’d have pegged Gareth for Gucci Group membership, but it’s hard to imagine him under anyone else’s control, financial or creative, and answering to a larger body who demands a certain measure of commercial success (because we’re pretty sure Michelle Lamy, Rick Owens’ wife and Pugh’s current backer, loves him just the way he is).

Meanwhile, if Pugh joins the luxury conglomerate, shoes and bags are guaranteed and the thought of Gareth Pugh shoes knocks the wind out of us.

Terrence Koh is the new face of United Bamboo.

He’ll star in this string of ads, debuting in the Spring/Summer issue of Fantastic Man.

In fashion terms, you probably know the artist best from his love affair with this Fendi fur - a little over a year ago, he was so obsessed with the almost $200,000 coat he wore on loan that he found a patron to buy it for him - and his constant party presence.

So maybe a campaign was the next logical step? Regardless, the images look more like a lonely tinsel-filled party than a you-really-need-this-outfit appeal.

Koh looks cute, if a bit clueless, and the ads themselves? Juergen Teller for Marc Jacobs, anyone?

Ines de la Fressange carries this lettered black Roger Vivier bag everywhere.

We thought it was custom made, after all she’s Bruno Frisoni’s muse and Vivier’s brand ambassador. And technically it is custom made. The catch is, you have to design it yourself because according to de la Fressange, “Real luxury is a unique item that is yours and yours only.”

So you pick your colors and your letters and your font and then they’ll put it all together for you and you get your very own Cut Up Bag for the small price of $1,875 even though the plain black version of the bag costs around $1100 without all of your extra work.

It’s kind of like when Fendi made the white canvas baguette and handed you a box of markers for $5,500 and said, “But you get to be the artist!” even though a Fendi designed baguette would probably set you back more like $2000 or $3000.

Which means the more work you’re expected to do, the more your fancy bag will cost.

But what we want to know is, if you’re going to splurge on an insanely expensive DIY it bag, would you rather the designer put together your creative vision (which kind of defeats the purpose) or would you prefer going to town on your own, a la Fendi?

Gareth Pugh is taking on menswear.

The very important and semi-surprising piece of information was kept under wraps until the official announcement of the Paris Men’s Fashion Week schedule yesterday. In the past month, Matthew Wiliamson, Carlos Miele, Christophe Decarnin and Roland Mouret have all announced plans to introduce menswear. Pugh, the least commercial of them all, will close the week with his show at Palais de Tokyo, the same venue in which he showed his women’s collection last September.

Pugh’s incorporated menswear into past collections but never produced a full line. We can’t help but picture a more masculine version of his Spring 09 collection - very tight, futuristic, entirely black and white and hopefully no where near Jay-Z’s next tour.

It’s a risky move - Fendi, Valentino and Marni have all cancelled their men’s shows thanks to the tanking economy and Zac Posen told WWD that he will absolutely not move forward with plans for a secondary line despite wanting to for years.

But Rick Owens, who with his wife Michelle Lamy has a 49% stake in Pugh’s brand and is also showing a full men’s collection in Paris, would rather we just go with it.

“Just come with an open mind,” he says.

No problem. A ticket to Paris, however, not so easily done.

Okay, so we know the Chanel 2.55 bag has been ripped off a thousand times on Canal Street, but we never thought a legitimate retailer would go near it.

We should’ve known better.

Topshop’s quilted cross body bag is made of 100% Polyurethane (google it, we did) yet still costs a kind of ridiculous $50. So, it must be especially well stitched, right? You’re not paying for the creative vision, because, seriously, everything from the quilting to the shape to the white and gold chain strap and the front closure screams Chanel.

It’s just two C’s short of being a flagrant rip-off.

Why would Topshop even bother copying such an iconic and recognizable design when they have a bajillion designers at their fingertips? It’s like J.Crew making a Fendi Spybag or H&M trying their hand at the Birkin.

There are some things that you just don’t mess with.

—HAYLEY PHELAN

I finally went to Saks on Friday.

I knew things were bad - I live in New York, I work in fashion, I have lawyer friends and retail friends and finance friends, a roommate from Detroit and parents who aren’t too far, sorry, weren’t too far, from retirement - but seeing Saks in worse shape than Union Square’s Trader Joe’s on Sunday afternoon was, basically, horrifying.

Where YSL bags and Chloe clutches proudly sat are stacks of crumpled $50 cashmere. Rolling racks fill almost every aisle, so stuffed with this season’s merchandise that you can’t possibly see anything without ripping it from the hanger. Marc by Marc Resort 2009 is already 40% off and I found Alexander McQueen sequined leggings on the floor. Someone wrapped Alaia belts vertically around a pole by the Oscar de la Renta and I spotted the Miu Miu dress Isabeli Fontana wore on last February’s runway crumpled in a ball underneath a 50% off buffalo plaid Ralph Lauren coat hanging from one shoulder.

And the shoe salon, the shimmering bastion of exotic footwear so recently honored with its own zip code, looks tragic underneath tumbling piles of shoes that used to cost $1000. If you can wade through the Stuart Weitzmans to the scratched up Fendis, Viviers and Balenciagas, good luck finding your size because the defeated sales people are holed up in the middle of the room, the only place with regularly priced shoes and the only area without a single customer.

I still couldn’t find the handbags anywhere and not a single employee knew what I meant when I said they weren’t in their usual home - probably because they’re temporary employees, (who by the way are wearing jeans on the floor, which is a sign everyone’s pretty much given up).

I left, pouting, not even tempted by $200 Prada shoes. I should’ve skipped the trip altogether so that if, or more likely when, they finally close their doors, I remember the old Saks instead of the outlet version.

Because even though I know how important it is to “get it,” denial’s so much more comfortable.

We were going to show you the new commercial for Fendi’s Palazzo fragrance.

It stars Raquel, Brad, sheets and nipples. But then we found this video documenting the making of the commercial, which also stars Karl. And everything’s better with Karl.

So here you go.

Raquel tries to look sexy in her white boyfriend tee. Well, she doesn’t actually have to try. She just does. And Brad gets to sleep while she poses against the wall, the balcony, the Italian Palazzo.

If only life were more like fragrance commercials, directed by Karl and full of perfectly smoked eyeliner all the time.

To: tips@Fashionista.com

From: boredintern@pretentiouslitmag.com

Hey guys and gals at Fashionista,

With all this talk over the relationship between magazines and advertisers, especially in the context of Bazaar and Estee Lauder with their new perfume, InStyle is lacking in discretion, too. You guys might want to take a look at the most recent issue with Rihanna.

There’s the Fendi ad with Raquel standing on a block, wearing ankle boots. Those SAME boots are then featured in an article on how to wear the same piece three times, or something like that. Pretty silly to style them only a few pages apart from an ad, leaving readers to think, “didn’t I just see those?”

Just call me boredintern@pretentiouslitmag or something.

Every day, we troll the online stores to know what’s cute, what’s ugly, and what’s just bad. And every day, we find ourselves staring directly into the face of Forever 21’s cap-locked logo.

So today, while doing my daily clicks, my dear friend Jyll glanced at my screen and exclaimed “Fendi rip-off!” It took me a second to notice, probably because the Fendi original walked the runway last Fall, which was basically like eons ago, but Jyll couldn’t have been more right.

The Forever 21 version on the right features nearly the same color-block design as the Fendi original, right down to the rectangle shape near the zipper that, in the Fendi, handily allows you to convert the clutch to a shoulder bag - but in the Forever 21, well, just tries to look like it’s the Fendi.

That being said, the cheaper colors are considerably uglier. The dark green and muted yellow look far less cute than Fendi’s original zippy yellow, blue and pink. Not to mention the cheap patent leather looks, well…

— HAYLEY PHELAN

—AUDREY SMITH