Joyce Culver, 92nd Street Y“Fashion advertisements are hateful,” said Isaac Mizrahi at tonight’s 92nd Street Y panel discussion on the future of fashion, “but they work.”

Glamour’s Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive moderated the talk between The Washington Post’s Robin Givhan, Ashley Olsen and Isaac. The group discussed Michelle Obama, the economy, Ralph Lauren’s ad scandal, fast fashion and the fate of platform heels while Mary-Kate Olsen and Justin Bartha cheered from a few rows back.

Robin and Isaac spent the first ten minutes relishing the First Lady’s effect on the fashion industry. Robin heralded the example she’s setting “for women over thirty with busy careers and families who feel disenfranchised from fashion,” while Isaac finds her balance of mass and high fashion “so inspirational.”

Cindi asked the group why the fashion industry is so hated and Robin brilliantly responded that people have no problem condescending to fashion because it’s a women’s industry.

“No one ever says spending thousands of dollars on season tickets for football is a waste of money, but spending $5000 on a dress…” to which Isaac almost jumped out of his chair in agreement.

“Right on! Misogyny rears its ugly head again!”

If you see anyone from Condé Nast today, make sure and give them a hug, or at least a pat on the back.

It feels like the publishing house, home to Vogue, W, Glamour, Vanity Fair, Lucky, has been suffering through layoffs and cutbacks for ages. Two weeks ago they cut dozens of employees on the business side, but this week, they’ve begun their editorial liquidation.

Yesterday came word they let almost twelve Glamour editors go including Deputy Editors Ellen Seidman and Maryellen Gordon, both of whom been with the magazine for over ten years. Today, WWD announces that both Executive Fashion Editor Candy Pratts Price and Contributor Laird Borrelli-Persson will leave Style.com.

We had to read the sentence about four times to really believe it. Candy, who got her start at Vogue in the 80’s, is the kind of the core of Style.com. When her contract’s up in 2010 we’ll be out daily doses of her creative humor, CandyCasts and brilliant eye. WWD mentions that she’ll devote more time to Vogue, but given the state of things that might not be the best backup plan.

Right On: Tabitha Simmons styled a great mini-shoot with the 2009 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists. There are actors (Sebastian Stan), there are models (Lily Donaldson), there are designers (Patrick Ervell) and there are really great clothes. {Vogue}

Best Dressed: Nora & Delia Ephron talk about their new Broadway play, Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which they adapted from Ilene Beckerman’s book. They reflect on Saks, I. Magnin, Audrey Hepburn and the magic of the perfect outfit. {Glamour}

Sex Sells: We’d kind of forgotten about the Sex and the City sequel, but now Penelope Cruz is in it and we’re suddenly really interested. Whoever dressed in her in that head-to-toe Rick Owens look the other night could give Pat a run for her money. {Grazia}

WTF: Pamela Anderson apparently used a random nine-year-old girl to hold up her train all night at an awards show. Um, and referred to her as her “daughter” and made her sit at her feet? Well, that’s the weirdest part of the day so far. Other than the fact that I was on the Fox News site. {FoxNews}

Today could end up being a very big day at Condé Nast. And likely not in good way. I fear that as I type, there may be a slew of people getting their pink slips. But one headline I really wasn’t expecting to see this morning was that the company was launching a dating site.

What the what? According to Vogue UK, Condé Nast International has launched TrulyMadlyDating.com and it’s linked in to Glamour, GQ, and even Vogue’s websites. (There’s an option on the profile sign up that names them as partner sites.)

The article states that the site is meant to “unite glamorous girls with fashion-conscious GQ-reading boys to create matches made in style heaven.” I have a ton of friends in and out of the fashion and magazine business who have had tremendous success with internet dating. But I’m sorry, our industry is really the last place I’m looking to for set-ups. I love the mix of people that I get to work with, but c’mon I don’t really think of it as the go-to place for straight men, not that those are the only pairings that the site can offer up…just the ones I would be in the market for.

Also, really Condé? This is how you’re diving into the internet business in a big way? I simply don’t understand this use of resources or what on earth it has to do with your core business. If someone else can explain it to me, please do.

A quarter. 25%. That’s the big budget cut number supposedly hanging over the heads of editors and publishers at 4 Times Square, according to an article today in The New York Observer. That’s a mighty chunk, huge even.

“There will be significant layoffs. Significant,” said one company source in the story. Well, yeah, I’d think so. And I hate that people are going to lose their jobs, but I think that some of the bloated mastheads at magazines like, ahem Glamour, are easily the first place one looks when making cuts. This is the kind of economic climate where a 23 person fashion department really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. According to the Observer, the entire editorial staff of Details is only 35 people.

Labor Day weekend used to mean back to school shopping. Now it means beer and BBQs and maybe, if we can stand it, back to Fashion Week shopping.

But if you’re still looking for a valid excuse to spend money in the next few days, how about for charity?

Each October, Glamour asks six designers to participate in their Fashion Gives Back project. This year, they’re recruited Jason Wu, Alejandro Ingelmo, jewelry designer Pamela Love, Brian Reyes, Bensoni, and Lorick, (Abigail, of Gossip Girl fame) to design a series of limited edition totes. They range from sketchy black lines from Wu to a dreamcatcher heart from Love and are exclusively available at Bloomingdales.

At $35, they’re not only affordable, but adorable. And the best part is one hundred percent of the proceeds go to Dress for Success.

Unless of course you are still in school, in which case these are way cooler than the last book bag we carried.

Now You’re Talking: Here’s a peek at Numero’s September issue. R’el Dade and Mélodie Dagault were shot by photographer Greg Kadel. It’s super hot & super NSFW. {Models}

How to Glam: Glamour’s launching a new video feature on their site. It’s called 20 Outfit Ideas from America’s Most Stylish People and includes commentary from Phillip Lim, Karl Lagerfeld, Rachel Zoe, Jason Wu and more. You can watch the preview & sign up for the daily videos now. {Glamour}

On Repeat: Keira Knightley’s latest Mademoiselle ads for Chanel look a lot like the last ones- pretty, and strategically naked. {Egotastic}

Lucky Duckie: Style Rookie, Tavi Williams, video taped the Rodarte for Target preview this morning while editors were sworn to secrecy. {Lucky}

Oh Hello: Ed Westwick’s celebrity crush is Scarlett Johansson. He also likes low-top sneakers and laments the fact that Chuck Bass has a billion dollars and he doesn’t. {NylonTV}

Drama Feed: Dolce & Gabanna’s AW09 campaign features lots of models, lots of Marilyn dresses, lots of fur and lots of dresses that we’d really love to have (especially if they come with one of the male models.) {Models}

Strap This: According to Garance, because according to the Italians, everyone needs a little strapless dress this summer, worn with flats during the day. This, we love. {Garance}

So What?: There’s a dude from Kentucky who diets so that he can walk for Cavalli and Co. He only eats twice a day. Mon dieu! {NYTimes}

Talking Cats: Mad-libs with Catherine Holstein. She loves cut-offs as much as we do, all things purple, dogs and shoes. {Glamour}

Twittered: In case you missed it, here’s a tweet by tweet account of Anna Wintour’s 92Y talk last night. It started with Peta and ended with Andre’s blogging. {NYMag}

Dig Deep: Ali from The City gets questioned. She really likes Splenda and scented candles and ended up on the show after Adam was cast. {Nylon}

Suzy Says: Suzy Menkes took a trip to SF. Alas, she doesn’t have time for tweets. {FabSugar}

Ok, the Glamour beauty department wins the prize of Most Unforgettable Blog Post ever. Seriously.

There was a mini-debate going on in the comments section of a Paris post.

One person decreed that blogs aren’t press and therefore shouldn’t sit in the press section of a show while another pointed out that we obviously aren’t buyers which together puts us in a rather awkward category. Blogs are, according to most publicists, considered press, and our seating assignment is usually a testament to that classification.

However, this season we noticed a new seating trend pop up. For the first time, those reporting for blogs and magazines’ online departments were often seated together which meant we had daily run-ins with reporters from Elle.com, Papermag.com, Glamour.com, Showstudio, DazedDigital, Fashionologie and more.

For example, at Marios Schwab, bloggers had their own Front Row section (alongside the Conde section, the ELLE section, etc), which created a real commune-style discussion of, “Well, I can’t report this for my site, but you totally should use what I heard earlier!” Fun, and certainly effective for spilling your thoughts onto Twitter in mere minutes.

Which makes us wonder, are the days of acting like bloggers aren’t real media members finally over? Because it looks like they are, at least in fashion. Especially now, when major editors from The Times are tweeting and Vogue editors like Filipa Fino are writing for Vogue Daily and WWD posts multiple times a day. We’re just saying, the line is getting awfully blurry.

We knew there’d be good Fashion Week news eventually: Full Frontal Fashion might’ve been cancelled but you’ll still be able to get a behind-the-scenes look at New York Fashion Week via a new TV show called Videofashion Daily.

They’ll be covering shows on and off site - from Rag & Bone in Chelsea to Narciso Rodriguez at the tents - from February 15th to the 26th.

No word on a front row host, though backstage beauty coverage will be led by Glamour’s Editor-at-Large Suze Yalof Schwartz. Fabiola’s got her New York Magazine front row act down pat, so it’ll need to be someone equally bubbly and nice. Suggestions?

The show will air on NYCTV from 9 - 11pm every night. Full schedule after the jump.

Fact: Fashionista hearts Cintia Dicker, the gorgeous flame-haired model at left.

Fact: So does Glamour, who’s given Cintia her own shoot in their February “Man Issue,” just a few months after her own spread in their October.

We have no idea why she’s such a good fit for an issue on men, but it hits newsstands January 6th, so we’ll all figure it out together on Tuesday.

Model resolution, 2009: More Cintia in more magazines - please!

Full spread, after the jump!

If you thought the magazine industry’s problems only existed in the US, here’s some info for your news diet:

Glamour just folded before it could even launch in Australia.

The magazines was licensed from Conde Nast by News Limited (the Rupert Murdoch-owned subsidiary of News Corporation with a big presence in Australia) but has been shut down before their planned March debut issue could start, due to the “downturn in advertising and falling magazine sales.”

Fifteen staffers are affected by this, and the launch is postponed “indefinitely.”

Looks like the Model.Live series proved very successful for Conde Nast.

They’ve just announced an ongoing partnership with video publishing platform Brightcove, for at least five of their magazine sites (Wired, Portfolio, Self, Parade and Glamour).

Translation? You’re about to see a lot more video content on Conde sites, powered by lots of advertising from companies that are leery of sinking their dollars into print pages, especially since even Conde magazines haven’t been doing very well.

It’s no secret that Conde’s kind of been behind in terms of getting their websites up to 2008 standards (though they’ve recently made strides by hiring a bevy of blogging babes over at Glamour) so this definitely signals a shift in their approach to survival.

So does this move from one of the biggest media companies in the world signal a shift in how the magazine industry itself needs to operate to survive (sans network television)? Guess we’ll see.

Starting October 13th, NYLON will have a new Beauty Director, Holly Siegel.

Holly, formerly Senior Editor of ELLEgirl.com, followed by a brief stint at Bellasugar, will be replacing longtime Beauty Director Fiorella Valdesolo, who’s starting a serious freelancing career for Glamour.com and others, in addition to continuing her work for NYLON.

We happen to know that Holly’s a very fun girl who certainly knows her Avon from her Aveda, so congratulations to her.

Here’s a media shake-up that’s sure to make some people go, “huh?”

Glam.com’s picked up Nola Weinstein, who, up until this past Friday, was the Associate Editor at The Daily.

So does this mean actual fashion coverage on a site that’s usually more about how to look slimmer in a tube dress?

Stay tuned.

Ever dreamed of the day when buying one of your favorite designers’ bags actually helped to make the world a better place?

Well, thanks to Glamour, this day has come. The magazine, through their Fashion Gives Back program, has asked Doo.Ri, Loeffler Randall, Subversive, Band of Outsiders, Chris Benz, and 3.1 Phillip Lim to each design a unique tote bag made of 100% organic cotton, and of course the best part is, 75% of all profits will go to Global Green USA.

We can’t imagine a better way to give to charity than by treating ourselves to a new book bag. And can you think of a cuter way to pick out your lettuce than with Phillip Lim’s kissy face? And I believe Band of Outsiders’ design is actually based on the inside of my purse, hair clips and all.

If this sounds like the cutest route to philanthropy, head to Henri Bendel some time tomorrow or this week - we have a feeling these will sell out quick!

—HAYLEY PHELAN

What we’re about to tell you might make you really sad, it might make you really angry, but please know that no one’s more devastated than us:

We got locked out of Alexander Wang’s show yesterday.

There we were, with some very angry sponsors, some very important people from Elle and Interview, some crucial buyers and some friends from Glamour, and about twenty other people, huddling under the 6-inch awning begging, pleading, about-to-be-crying with the hefty security guard who had strict orders not to let anyone, no one, else into the show.

The invite said 5 pm and we arrived at 5:20, which, if you’ve never been to a fashion show, is politely prompt. However, it’s bright and fucking early if there’s a tropical storm raging through Chelsea and knee-high puddles on every corner congesting the entirety of 10th Avenue. We thought to ourselves, Who actually made it in there this early? And why did they start so close to time?

We saw the pictures on Style.com and will begrudgingly admit, it was a pretty amazing collection.

But we’re still mad.

At least Anna made it in - it was her first time to see his show…