This morning’s Times tells of more bad news for Condé Nast, or rather actual numbers on news we already knew would be ugly. The company’s ad pages are down by 1/3 or 8359 pages. W is one of the worst hit, down by 46%. Oof, that’s definitely gotta hurt.

We’re all well aware of the cost-cutting that’s already gone on. So what to do next to get readers and advertisers excited?

Apparently InStyle thinks it has an idea. Its December Taylor Swift cover has a 3-D component wherein you hold up the magazine to a webcam and see a 45 second video of Taylor surrounded by snowflakes.

The 3-D theme continues inside with a bunch of advertiser participants like Michael Kors and YSL Beauté. We’re not quite sure exactly how this works since we don’t have the actual issue in hand, but according to WWD there are click-to-buy features and videos. And it sounds like the advertisers are pretty jazzed about it…at least for now.

The dark days of print publishing have hit every player in the industry. Some harder than others but no one has been spared from a massive downturn in ad sales and loads of layoffs. This week is expected to bring another large wave at Time Inc.

Mediaweek is reporting that in response the heads of many of the big publishing houses (including Jann Wenner, Ann Moore of Time Inc, and Cathie Black from Hearst) are talking about getting together for a marketing campaign aimed at, well, saving print.

At this point, we don’t think this is the worst idea, though it could lead to some random cross-promotions. But combining resources really never hurt anybody. So let’s get Condé and Hachette on board too and get innovative. You can’t throw old ideas at this problem.

We can’t wait to see what they come up with.

If you’re anything like us, many fourth-grade afternoons were spent discussing hairstyles seen in Teen magazine, and pretending you were actually going to do all those at-home beauty spa treatments (this is more than a decade before Teen turned into Star-lite) performed by the fresh-faced models you totally thought you were going to look like once you hit junior high.

So we’re a little sad to learn that Hearst is folding Teen (along with Teenmag.com) to “focus” on Teen’s slightly trashier big sister, Seventeen.

Now with CosmoGIRL! also out of the picture, that pretty much leaves Teen Vogue and Seventeen to duke it out for the teen market.

The Hearst Corporation is looking for the next standout (and as of yet undiscovered), bust out photographer, and their doing it in competition style.

They’ve just announced the beginning of their Hearst 8 x 10 Photography Biennial Competition, for which photographers with at least 2 years of professional experience can apply for the chance to be one of eight lucky winners whose work ends up showcased in the Hearst Tower lobby - and smack in front of the eyes of judges like David Granger, Donna Karan, Peter Lindbergh, and a few other people capable of making a young photographer’s career a living possibility.

You can apply between now and January on the competition’s site.

And good luck - we could use more than oases backdrops and hopping models in our magazines.

We thought Gwyneth Paltrow’s July Bazaar cover was just a very delayed reaction to Iron Man - turns out it’s part of a 40-page Estée Lauder campaign that continues within the magazine, just barely disguised as editorial.

The cosmetic giant placed the four faces of their new perfume, Sensuous, throughout the issue, even though the actual ads don’t debut until fall. The move means a priceless Gwyneth cover for Bazaar and an insane amount of advertising for Estée Lauder before their ads, (which also feature Elizabeth Hurley, Carolyn Murphy and Hilary Rhoda), even hit.

This weekend, The New York Times asked if the partnership meant Hearst, (which owns Bazaar) was selling out, before admitting that it’s actually a pretty smart move.

This morning, WWD reports an even cooler partnership between Marie Claire, (which is also owned by Hearst) and Ray-Ban. The two have commissioned five New York City artists to create billboards to promote Ray-Ban’s new colored Wayfarers. And the magazine will also run three times more Ray-Ban ads this year than ever before.

The symbiotic relationship between fashion magazines and fashion advertisements has been losing steam as circulation has slowed for print publications and more companies turn to online advertising. So while at first these ad campaigns, whether subliminal like Estée Lauder’s or in your face like Ray-Ban’s, seemed a bit desperate, we actually think they’re kind of cool - especially when real artists are getting into the mix and what used to be a boring ad gets taken to a new creative level.

We actually kind of love it, and we’re sure Andy Warhol’s probably giggling in his grave.

Spotted: Nina Garcia leaving the Hearst building, sprinting across the street before hailing a cab and trying to avoid eye contact with anyone as she left. Stay tuned.

I’ve always meant to donate my prom dresses to someone or some organization.

But I never know where or how, so my closet still houses one long, red gown and one short, black dress that I thought made me look exactly like Audrey Hepburn. I promised my parents I’d wear both again and again, but I’m pretty sure they’re still in their dry cleaning bags.

Thankfully, Hearst Magazines is launching a new website called DonateMyDress.org because not everyone can “look like the cast of ‘Gossip Girl’ at prom.”

It links all the national charities for recycling formal gowns. If all it takes is typing in a zip code to locate the closest drop off, there’s no reason to hang on to too small prom dresses.

So give them your Jessica Mclintock and who knows? Karma in the form of an Alexander McQueen gown would be very welcome.