My love affair with thigh high boots has been well documented, but I promise this is it.

The search ended last night when I swung by Soho’s Max Azria store to meet a good friend.

(Full disclosure, tucked in my pocket was a gift card the nice people at Max sent sent pre-Fashion Week. I didn’t plan on using it; I’d save it for a rainy day and probably buy something boring like a black Herve mini-skirt because my wardrobe’s pretty boring, but yes, it did make it easier to take the plunge when part of it was paid for.)

When I saw these boots, it was all over.

After months of swooning for out of reach Prada and Stella and crying (not actually) over their less expensive counterparts that hung loosely from my thighs or wouldn’t even pull over my calves, I found the perfect pair. They’re slightly pebbled black leather with a dark wooden heel and the best part is, the two zippers (better seen here) are actually functional which means I just bought a pair of booties, a pair of knee-high boots and a pair of thigh-highs for the price of a single Stella shoe.

I’m headed to DC (for the first time ever) to meet my mom (in from Qatar) and my uber-conservative grandparents (in from California) and since a small part of me is actually in Paris, I think I’ll give them all a minor fashion heart attack.

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

1. Mickey Rourke, sipping on a Diet Coke and being swarmed by the press. The Wrestler was really, really good and I’m so glad he got his career back, but I still don’t get why he keeps popping up at fashion events. Also, I wish he was still super hot—like 9 1/2 Weeks hot.

2. Kelly Rowland and Tinsley were like fast front row friends. What were they talking about? Beyoncé’s embarrassment over that idiotic Kanye incident? European royalty and how to marry a prince? Career advice?

3. Gold medal gymnast Nastia Liukin being awkwardly ignored by most of the media while fidgeting in her front row seat. Does our country really care more about the Tinz than a world class athlete? Not that I really care what Nastia has to say about clothes…but it’s still kind of a sad state of affairs.

4. Lucy Liu, who I hope will get a new project soon so that I can finally cleanse my palette of that hideous Cashmere Mafia. Because I used to really like Lucy Liu.

5. Lots of neutrals and black. Lots of cut-outs. Lots of slashes in dresses. Lots of skin showing in patches. Lots of reasons for me to motivate to get to Bikram.

“That was fucking beautiful,” was Mischa Barton’s reaction to Max Azria’s latest collection for Herve Leger. Amanda Bynes, Hilary Duff, Tinsley, and Lissy Trullie also sat front and center, and right in front of me, causing my eyes to burn from the flashbulb frenzy.

Of course the pieces were super duper fitted. It is Leger after all. But I personally enjoyed the more neutral palette and that nothing felt like the same old straight up bandage dress. The use of denim as definitely an interesting change. This more bohemian, earthier thing kinda works for me.

And there was still plenty of red-carpet worthy cocktail wear to keep Young Hollywood sexily dressed, starving and filling the pages of US Weekly. The magazine’s Fashion Director, Sasha Charnin Morrison even had her twin boys (in “Sorry Girls I Only Date Models tees) front row snapping shots.

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.

Just when we thought that word of a possible Ungaro/Lohan pairing was as bad as we’d see this week in fashion meets Hollywood news, WWD tells us that Max Azria is partnering with Miley Cyrus for a juniors line that will sell at Wal-Mart.

While obviously this collaboration makes more sense to us, at least financially - Miley is a HUGE brand after all, albeit one that makes us grind our teeth and want to scream and juniors is certainly the right market - we just don’t think being famous and wearing clothes should mean that your own collection is the next step.

We’re so sorry, Max. But this does not make us happy. Especially when it means that we’ll probably be forced to see even more of Miley come Fashion Week in September.

Of course, we want to see brands succeed, but at what cost?

Reader Aaron sent us this documentary on the life of BCBG pre-Fashion Week.

The rough cut documentary gets up-close and personal with Lubov Azria, Max’s wife, as she heads to New York to prepare for three major fashion shows: BCBG, Max Azria and Herve Leger.

She discusses the importance of celebrities wearing their clothes and delves into the major differences between the three brands. It’s interesting to see, as an outsider, how six months of work culminates in ten minutes on a runway.

As for Max? His main point of discussion is his wife’s perfectionism. Between the two of them, it’s no wonder Herve’s revival’s been so wildly successful.

Parts II & III after the jump.

—CARSON GRIFFITH

There’s this wave of ‘celebrities’ that pop up for Fashion Week though they do nothing else year round.

Joy Bryant writes for Starworks and cameos on Rachel Zoe’s show; Rachel Bilson wears Margiela and dates Hayden Christensen; Alison Bree is actually on Mad Men but just whines the whole time; so imagine how exciting it is when someone like Alicia Keys, someone who actually does something, pops up in the front row.

Last night at Max Azria she stole all the paparazzi attention and I kind of wished we were there to hear her sing instead of watch another version of the BCBG collection parade on by. There was velvet, again, and strangely cut drapey gowns over turtleneck bodysuits and long leather sleeves with lace collars. There was, I swear, the same beaded embroidery that Justin Timberlake used at William Rast and more Balmain shoulders.

The collection was more rock n’ roll than seasons past - in fact it was basically Herve Leger without the must-use-bandage restrictions. The white lace numbers and Tinsley’s bangs were the highlight for me.

As for Alicia, that opening jacket is begging to be on stage.

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

Someone besides Carine is majorly crushing on Chrisophe Decarnin’s designs for Balmain.

Mr. Azria paid tribute to the cult designer with peaked shoulder and slivers of sparkles on very rock star dresses. This was a much harder side of Herve Leger and the best of it belonged on the crowd that spends its nights partying in Paris, not the crowd sitting in the front row.

The Herve show always brings out an eceletic collection of television ‘starlets’. This year offered Sophia Bush, Michelle Trachtenberg, Lucy Liu, one of the new 90210 chicks, Joy Bryant and much to my Mad Men obsessive delight, a glowing January Jones.

They may not be the A-list, but they were a good group of girls to have around when taking a tumble on the runway. Not one, but two models spilled in their spiked platforms. They laughed, the crowd cheered and all was well in the land of commercial fashion.

As for the clothes? Lots and lots of sparkles, rough textures, bandaged dresses, of course, and cut-outs which are apparently the new sheer.

First girl to wear the one-shouldered disco ball get up gets a star in our book.

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST