A note on costume selection:

We happen to love watching shows where the on-set stylist clearly cares about everything the characters wear - this is a big reason for the success of SATC with fashion fans everywhere, needless to say.

But we also get kind of upset when the stylist steps out of the reality created within the show, and chooses something the character would not be caught dead in if she were really real.

This week on the fashion favorite Gossip Girl, it was the purple halter dress gasped at around the world, as seen on Vanessa who would clearly be far too proud to wear anything so Vegas. On an upcoming episode is Blair’s ensemble, above, in which she wears Uggs, which we assume means the entire UES is going to be overtaken by Ice-nine, making Blair want to play a joke on god for her final hurrah.

Even though this landed in our Inbox with the clear sentence “photo taken while filming,” we’re secretly hoping this is somehow just a shot taken on set where everyone looks like they’re acting but they’re really just between scenes - because really, we just want a little consistency in our sartorial fiction.

Don’t ask why, but I recently had to create an avatar - a character/person (for those not in the virtual gaming world) - in Second Life. Then, after some minor Googling, I entered this vast world of virtual fashion - think people creating full clothing lines, garnering major “celebrity” (in the meta way) attention, and actually making money (in the real, cold hard cash way) off of it.

If you’ve never heard of dresses from Simone!, lingerie from Insolence, or stilettos from Shiny Things, it’s ok, neither had we. Not only are these virtual designers getting a virtual (but still real) audience, but some big name, real designers are too - Armani has his own virtual boutique, and Jean-Paul Gaultier used the virtual world as a platform for launching his “Fleur du Mâle” fragrance through a VIP event that gave invitees access to a new Second Life area.

We even found Second Style Fashionista (we’re so happy to get a mention in the virtual world), where a woman has been wandering “all over the grid” - Second Life speak for looking all over the place - in search of a wedding dress!

If all this seems too fake to be real, you might remember that story about a real-life couple divorcing over Second Life. So just remember - if you’re actually into this, and you think there aren’t any real-life consequences to donning a puce, sequined tube dress in your Second Life, think again.

—ALEXANDRA BEN-GURION