Love Strong: To sit front row this season, you needed an invite and an Eddie Borgo spike bracelet. If we’re taking trend cues from Rihanna (and really, who isn’t) you’re going to need a gauntlet come February. Meanwhile, the spike bracelet’s still sitting on top of my Christmas list. {Barneys}

Double Duty: Marios Scwhab and Raf Simons discuss designing their own line while designing another. The former thinks designing Halston brings something new to his own label while the latter switches on and off between Jil Sander and his eponymous collection. {VogueUK}

Color Us Surprised: Claudia Schiffer wants her own line. As my mom would say, “If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you really feel the need to do it, too?” {Telegraph}

The Styled Life: Keegan Singh might be a bit young for a retrospective, but who doesn’t want to stare at his Abbey Lee/Rodarte shoot from The Last Magazine over and over again? {TheMalcolm}

We all know the Roady is the newest member of the YSL family to cause a commotion among handbag addicts. It’s already being toted around by the likes of Rihanna, Rachel Bilson, Leighton and of course, MK. I have admired the hobo carryall from a distance on their arms, and on mine in my daydreams.

The bag already comes in a bunch of colors and patents, but YSL is taking it to the next level in New York and Los Angeles by offering clients the chance to purchase a customized Roady for the holidays.

From November 19th through December 1st, boutiques will have artisans on-hand to customize the handles of your Roady. You can choose from a bunch of different skins and colors, for a total of 29 different handle options. The handles will be changed on-site and ready for pick-up the next day! And if you’re just dying to monogram your bag, you can do that too, for free even.

More on pricing and options after the jump!

I’m still obsessed with the Alexander Wang corset dress from his pre-fall collection - the one that’s made the rounds from Rihanna to Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, and sold out almost as quickly as the Coco Duffel.

So is Bebe. They’ve created an exact copy of the dress for their upcoming Holiday line.

I spotted this impostor as soon as I opened my November issue of Elle. My heart broke a little bit when I saw this ad sprawled across two whole pages. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, since Bebe’s garnered quite the reputation for their ‘designer-inspired’ clothing, but there is nothing “inspired” about this.

I know a bit about clothes and maybe kind of a lot about shoes, but when it came to sunglasses, I was clueless.

Until last week when I spent the morning at Silver Lining Opticians. It’s a hole in the wall on Thompson Street run by Jordan Silver and Erik Sacher and an absolute mecca of vintage frames.

But before I really got it, I needed a tutorial. Here’s how he explained it to me: In the early 80s, a man named Leonardo Del Vecchio started offering designers the opportunity to license eyewear. Before then, designers had treated the accessory as an extension of their ready-to-wear collection. For example, Christian Dior was one of the first brands to offer eyewear and he made super high quality frames that correlated to the kind of product on his runway. But Luxottica gave designers an “easy option,” and over the years production quality’s steadily declined.

Dear Rihanna,

Hi, it’s us checking in again. Today’s topic: your lips. Because we’re in the market for something new to try and frankly your sartorial choices of late aren’t really office-appropriate, you know with the transparent tops and all.

So imagine our glee (another current obsession!) when you popped up in Paris with pretty purple lips. Those shots of you at the shows in not one, but two, different shades of that royal color made us imagine we could do it too. It’s like an evolved version of the black shades that we’ve already moved on from.

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

At the Balmain show this morning in Paris, Twitter was again on fire. From Derek “@dizzyblazeberg” Blasberg’s: “‘This is some hooker military shit,’ the stylist next to me observed” and “It’s a slutty sexy tent city over here” to @TheMoment’s “Savage Balmain! Think G.I. Jane meets Cher! Super sexy- again.”

And then we came to Joe Zee’s TwitPic of the sequined jeans. We’ve seen lots of sequins already this season, but I can only recall one other, Ralph Lauren, that involved a pair of jeans. I believe I stand alone at the office in liking this particular Ralph look (and the entire collection for that matter.) But I cannot be swayed. The sequins on those jeans are cool.

Now the Balmain version is of course much flashier, and will indeed cost a phenomenal amount more money. But these are definitely going to be all over the Beyoncés and Rihannas of the world. Riri even watched them go by in person from the front row.

And granted there could be some ugly trickle down versions that happen that happen as a result of this trend. But I’m on board so far. What about you?

Tanya Jones, 27, Stylist from Milan

Got her: Sitting pretty at Gareth Pugh. It’s the first big Paris show, so everyone’s happy.

Stalked her: Her stripes, boyfriend blazer and tortoiseshell glasses were effortless prep, but that red lip gave her a much needed edge.

Shot her: Because amongst all the Rihanna and Daphne Guinness and crazy London cool kid mayhem at Gareth, she stood out as being very relaxed about it all.

She said: “I just arrived in Paris today, so this is my traveling outfit, it’s comfy, it’s jersey. This is not a look for a show.”

We said: If that isn’t a look, then we are doing something seriously wrong.

—REBECCA SUHRAWARDI AUSTIN

Gareth Pugh grew up a bit in Paris yesterday.

What came down the runway at the Palais de Tokyo was undoubtedly him - tight tailoring and construction mixed with extremity and androgyny - but this time it was softer, gauzier.

Cool slate tones took the place of his usual black and white palette and sheer lightweight fabrics draped his models where weighty materials once ruled. His collection was still beautiful, still out there, but more approachable, even if veiled in typical Pugh drama. The show started with copious amounts of smoke, dramatic lighting, loud music and featured massive feathered headdresses throughout.

A handful of bloggers in the audience were less than thrilled; one declared it “too commercial.” But those bloggers are off their rocker. Adrian Grenier and Rihanna might have sat front row, but Rick Owens and Michelle Lamy were still there countering their pop celebrity and the collection was one of Gareth’s best.

Of course, sitting across the aisle from Anna Dello Russo was a slight distraction, but no complaints from me.

—REBECCA SUHRAWARDI AUSTIN

Super Models! Paris gets all Comic-Con with their show packages. Iselin, Vlade, Hanne Gaby, and Iris will save the world from evil henchmen! {Fashionologie}

Panty Raid: Eric Wilson’s number three trend of NYFW, Spanx. Well, really briefs, outside the clothes. Linda Wells finds it “perfectly insane”. We’ll respectfully agree to disagree. {NY Times}

To Milan They Go: Apparently it’s sweltering, but Mr. Armani really brought the goods to kick things off. Think flouncy dresses and lots of flats. And then came the D&G cowgirls. Yee-haw! {Joe Zee’s Twitter}

Hair God: Bumble’s Jimmy Paul is often the person behind the runway’s coolest hairstyles. You’ve probably copied something he created more than once. Here’s how he spent NYFW. {Vogue Daily}

There’s been much buzz on the interwebs about Rihanna’s Italian Vogue couture shots by Steven Klein. The nudity! The bondage! The muzzle! While I generally think the pictures are all-around fabulous, I couldn’t help but focus on her practically opaque white lips in this particular shot.

I also just spotted a chalky pink version of this lip in the September issue of Russh. Instantly I had flashbacks to my middle school days of Revlon’s Silver City Pink, Zinc Pink, and Frosted Brownie. These three shades were must-wears for all of my friends, skin tone be damned.

Given that my skin is pale to the point of translucent at times, I don’t see how I could pull off either of these two examples. But what about you guys? Should we all start mixing a little white into our favorite matte shades this fall? Maybe I’ll give it a try with one of my darker hues and see how it goes.

What do you think? Can the editorial trend translate?

The new Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye tune is definitely my new jam. I’ve been listening to it on repeat all week long. And now I’m officially obsessed with the video. And you know how much we love Rihanna around here, and as usual she looks amazing.

Stylistically, it’s very urban Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The major sartorial theme seems to be covering up, with blacked out sunglasses, hoodies, bandanas, hats. But what really caught my eye is this hat with the netting over Rihanna’s eyes. It’s like a little touch of Parisian chic thrown into this really rough setting. Like much of what Riri wears, I don’t think I could really pull it off, though if I tried, I’m thinking evening with a LBD.

Also of note, her wicked long pointy nails and serious finger jewelry. Practical? No. Sexy? In their own deadly way, yes.

Plus Jay-Z namechecks Margiela. And that’s pretty awesome too.

Cameron Diaz, Leo Di Caprio, Mickey Rourke, Rihanna, Russell Crowe, Pharrell Williams, Michelle Williams, Jude Law - no hang on, Jude lives here….so apart from him, what are all these Hollywood’ers doing in London?

Looks like school is out in LA, as they seem to have descended en masse. Of course, the tabbies are having a ball speculating whether Cameron is here with her new “boyfriend” Leo di Cap, or if she’s dating Jude Law, who she hooked up with in the nightclub Movida. (A weird choice to be sure - it’s a bit bridge and tunnel.)

She will be happy to know, however, that Kate Moss’s hairdresser/bestie, James Brown, has finally opened up a salon in London. His staff charges, well, a snip - only £55. But to get the man himself, you need to be prepared to fork over £500.

You know we love the pantsless look. Many hate on Lady Gaga. I, however, am not one of them and happen to like what she’s brought to the pop-culture forefront.

But, really, how far are you willing to undress in the name of dressing?

Between the Dior couture show yesterday - in all its garter-ed and sheer glory - and the fact that Rihanna went out over the weekend in pasties and a blazer, we started asking ourselves the same question.

Now, of course, having a supremely stellar figure (or not) does probably weigh into this decision.

But even in a purely hypothetical sense, I think I’m going to have to say yes to garters (though I think I’ll take the sheer skirt over the top) and no to the pasties. Because, well, they’re pasties and that’s just too far. Plus no one needs to see me like that. Seriously.

What about you?

Okay, Ciara isn’t exactly a new singer on the scene, but people are starting to talk about her real potential to become a new musical style icon, à la Beyoncé, Lady Gaga or Rihanna. We’re not so sure.

We liked the “Love Sex Magic” video, but not totally because of its style. Well, we dug the zebra print jumper, and the white leotards were classy, and the girl is seriously bend-y in serious heels. But mostly it was insanely sexy and our heart stopped a little when she licked Justin Timberlake’s ear. But we were excited to see what she was bringing to the table this time around.

Dear Rihanna,

I don’t know much about your music. Mostly because I tend to pick up on music from the boys in my life and yours aren’t exactly their go-to tunes. But you’re on my radar (because I don’t live under a rock) and I’m digging your sartorial choices.

I know you have a red carpet/video/tour stylist, but I’m pretty sure when you walk out of the house in something like the Chris Kane dress at left, you’ve thrown it on all by yourself. Between that and your Stella sailor cardigan, the slouchy bag with which you dressed down that Alex Wang dress, your Balmain touches and this necklace you’re rocking all over NYC, we’re impressed.

So please wear more Chris Kane, check out Charles Anastase and maybe grab one of Marios Schwab’s 3D dresses? Also Ann D’s ribcage belt probably has your name etched along the spine and we’d love to see you in some Rodarte knits.

In closing, thank you for branching out where so many wear faded white tees and leggings - you’re like Michelle Obama for the Hollywood set and we kind of love you for it.

The first sample sale I ever went to, Stella McCartney’s in London four years ago, was a true sample sale.

They’d never had one and were anxious to clear out their archives. Translation: racks and racks of things that had never seen a runway, only seen a runway, half-finished, half ripped-apart treasures that I wish I’d bought more of.

Now, everything’s a sample sale.

So Abaeté’s going old school and hosting a proper sample sale of their archives and actual samples back from celebrity loans including this Rachel Bilson dress and the Rihanna swimsuit at left.

They’re kicking it off with a silent auction and cocktail party, open to the public, at 117 Crosby Street on June 17th at 6pm (rsvp@abaete.com). The rest of the dates are here.

Rihanna was spotted last week rocking a dangerously sexy Noir ring that first debuted at Barbie’s 50th Anniversary fashion show.

Turns out she saw the spiky sparkler on designer Phillipe Blond at a party for BFF Katy Perry’s new music video before and just had to know where to get one.

We love the trickle down effect from Barbie to Phillipe to Rihanna.

Celebrities and designers and dolls, they’re just like us: sharing fashion finds with friends.