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}

Everybody’s been talking about Chairlift’s show at Saks this weekend.

And the four videos of the Brooklyn band wearing clothing and accessories from Marc by Marc Jacobs’ Fall 09 collection in which Chairlift members Aaron Pfenning, Patrick Wimberly and Caroline Polachek hang out in their native borough looking cool and making us jealous of their musical talents and attire.

New music, Marc Jacobs, and Saks is already a very exciting combo but that’s not even the best part.

Silver Fox: Jeffrey Monteiro’s resort collection’s already made its TV debut, courtesy of our noted girl crush, Kim Gordon performing on Jimmy Fallon. Though even a Sonic Youth appearance makes it hard for us to stomach that show. {StyleFile}

Invention Convention: Fashion’s most ethically minded innovators get recognized. Reading this cleared our palate of the NYC Prep aftertaste. {Vogue UK}

Urban Dips Into Sea of Shoes: What do you think of Jane Aldridge’s first collection for UO? We’re not in love, but that flat is kinda cute. {Refinery29}

Less is More: Or so Saks thinks for the upcoming year. Translation: if you want your size, you have to shop early…and don’t expect the discounts you’ve seen lately. {Bloomberg}

Yesterday, the big department store news late in the day was that Saks had to let go 1,100 members of its company, which is about 9% of its workforce, and announced that they may be closing some locations in the next year.

This was on top of Neiman Marcus having let go 375 people earlier this week.

But, Lord & Taylor, who just let go 100 employees, also just received $60 million from NRDC Equity Partners, L&T’s parent company, so they can continue to operate at cost (for as long as that lasts).

That might sound like a “bail-out,” but it also shows that NRDC, a New York-based private equity firm that basically thrives on acquiring operating companies, has confidence that Lord & Taylor will survive the recession, especially since its holiday sales weren’t nearly as dismal as most of its competitors (their December sales dipped 5%, as opposed to the average of about 25% as experienced by Saks and Neiman Marcus).

So, good news if you’re a fan of Lord & Taylor, not so good news if you’re on team Saks.

Both online and in stores.

A good thing? Or…

“Barneys has just bested Saks by increasing their markdowns to 75% off.” —Racked.

Julie Haus would like some interns, please.

You know her name because every time you zone out in Saks or Bloomingdale’s one of her brightly colored party dresses snaps you out of it.

If you’ve been wading through the PR and magazine internships because you actually want hands on design experience, this one’s for you.

Julie needs help producing her Fall 09 collection. So, if you have a basic knowledge of fabric, you pay attention to detail and are generally enthusiastic and available at least two days a week, email your resume and cover letter to mthompson@juliehaus.com.

The internship is unpaid, but they’ll sign off on your school credit and they’d love it if you could start now.

Also, if you know your way around the garment district, this will be a million times easier.

A series of scary information has lead us to consider that Saks may be headed into some especially difficult times.

Recently, it came out that Saks has cancelled several planned store renovations, and they announced that they’re “not opposed” to closing certain locations if shoppers continue to prove unwilling to spend money on premier designer booties.

The next day, Moody’s (the credit ratings agency you might remember from a couple weeks ago) announced they’d have to “review” Saks’ credit-grade rating - and we all know what can come from that.

Since then, Saks has mounted the biggest sale we’ve seen so far this holiday season, and introduced a new Major Purchase Account option for frequent shoppers (which is really just fancy speak for layaway, something Walmart brought back this holiday season, as well.)

And yesterday? We were told (albeit, randomly) that the Saks in Philadelphia may be closing very soon, which (obviously) no one can (read: will) confirm.

It’s no secret high-end department stores like Saks have been feeling shoppers’ money problems more so than other types of retailers, but could the words “bankrupt” or just “closing” be on the horizon for one of the country’s most iconic stores?

Stay tuned.

So we were flipping through the Saks Holiday Gift catalog this morning, when we came to page 168. Not too far away from the Oscar de la Renta robes and Diptyque soaps was a rack of lamb for $150. Next to that, mesquite smoked peppered beef tenderloin, for $130.

Now, we get the whole Target-inspired one stop shopping thing, but meat? From Saks?

Guess we missed them moving into the gourmet market.

But it’s comforting to know that, if pressed, we could get our Thanksgiving turkey for less than one of their candles.

Back when I was a beauty intern, I noticed something curious: the number one gifts to send to beauty editors are always the same - Picnic baskets, fluffy robes and flip-flops.

So we knew it was only a matter of time before somebody came up with this newest designer (makeup, that is) collaboration.

Trish McEvoy, Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier have all just designed their own pair of limited-edition Havaianas. They’ll be available at Saks the entire month of June, and all proceeds from each sale benefit charity: water.

The one at top is Laura Mercier’s design - click through to check out Bobbi Brown’s and and Trish McEvoy’s.

(We kind of wish these were coming with neon nail polish, but whatever.)

There’s been a lot of hype lately about Agyness getting her own mannequin from Rootstein.

So when we were tipped off that the life-size doll had already appeared in the windows of Saks, we had to check for sure - until now, we’ve been under the impression that the official unveiling of the mannequin will be at the party next Thursday.

But here she is, Miss Britain, a full week ahead of schedule.

We’re pretty sure that’s her - we’d recognize that hair anywhere - but if you’re skeptical, the window did in fact read “mannequin provided by Rootstein”.

Glad to see they didn’t strip her of her fashion sense. But wouldn’t it be funny to walk by when they change her outfit?

Stephanie Seymour is working overtime these days.

First, she was named the face of the French lingerie brand Chantelle, then she did an amazing spread for V followed by an entire issue of Pop that was literally too steamy for our front page, then she was named contributing fashion editor at Interview (we are anxiously awaiting for her interview with Alaia - you know it has to happen), and then she shot a Gap campaign alongside Shalom.

So what’s left?

A catalog, apparently. Saks’ fall preview book will feature Stephanie as the only model for all 63 pages, shot by Nathaniel Goldberg, Sebastián Faena and Jamie Isaia.

Memo to Vogue: She obviously wants to work a lot again, so please book her way in advance for next year’s shape issue. You know she’s the best choice!

What kind of friends would we be without letting you in on some of our coolest finds?

When Jazzi told us she’s been using a website called Ebates to get paid for shopping online, we were like, “Whatever” but after hearing her out, we thought, “Woah! this could really add up.” If you’ve heard of it, you love it, and if you haven’t, allow us to explain:

1. It’s basically a shopping savings account that very simply gives you back money for shopping. Most websites make money for referring you, but Ebates just shares the wealth.

2. All you have to do is sign up (10 seconds max), then shop directly at some of your favorite stores through a link on the Ebates website.

The hardest part is remembering to go through the Ebates when you feel like shopping, but they even have a “reminder tool” for that, so we’ve got zero complaints. And the perks? Well, money for shopping and referring friends, no spam, a lot of shopping options (sorry, no Net-a-Porter), plus you get a $10 gift card just for signing up. And the best part? More shopping, less guilt.

So if you feel like shopping on the likes of Nordstrom, Shopbop, Bloomingdale’s, Old Navy, Saks, Target, Zappos, Bluefly and YOOX - to name a few - at least make some cash doing it for, you know, more shopping.

We seriously just made $39.00 on some relatively small purchases we would have made anyway. Maybe it really is magic…

— JAZZI McGILBERT

Attention makeup collectors and unabashed logo whores:

Neiman Marcus still has a stash of the YSL lip gloss charms in stock, and you can buy them online.

The charms come filled with YSL Beaute color, but that’s obviously not the point -

The real deal is they’re attached to a chain-link bracelet, and stamped with the huge and coveted YSL logo.

The last time these charms debuted, at Saks, we saw them fly off the shelves faster than hot chocolate chip cookies, so forgive our astonishment, but here you go.

$56, plus shipping, if you order them online.

Did anyone else notice the science class captions in the news Saks ads?

We don’t know if it’s cute or weird, but Lanvin is begging for something like, “Grecco Floatium.”

Suggestions?

—BRETT KANE

Update: Last night at the COACD Christmas party, we heard from a reader about why Saks limits designer quantities: “My brother works at the Saks in Greenwich, and he says it’s because women from Thailand and Korea would come into the store and buy, like, 20 of the same nylon Prada bag. Then they go back home and have these Tupperware-style parties, where they resell the bags to their friends for twice the price.” Hmmm…

We all know if you want a Birkin or one of the Balenciaga blazers, you’ll have to sign a waiting list.

But we recently discovered that even some un-coveted items also have major restrictions.

Yesterday, a lot of you concurred that buying an expensive piece of luggage, like this Prada duffel bag, is stupid (and kind of silly.) And yet, you can see on Saks that its purchase is restricted to “no more than three units per customer every 30 days” due to popular demand. A quick search to see what other items are restricted reveals dozens of pages filled with similarly disgusting merchandise.

So who’s buying all this stuff, and in droves? We know there are more logo-driven shopping cultures out there, but we somehow doubt that they’re trolling Saks.com for slightly cheaper Gucci Moccasins.

And if you’re thinking people overseas buy Gucci, then turn around and sell it on Ebay, we’re not sure this theory holds water. We checked a few items on international eBay sites, and they either weren’t sold from another country, or they were going for much, much cheaper than retail.

Why the Prada embargo?

A problem with fashion is the relentless drive for “next.” Trends have to zoom; models must morph; editors try and churn pages of “the new” and “the fresh” and “the It” for fear of being left behind.

This is great for reinvention, and usually for business, but sometimes it puts young talent in a weird place.

Witness the case of Ashleigh Verrier, whose first collection - created as her senior thesis project at Parsons - got bought, in its entirety, by Saks. This was in 2004, when Tim Gunn was her thesis adviser and Proenza Schouler was her boss (she was their first-ever intern).

Soon, the 22-year-old was billed as an “up-and-coming” by magazines and newspapers, about a year after she could buy vodka. Now 26, Ashleigh is still younger than most emerging designers, with a sponsored show in Bryant Park and a list of celebrity clients fit for Page Six - not to mention a licensing deal in Japan that could grow her company and label.

Still, the “up-and-coming” title hasn’t vanished, despite newer newbies like Alexander Wang, Vena Cava, and Chris Benz (who shared several college classes with Ashleigh!) hitting the scene. “But I’m not complaining,” remarks the San Francisco native. “Sometimes, when I work with my seamstress, I feel like I’m still in grad school!”

Maybe - but does anyone in grad school make dresses for Courtney Cox?

Didn’t think so.