Last night Barneys debuted their new holiday windows—an homage to Saturday Night Live (which is currently celebrating its 35th year on the air.)

Simon Doonan and team have created papier-mâché tributes to favorite characters from over the years including the Coneheads, Mary Katherine Gallagher, Roseanne Roseannadanna, Pat, Gilly, Amy Poehler doing “Weekend Update”, and of course Tina doing Sarah Palin. There are tons of cool little details to be found in the windows and we definitely suggest checking them out the next time you’re uptown.

O-Style: For anyone who wants to truly follow Michelle Obama’s style choices there’s been one go-to site, Mrs-O.org. Now, blogger Mary Tomer’s got her own book on the First Lady that looks to be equally well-done. Also, we love the Alaia in this first official family portrait. {StyleFile}

Hands off our DvF: For shame, criminals of Madrid. Diane von Furstenberg was mugged this weekend in the Spanish city. Though we’re sure AmEx hooked her up with some new cards really quickly. {Jaunted}

Phew! Sesame Street is not, repeat not, collaborating with Amercian Apparel. Thank god, because we don’t want to imagine what Dov was dreaming up for the ad campaign. Shudder. {Stylelist}

photo courtesy WWDHidden among all the Paris Fashion Week gossip is Barneys’ Christmas theme.

After embracing all things green and peaceful for the past two years, they’re sticking with just plain funny and devoting their Madison Avenue windows to Saturday Night Live, partly in honor of the show’s 35th anniversary.

In what may be a case of ailing retailer helping out ailing TV show, the two will launch the windows on November 16th with an in-store party and, Simon’s hoping, lots of cast members.

In the windows, you can expect to see the Coneheads, Mary Katherine Gallagher, Gilda Radner’s Roseanne Roseannadanna, Sarah Palin, Steve Martin’s King Tut and even a Weekend Update desk with Amy Poehler behind it — though we do expect all these characters to be exceptionally well dressed.

As for your shopping bags? They’ll scream, “Have a Witty Holiday,” which we’ll make sure and do, once we’re done with Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Britt sent me to Tibi last night, while she took her seat at the big tent next door for Narciso.

But then I snuck in and got a better seat than her. Thanks to my new photographer friends I sat in the pit, teared up over Anne V., met Narciso and had the greatest night of my life.

So there I was, face-to-face with Narciso Rodriguez’s SS10 collection. It was half classic Narciso and half total departure. There were cutouts and zippers, but there was also air; his spectacular finale dresses in grey, white and black billowed away from the body. He built cocoons over the models’ legs and though everything was feminine and sexy it was indisputably strong. He repeated exaggerated hips and bell silhouettes, the latter best executed on Anne V’s mud cloth coat. It’s like he used the strong silhouette as a shell to keep the wearer fashionably safe.

Post-show, Freja said she was terrified she’d trip and fall on her dress’ long train (though of course she walked seamlessly) and if I hadn’t ended up talking to Narciso that would’ve been the highlight of my day. But then I somehow fell into line between Simon Doonan and Emmy Rossum to congratulate the designer. Simon told me “ladies first” and shooed me over to Narciso who hugged me and said, “Thank you.”

And then I called my mom and cried.

Chanel-o: If Craig McDean had shot this with Baptiste Giabiconi instead of Constance Jablonski (for Interview), Karl Lagerfeld might have exploded from excitement. That would’ve been fun. {Models}

It’s It: This went up at the start of the week, but in case you missed it & you’re still wondering just who Becka Diamond is, this guide to the It-Girls of fall 09 will prove extremely helpful. {Style}

Ca-Caw: Thank you Malvin from Project Runway for inspiring the kids at EW to edit this little piece of Arrested Development awesomeness together. We were just remarking on Lindsey and Gob’s chicken dances earlier in the week. And by remarking we mean re-enacting. Happy Friday! {PopWatch}

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy: Barneys is about half way through their warehouse sale & shoes just got knocked down 40%. Meanwhile, we saw their awkward TV commercial last night and still wonder why they don’t just use Simon Doonan. {Racked}

Sketched Up: We read about Igor & Andre yesterday morning, the blog from California- based fashion illustrator and model lover Danny Roberts, but wasted an hour of our life on it last night. His work is spectacular. {Igor&Andre}

“Our customers are still shopping. Their spending is more restrained. It’s now a two-pairs-of-Blahniks-instead-of-five kind of a thing. But it’s creeping back; by fall, it will be three-and-a-half pairs.” —Simon Doonan staying positive (thank god) in WWD.

We’ve long adored Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler, both separately and as the adorable couple they’ve been for all these years.

This week’s New Yorker just made us fall more deeply in love. Each quote in the piece is like a perfect little taste of what an evening in their “palatial gay fantasia” of an apartment would be like.

A few tasty morsels below:

SD on his memoir: “When the book was optioned, everyone thought I’d start flying to work in a mink-lined helicopter.”

SD on his day job: “If Virginia Woolf had had two days a week at the ham counter at Harrods, she mightn’t have offed herself.”

JA to SD (who is 14 years older): “You’re the ultimate mantique.”

SD on getting older: “Ever since I passed fifty, I’m aging in French. It’s more glamorous.”

Thank you, Simon. We will from this point forward also age only in French.

This week of fashion parties continued with last night’s celebration of Ruffian’s new book, Ruffian Inside Out.

Though the book, written by Style.com’s Executive Editor Nicole Phelps, officially launched in April, we’ve been loving it since their AW09 show in February. Jamie Isaia’s photographs of Brian Wolk and Claude Morais are basically fashion porn.

Thus the party was a celebration not just of the book, but of the talented designers themselves. John Demsey, Group President of Estée Lauder, played host, even offering up his own home for the night and we spotted everyone from Simon Doonan and Rachel Roy to MAC ûber makeup artist James Kaliardos.

MAC has a special relationship with the brand and the book — they created a limited edition, just-for-Fashion-Week, not sold in stores lipstick shade for the Fall 2009 show called Ruffian Red, (which Britt obsessively rocked throughout Fashion month) that they so generously handed out again last night.

I also got a sneak peek at those fabulous Jin Soon-created polishes we mentioned last month and I can tell you, judging by the gorgeous orchid shade I saw, the collection is going to be fantastic.

—MEGAN MCINTYRE

Simon Doonan’s one of our favorite New York fashion figures and we hardly ever turn down a chance to hear him speak.

Especially when he’s talking with someone of Stefano Pilati’s caliber.

The two will sit down to discuss the launch of YSL’s “New Vintage” Collection at Barneys’ Madison Avenue flagship tonight from five to seven. When the collection was first announced, we scratched our heads over what “New Vintage” would mean exactly.

Turns out it’s a selection—exclusive to Barneys—of classic YSL pieces cut from the unused cloth left over from recent seasons. It’s pretty much the chicest sort of recycling we can imagine.

The two’ll talk fashion on the second floor—see you there!

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

Housing Works is throwing a party with Robert Verdi tonight.

The TV stylist is working with the NYC charity to raise money for those living with AIDS through an exclusive sale of products from Steven Alan, Richie Rich, John Bartlett, Jonathan Adler and more.

While the VIP hour is from 8-9, the event opens to the public from 9-10 and will be full of brand new merchandise from all the designers, not to mention food and drinks, at their Chelsea location: 143 West 17th St.

And if a good cause, fun designers and free food aren’t enough for you - we’d place a pretty high bet that Simon Doonan‘ll be around.

Last night we ventured into the gray and misty New York night and headed over to the Steven Kasher Gallery for the opening of photographer Miles Aldridge’s first solo exhibit in the US.

We’ve long been fans of the hyper-pigmented, fetishistic sexy work. But seeing it in large format in one space is well worth a trip over to the west side (the show runs until June 20th).

Some of the sketches that he uses to work out shots beforehand are also on display. We love when you can see an artist’s process and longingly wish we were close to that visually gifted. We highly recommend investing in the monograph Miles Aldridge: Pictures for Photographs.

After the opening MAC Creative Director, James Gager, hosted a little dinner at Trestle on Tenth for Aldridge, who’s been collaborating with the cosmetics company for three and a half years. We were bummed that Aldridge’s wife, Kristen McMenamy, wasn’t in attendance. But Anja Rubik, Simon Doonan, Jonathan Adler, and Patti Wilson made it all better.

“I get to be Joan Crawford all day long at Barneys, so it was fun to not be responsible for something in that way, to see what kind of mad, crazy, kooky extrapolation they would make from my memoir.” Simon Doonan to Entertainment Weekly on the television series inspired by his book, Beautiful People, which will finally air in the US starting tonight on LOGO.

The best bits:

Simon: Tell me about your fixation with jumpsuits, which I share I might add, even as a short person.

Stella: Well you know I love a jumpsuit. I wore one last night, at the Met event, and I had to have a girlfriend take me in an out of it every time I had to go to the bathroom - so it does have it’s drawbacks, but I love them because they’re just so effortless. I think that pretty much sums up my brand.

It’s sort of a liberated idea. Is it like a Pussy Galore situation?

[Rolling her eyes}I think it takes you back to your childhood a little bit. I mean when you’re a kid you always want your onesie and then one day you’re not allowed to have them anymore and it’s like, “No, you’re too big for that.” But I love that you don’t have to think too much, your whole outfit is done for you. There’s no talk of skirts, pants, dresses, jackets, it’s just done.

Stella McCartney and Simon Doonan are going head to head on Tuesday, May 5th and if you can sneak out of work for a minute you can have your own front row seat.

The British designer’s hosting a Fall 09 trunk show at Barneys’ Madison Avenue store the day after the Met Ball. But it’s basically the best trunk show ever - instead of mere racks full of clothes there will be actual models wandering around the sixth floor.

And in between browsing and really deciding what you’ll want to wear six months from now, Simon will host a Q&A with Stella that promises to be a “must-see repartee.”

The whole thing lasts from 1 to 3 but Simon will ask his first question at promptly 1:30.

See you there.

But I Don’t Wanna: Daisy Lowe is not an it-girl. What, what’s that you say? But everyone gets an AP ad these days. {DailyBeast}

Silly Simon: The master of windows makes the Queen out of ribbon and sticks her in Barneys’ windows in honor of Sir Paul Smith. If anyone can make the recession a happy time, it’s Simon Doonan. {Racked}

Brad Who?: Rachel Zoe needs a new assistant, maybe. This anonymous Craigslist ad suggests Brad’s fallen by the wayside. Too bad we love New York. {Blackbook}

This Dress Please: Who makes the dress Agy’s making out in? {Fashionologie}

Barbie’s 50th meant major sensory overload - not delicious seven course meal overload but one too many cherries atop the sundae overload.

It went a little something like this: Kimora Lee Simmons on one end of the runway and Vogue’s Marina Rust on the other, both holding Barbie wielding children. A Real World: Brooklyn cast member sat on the right while Heidi Klum sat on the left, sandwiched between Miss J and the ubiquitous Robert Verdi who wanted to chat with Simon Doonan. Simon was trying to catch up with Diane who joyously embraced Suzy Menkes while Peter Som looked on calmly from his center perch. Rachel Roy’s daughter handled the paparazzi better than Lindsay Lohan and the soccer moms behind us tried awfully hard to make sense of The Blondes while I enjoyed a breakfast of Barbie chocolates.

The show opened with a Barbie through the ages sort of montage and ran to a Barbie-fied Top 40 soundtrack; Ken got to wear Kenneth Cole (ha!); the crowd went wild for Bob Mackie’s creation; the video screen told us that, “A plastic tan never fades” and for the second time this week confetti rained down atop our heads.

Because she’s a Barbie girl, in her very own Barbie world.

It’s that time again - In this edition, we ask, who would you have wanted to be (in fashion!) for just one day in 2008?

Britt:

Posh: Because in twenty-four hours, I could know what it’s like to wear Roland Mouret and 6” Louboutins on a play date, get a rave review from Style.com, call Marc Jacobs and sleep with David Beckham.

Arlenis: Preferably the day she signed her Lancome contract so that I could grasp the hugeness of going from relative, or total, obscurity to almost super status in like three months.

Carine Roitfeld: Because I would stand in her closet for twelve hours, wander Paris wearing Alaia for the three, style a Demarchelier shoot for five, and hang out with Nicolas Ghesquiere for the last four.

Natalie:

Katie Grand: Because then I could know everything happening with LOVE, which would make me infinitely satisfied.

Cathy Horyn: The power…

Kate: Because why the hell not?

Brett (for fun!):

Olivier Theyskens: On the day of Lauren Santo Domingo’s wedding, to touch the most amazing wedding dress ever and think his thoughts for a little while.

Don Draper: To look that cool, be married to January Jones, cheat, run an ad agency, and drink and smoke all day.

Simon Doonan: Hello, he designs windows and has opinions for a living. That’s my ideal situation.

And you?

“As symbolic gestures of hostility go, shoe tossing is rather incomprehensible. Why throw something that needs to be retrieved? You cannot beat a hasty retreat without your shoes. Better to, as they do at Tom Jones concerts, toss less essential items like panties or brassieres. Other possibilities: cracked dentures, out-of-fashion hats, and expired toupees.” —Simon Doonan answers Vanity Fair’s question: Which kind of shoe is best for throwing?

Bet you didn’t think anything could beat last year’s Barneys Christmas video - but leave it to Julie and Simon to get you into the goofiest holiday spirit.

They’re celebrating all counter-cultures this season, a Barneys Hippie Holiday, and have a plethora of gifts they think your loved ones need - like Jonathan Adler candles (ahem), peace sign-embossed Goyard bags, “re-birthed” Loomstate t-shirts and a Henry Cuir bag that’s “even made by a hippie.”

And in case you, like Simon, think the phrase “dans tes bras” means “in your bra,” Julie clears it up.

Oh, also, they pretend to smoke pot - so obviously, you should watch it.

“It’s the cherry on the cake of my tawdry existence!” - Simon Doonan, on the upcoming debut of his television series, Beautiful People, in the Guardian.