This season’s invites range from boring cardstock to controversial military medals and as usual, our favorite comes via Band of Outsiders.

They sent out their dreamy Polaroid late last week and it looks like the perfect escape from all the madness.

So far, the other winners include Mulberry’s glittery invite and a little notebook from Ports 1961 with a pack of rosemary seeds.

Rachel Antonoff sent a page ripped from a book with her presentation’s info highlighted among the words and while Abigail Lorick’s invite wasn’t mind blowing, we loved the silhouette sketched on the card.

Other than that, most invites look the same as last season, or even less exciting, so here’s hoping the shows themselves are mind-blowing.

Balenciaga’s just released their first fragrance in twelve years, Balenciaga Paris.

The scent, which is powdery, light, and perfect for someone who doesn’t want to smell like they’re wearing perfume, launches at Bergdorf Goodman on the 15th.

We expect Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Steven Meisel-shot campaign to pop up everywhere this spring, but for now, you can watch Nicolas Ghesquière talk about his process. The bottle, which will remain the same when they roll out new scents, is inspired by the classic Balenciaga silhouette. Ghesquière imagines a woman setting it down amongst her things to create an Irving Penn-like still life and he chose Charlotte for her “oddity…and bizarre beauty.”

All Hail Fast: The more Mark Fast, the better. Emily Blunt looks incredible in the cream feathered mini, and she sounds just as perfect in this interview. {LATimes}

Most Coveted: Great, now we can’t stop thinking about a YSL bag that doesn’t even really exist yet. “Chyc” might be the worst name, but the shape and the color more than make up for it. {StyleFile}

The Juicy Bits: Donatella Versace talks models and ego. She wishes today’s girls had more personality and looked less natural. We wish they had Cindy’s hair. {Independent}

So Fresh & So Clean: Marc Jacobs has made an air freshener. It’s a daisy chain, that smells like Marc’s daisy fragrance, and you can buy it at Sephora. {Nylon}

Fashion Week starts tomorrow, sort of, and we’ve spent the weekend resting, hydrating, exercising, eating and gathering our survival packs.

Some things - water, caffeine, internet access - are obvious necessities.

Everything else - scarves, candy, inspiration - stuffed into our bags is there to keep us sane, smiling and looking at least somewhat pulled together.

Our individual lists of essentials, after the jump.

Reader Clarke emailed us this morning, “Hope you find this interesting!”

Clueless and Miu Miu? Like, duh.

While sifting through Miu Miu’s Pre-Fall 2010 collection, he found Lindsey Wixson channeling Cher Horowitz circa 1995. Yellow plaid jacket? Check. Yellow plaid mini skirt? Check. White thigh highs tucked into loafers? Check.

She’s traded in the cell phone for a furry hood, but we think Cher would approve.

There are people who request tickets to fashion shows because they want “to cover for their 900 Twitter followers,” or because they need to “update their Facebook with all the latest news in fashion.”

Even this is floating around the Twitterverse, “Dear PR, I command a seat for my mistress, the Princess of Cantaloupe, or else my country declares war on your office!”

(That’s a joke in response to something almost as nuts.)

What’s not a joke is the girl from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida requesting tickets on behalf of French Vogue. She’s sent an email to publicists, complete with clips and editorial from Bazaar, which is quite possibly the total opposite of French Vogue, and asked the PRs to send all tickets to her address in Florida.

Fashion publicists should be able to name everyone on Carine’s small masthead and they’ll know if yours isn’t one of them. Also, if you’re going to waste your time hatching such a complex plan, at least go out and buy a copy of French Vogue.

Though really, if you’ve learned anything this week, it’s to ditch elaborate plans (and if you must, sneak in quietly).

At Wednesday’s Olsenboye launch this video, and a few other commercials, played on screens around the room.

The girls are very cute, and obviously not models; it’s both refreshing and encouraging to see real girls hawking clothes for real girls.

But turns out the blonde girl, who they call Elie, is actually Nathalie Love. Her mom, Lisa Love, is the West Coast editor of Teen Vogue and Nathalie just made a movie with Uma Thurman.

Claymation: Some of this shoot is awkward, but a few shots are incredible, including this one in which Natalia appears to move like Gumby. {FashionGoneRogue}

POP: RashomonRebel, this one’s for you! Abbey Lee Kershaw grinds on a motorcycle. Does this mean she’s on the cover? {YouTube}

Daily Dose: In case you haven’t noticed, Alexa Chung’s snapping a picture of her outfit everyday this month. So far, she favors Topshop and doesn’t carry the Alexa. {VogueUK}

Take That: At last night’s Sonia Rykiel for H&M party, a stylist told me that he’s skipping New York Fashion Week because there’s “nothing coming out of this city.” We’d beg to differ and here’s a full list of things to look forward to next week. {Style}

Mens Trends: Jim Moore picks his 13 favorite trends from the Milan and Paris runways. Guys, take note. {GQ.com}