Bergdorf Goodman’s teamed up with the American Visionary Art Museum for their 5th Avenue windows.

The museum’s in Baltimore, Maryland, but its artists created a collection of fantastical backdrops here in New York for clothes from Jason Wu and Oscar De La Renta, brightly colored homes for Louboutin shoes, erratic sketches frame a bejeweled Valentino bag and a man carved from wood watches over a Rodarte look complete with slashed gloves and Nicholas Kirkwood boots.

The museum’s mission statement defines visionary art as “art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself,” which, when combined with the best of pre-fall fashion makes for a must-visit outdoor museum on the street.

Thank god it’s finally stopped raining.

With a fan base that includes fashion arbiters (Diana Vreeland, Babe Paley and Coco Chanel), royalty (Aga Khan and Princess Diana) and stars (Sarah Jessica Parker, Greta Garbo, Halle Berry), Verdura, the Italian jeweller, has a very “niche” appeal - those with strictly superb taste and the bank account to match.

Yesterday in London, Nico Landrigan, Verdura’s VP, brought over from New York seventy of the jeweller’s most treasured archived pieces to the Obsidian Gallery in a “part exhibit, part sale”, to celebrate the company’s 70th anniversary (the exhibit opens to the public this October). Given what was on display, the security should have been as tight as it was down the street as the Obama’s and Sarkozy’s of the world assembled for the the G20. For the rare buyers (anyone got £50,000 handy?), jaw dropping pieces are available.

For fashion historians and junkies, not only were the jewels exhibited, but also the original, handwritten ledger books from the 40’s, including four items purchased at around $2500 (a grandly sum then) by Mrs. Henry Fonda. Vanity Fair’s Amy Fine Collins once said of the Italian Duke, whose muse was Babe Paley and lover Vogue editor Nicky De Gunzberg: “He is the century’s best jeweller… his designs are not for insecure people and does not appeal to the herd instinct. Women who wear Verdura don’t want to look like every other person wearing their Van Cleef diamond flower pin, their Chanel suit and their Prada bag.” Nuff said.

—CHARLEY B

Parties? They’re still happening, but opposed to the good old days (last year), where it was three or four fashion events/private views/store openings/dinners/etc per week. This year, it’s just one(ish) - and its always a bun-fight*.

At a recent soiree, there was a strict one tipple** per guest rule. Call it the the English Revolution - Let Them Drink Water, and tap water at that. Sadder still, VIP guests were passed secret cards and shuffled to back rooms, where the hosts meted out drinks at one per hour. Oy.

A fed up guest, now inured to the “New Deal,” had a mickey of vodka in his breast pocket with a straw ingeniously threaded through his lapel, just to be able to maintain a buzz. In London, one of the cities hardest hit by the global financial crisis, financial pundits tell us the dire conditions are going to last another eighteen months. Better stock up on straws.

—CHARLEY B

*Bun-fight: British-English for “a very crowded party where people jostle around”.

**Tipple: British-English for “a drink”.

We sent our intern to Colette to check out the Barbie displays and tell us all about it…

If you’re spending any time in Paris from now until March 28th, be sure to stop by Colette to check out their full-on Barbie décor in honor of the doll’s fiftieth birthday. You already knew that the perennially hip Parisian boutique teamed up with Karl Lagerfeld to pay due tribute to the timeless icon, but what you may not know is that it’s totally worth a stop.

Downstairs, the walls are inscribed with tongue-in-cheek Barbie quotes, such as “I may be plastic, but I never melt under pressure.” Or “A plastic tan never fades.” And upstairs, they’ve installed a brand new wing, coated, of course, in scorching hot pink. The enclave is flanked by prim, attentive plaster poodles, also varnished in the doll’s signature hue.

I purveyed the swarming masses from an overlooking balcony, which doubled as a gallery space for Lagerfeld’s Barbie and real-life Ken photographs, each featuring witty themes such as “First Marriage” and “Where is the Jet?”

The photographs, signed by Lagerfeld himself, are available for purchase if you want a memento to outlast the Dylan’s Candy Bar treats. For now, I was content to leave with an adorable bottle of Uslu Airline’s nail polish, made in honor of our girl’s special day (FYI- it’s Pantone 219c).

—EADDY KIERNAN (our other new Paris intern!)

To: Tips@ Fashionista .com

From: Detective@ Shoestring .com

So I’ll be the first to admit that while I secretly love Britney, her fashion choices have always been a little… how do you say… off (head to toe denim anyone?)

But I just saw that her “If You Seek Amy” video came out and she’s wearing the Christian Louboutin for Phillip Lim S/S 09 heels! Yes, the amazing ruffled ones in that bright red/orange color. They show up at exactly 1:00 minutes into the video. Brit must have had a good stylist, or at least someone who knows incredible footwear when they see it.

xoxo M

To: Tips@Fashionista.com

From: LineSyp@Fall09.com

I was standing in line for Preen, when Kanye asked/had to ask Scott to shoot him and his entourage.

So they went outside and Scott shot them and then they went back in and exchanged numbers.

Thought you might like to know.

D

We witnessed a small exchange between Kanye and Scott outside of Band of Outsiders earlier today. Kanye strutting up to Scott, Scott not caring, then Kanye tapping Scott on the stomach like old friends. Still, no shot. For the record, Kanye was carrying a large camo duffel bag.

—BR(IT) BOY

We don’t go to Bloomingdale’s that often. Department stores are semi-overwhelming and it’s about two blocks too far down Broadway.

But we did go right before Paris because we needed bras and we did go yesterday because we needed Marc. And while there, we noticed a change.

Diane von Furstenberg has had her own space on the third floor since the first time we went to Bloomingdale’s. It’s the same size and scope as the Marc by Marc area on the fourth floor. And it’s all Diane, all the time.

Or it was, until they plopped a rack of Lauren Conrad’s dresses in the middle.

We, or I, worked in retail long enough to know how much thought goes into merchandising. In the public eye, DVF now means Whitney Port which means someone at Bloomingdale’s is getting their giggles from imagining some sort of third floor fashion-reality-show fight.

Stay tuned.

Pop Quiz:

What’s this?

One of the swing dancing Gap ads from yore, you say?

Nope. It’s the window display at American Apparel, which may or may not be trying to revamp its hypersexualized image just in time for the holidays.

Or, a Freaky Friday store window experience.

You decide.

Location: 19th and 10th.

The situation: A High School Musical street poster, plastered in Rachel Zoe heads.

Tagline: The rest of that reads, “Drugs at Work”.

Our Reaction: Mixed. This undeniably made us crack up on the street (especially since, without any labels, we knew it was Zoe instantly), but why is everyone so incredibly mean to this woman?

Your Reaction: (fill in the blank..)

Pop quiz:

What’s this?

We saw it while walking along North 6th and Wythe and thought, “Huh?”

But it turns out it’s just a vintage furniture store called Golden Calf.

Tickling, nonetheless.

Fact: Everyday, Britt walks past this gallery on her way to and from her hotel in Paris.

Fact: And everyday, it’s closed.

Fact: Jessica Stam is the only Stam we’ve ever heard of.

Theory: Is this a side project of hers that gets neglected during Fashion Week?

Of course we know it’s not, but funny to picture her sitting there, n’est-ce pas?

When we think of Tom Ford, we think of sex. And then Gucci. And then perfume.

But we’ve never conjured an image of interpretive dancers in the middle of Les Galeries Lafayette promoting White Patchouli. Like, never ever.

And yet, there they were yesterday evening. Men in beaded black boleros violently gesticulated toward women in leotards and S&Mish pleather suspenders on top of a platform in the middle of the store coated in pictures of Erykah Badu and the retro perfume bottles.

Once we tore our eyes away from the scene, we wondered whether or not Tom had any creative control over the performance. Because aside from the bra tops and sleek hair, we don’t think he’d approve.

Apparently it happens everyday, so if you’re in Paris, we highly recommend checking it out, (especially since we were forbidden from taking pictures to share with you).

For laughs, at least.

Between the end of my Fashion Week duties and my chunnel train to Paris, I had approximately twelve hours to enjoy London.

Without the mental capacity to enjoy a museum, I spent three hours wandering Hyde Park, one on Portobello road, (which produced a vintage Louis trunk for just under £5,000), one hour controlling myself in Topshop, thirty minutes trying on Vivienne Westwood at Selfridges, (where, by the way, they hang Hussein Chalayan on the same rack as Alex Wang - strange, no?), and a few rapturous minutes in Luella’s shop, because I most definitely cannot do that stateside.

In the shop, I found two perfectly dressed salesgirls, racks of covetable, witch-like clothing, a ribboned bag I might defect for and the poster at left.

Ms. Bartley’s proudly displayed the Evening Standard news banner announcing her own shop raid on the wall of her store’s back room.

Oh Luella, we love you so.