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.

Much has been made about the fall of Notting Hill.

Its “hip” status has been seriously affronted by the rise of Shoreditch, Hoxton, Dalton et al. In other words, the gritty, mean streets of East London. But some, including us and the newly opened Wolf & Badger, refuse to give up on the quaint neighborhood. Consider the shop Notting Hill’s own Dover Street Market, with an edit that’s as interesting as Rei Kawakubo’s, but different.

While the words “concept shop” are getting to be as annoying as “pop up,”’ we’re okay with this one, which is an incubator of sorts. Talented and cash-strapped designers can rent a spot in the store for as little as £35 (about $55) a week, which buys them a black and white box to display their wares, and a Web site. The worries about retail space, marketing, sales and PR are left up to the duo behind the idea, Samir Ceric and Zoe Knight, who also mentor the designers.

This summer, Catherine Holstein’s first collection for Japanese denim brand Evisu will hit stores.

The brand, which sort of plummeted in the mid-2000s, was rescued by Scott Morrison (co-founder of Paper, Denim & Cloth and Earnest Sewn) last year. He has designers from Rag & Bone and Earnest Sewn on board for the men’s collections and Cat for womens.

She’s designed a neutral, comfortable, slightly hipster and almost Chloe-inspired collection. There’s soft boiled wool in shrugs and blanket scarves, simple black slip dresses, black paneled mini-skirts and soft jersey tops.

And guess who’s in the lookbook?

Go Marloes.

The hair bow has a long history, starting long before Lady Gaga’s infamous white blond topper.

From Valentino’s FW05 Couture messy bows to YSL’s FW05 neat, loose bows, the up-do’s been a must (if an under the radar must) for years.

But the clip on hair bows taking over your local drug store since Gaga’s reign started are far too plastic-looking - and weird - to actually attach to one’s head.

We’re taking our inspiration from the hairbows at left, shot by one of our favorite new photographers, Zooey Grossman. High, messy, sexy… much chicer than a messy bun, but just as easy to do.

Click through for a DIY! Note: The only prerequisite is having long hair (obviously).

Ashish’s leopard print wedges are still sitting on the shelf of New York’s Topshop, but his second collection hits stores next week, February 3rd.

There are massive wedges - this time gold with three buckles - and enough spikes to prevent you from ever getting on an airplane (especially if worn with Louise Goldin for Topshop shoes).

But why are there sweatpants?

If, as a mega-store, we hired a young talent to design a capsule collection and he came back with a cropped sweatshirt, sweatpants and gym shorts all in the same grey jersey (that’s three out of a seven piece collection) we’d be pissed.

Though if you haven’t already snagged a pair from Isabel Marant or Alex Wang or American Apparel or J.Crew or Target or anywhere else, now’s your chance.

We’re always happy to discover new talent, especially when they’re as good as the group we’ve found.

We came across six photographers whose work we think is particularly impressive.

Zoey Grossman, William Hereford, Adrian Nina, Kaeko Shabana, Luis De Los Santos and Petra Van Raaij have a knack for photography (and a good eye, of course).

Their work is beautiful, alluring and captivating. If they’re this young and this talented, we can’t wait to see what they can do in a few years time. We’re anticipating big things for these young photographers.

Valentine’s Day falls smack in the middle of Fashion Week, so we’ve built a list of things to put you in the mood today instead.

Do you like pink and red and conversation hearts and doilies? Check.

Prefer whips and handcuffs? Check.

Wish your boyfriend dressed like Don Draper? Check.

Think the whole thing’s ridiculous, but will take any excuse to shop? Double Check.

Click through for our essential shopping guide, but beware, we’re not really the Hallmark type.

We love Swedish label Acne’s jeans, its ready-to-wear apparel and—most definitely—its sharp shoes.

So it’s no surprise we find head designer Jonny Johansson’s debut furniture collection for the brand just as desirable.

We love the sharp, skewed lines of the velvet pastel chairs and sofas—inspired by the work of the father of Scandinavian furniture design, Carl Malmsten—which were on display at an event in Paris last night.

Click through to see more pieces from the collection.

This morning, I was forwarded six pages worth of dress code requirements for Pi Phi’s Cornell chapter.

Because it’s Friday, and they’re outrageous, I’m sharing.

What does one wear to rush? If we had a sorority our rule would be there are no rules - we’d welcome vintage flannel and Dior couture heels in equal measure, but Pi Phi’s rush chair’s a bit more specific. Her strictest rules, below. (UPDATE: We’ve attached the whole thing at the end, by popular demand.)

On Clothes

— Denim leggings are appropriate as long as it’s done right: aka, not from American Apparel and worn with chic, cool, chunky boots over them and a longer top.

— No satin dresses. No one looks good in satin dresses unless it’s from Betsey Johnson or Dolce & Gabbana, you weigh less than 130 pounds, have three pairs of Spanx on and it’s New Years Eve.

— No Frumpy.

Lara Stone is getting married, and while we wait with bated breath to see the dress she dons, we thought we’d have a little fun and play stylist for the afternoon.

We’ve picked out a few things we’d love to see her wear down the aisle. Some are practical, but most are not.

In reality, she’ll most likely wear something custom-made, and probably by Karl. Regardless, we can’t wait to see what she does choose.

Click here to see our favorite nuptial numbers.

Officially, Mayumi Tamieko, 24, is in London for a language course.

Unofficially, she’s here as a self-described Dover Street Market (DSM) groupie. “I love everything that Rei Kawakubo does,” she says in halting English. “But you have to understand — Kawabuki-san is a legend in my country.”

And a legend in the Ol’ Blighty as well. Most retailers, especially in this climate, would shudder at the thought of closing their store for four days and losing out on those sales, but Kawakubo does so each year post-Boxing Day. It’s called Tachiagari “beginning” in Japanese, and Kawakubo takes that concept very seriously, completely clearing out the old and adding new, interesting designers to her world famous Dover Street Market. This week, the store re-opened with a refreshingly slick new look, and without a single sale rack of sad leftovers.

Pictures of Mark Fast’s diffusion line Faster, which bows next month, have popped up on the internet in ones and twos, but someone just sent a link to the whole (short) lookbook.

We’ve posted the pictures after the jump.

While we wait patiently for this and his Topshop collection, we’ll help spread this:

Interview: Can we expect to see some voluptuous mannequins working your Fall 2010 runway?
Fast: Of course! Those women are here to stay!

After SS10’s curvy-gate, a handful of people accused Fast of pulling a PR stunt, a one time gimmick to grab attention for his young brand, but Fast tells Interview he’d planned to include plus size models as early as three months before his show - and they’ll be sticking around.

His reasons for not dressing Lady Gaga are similar, but who is his dream client? Carine. Duh.

As I’ve said before, I’m not someone who wears a ton of jewelry. But when I spied Parisian designer Aurelie Bidermann’s Do Brasil bracelet, it became my latest conquest.

While I jumped on the friendship bracelet bandwagon last fall with one of editor-cum-designer Jenny Kang’s rhinestone styles laced with rhinestones, I can’t help but covet Bidermann’s Do Brasil gold and cotton thread version.

Why? Because it’s sturdy, structured and bold without losing the kitschy appeal of the traditional style. I’ll wear it alone or with my watch—simple, but still fun.

Britt, on the other hand, is dying for one of Bidermann’s lace cuffs. Which do you prefer? Click through to see more of the designer’s latest collections. (Blue background is from fall 2010, red background is from spring 2010.)

Candy Pratts Price says that “September’s the Jannnnuary of fashion,” and I’m tempted to mimic, “Cameron Silver’s the Laaaagerfeld of vintage.”

The Beverly Hillls-born, German cabaret-performing, Decades-owning vintage conoisseur revolutionized the way fashion—and thus celebrities and everyone else who pays attention—thinks about vintage.

He started collecting pieces while traveling around the country post-college and has used his discerning eye to build both a successful vintage business and one of the best consignment businesses in the country, DecadesTwo.

Last summer I swung by the shop and managed to ask him how he did it, and why, while not-so-subtly fawning over the vintage Diors, Halstons and Balenciagas lining his walls.

With Fashion Week just around the corner, we decided to make a list of six models to watch. These girls are some of our favorite new faces, and we’re eager to see what’s next for them.

Meet Marloes Horst, Hannah Holman, Ginta Lapina, Frida Gustavsson, Nimue Smit, and Valerija Kelava.

With some editorial and runway work under their size zero belts, these six models are bound to make it big in 2010.

Click here to read more about our up-and-comers.

After the livestream of Prada men’s collection yesterday, we expected to find nothing more than a short archival video of the show on the brand’s e-commerce site. Instead, Prada has gifted us with more online exclusives:

• Higher-res video of the show at http://prada.com.
• Premiere of Yang Fudong’s short film for Prada, First Spring.
• An ad campaign takeover promoting the film on the New York Times homepage.
• An official Prada YouTube channel (termed “A Future Archive”).
• The full series of spring/summer 2010 women’s and men’s campaign photos, by Steven Meisel and from the short film, respectively.

Want a glimpse? We’ve got the
First Spring video and campaign photos after the jump.