Years ago, in that strange and wondrous time called the 80s, mens' clothing ads were different.

Every man was in an Armani style power suit, presumably on his way to work, and about the age of my dad. Designers were definitely targeting who they thought could buy their clothes, moneyed older men, by featuring them in their ads.

Now, even though the target consumer probably hasn't changed, menswear ads seem to be going the way of womens' - that is, featuring too young boys who could never afford the clothes and overly sexual scenes (almost always homo erotic) suggesting that maybe menswear designers think that guys in rock bands can keep them in business.

Even Zegna, that final refuge of buttoned up men in expensive suits, has had an about-face with boys in windbreakers, and one of them is too bashful to tell the other guy he likes him. Z Zegna is expensive Sunday brunch gear for CEOs, not really fodder for a bromance.

There's just something about a 16-year old boy in Dior Homme that's a little too jokey for a brand that should be aspirational. Though we've been wondering the same thing about women's ads since forever.

--BRETT KANE

Natalie and I have both depended on Heidi braids to make it through humid New York summers.

The 60 second up-do is the only way, or at least the only chic way, to guarantee all of our long hair stays out of our face and off of our neck.

We never understood why Sienna Miller received such negative reviews for, among other things, pulling her wispy blonde hair up into the same look.

Now it seems the criticism has dissipated and pretty girls everywhere are catching on to the easiest and cutest way to wear long hair.

We've spotted Mamie Gummer, Lauren Conrad, a random fashionista at Style.com's party, and Christy Turlington (for Chanel) with Heidi braids atop their heads - and that's just this week, it's not even summer yet!

So if your hair's not long enough, start using horse shampoo, forego monthly trims, and please, please, please don't stick a fake braid on your crown.

and now, a note from Faran...

Lauren Conrad came to visit the NYLON office this week, and I swore I would mop the floors all month just to get in the meeting.

She was very nice, very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about her clothing line, and unbelievably pretty in person. She was also so social that I wondered if she'd ever done anything more fun than go to a party - when we mentioned two big NYLON events coming up, her eyes got huge like she'd just been given some free Chanel shoes.

Actually, she was wearing Chanel shoes, little flats; they were kind of amazing.

Anyway, we took a bunch of photos of her Fall '08 clothes, but I also paid particular attention to her nails. It's no secret that at the Fashionista office, we've always claimed (and only half as a joke) that whatever Lauren did with her fingers, every girl in America would do later.

For about two years, she's clung to Chanel's Black Satin varnish, but this week, it was something different: Totally clear with nothing else.

For those who care, even secretly, I've attached a close-up below.

xo F.

Britt: Spring's finally here!

Natalie: Ha. You know it'll get cold three more times before it's actually spring.

Britt: Noooo! It's really really here! I even saw a girl yesterday wearing the new YSL Spring Tribute Sandals. The weird thing was she wore them with white athletic socks. Like thick white socks, over her black tights, under her sandals.

Natalie: Oh my God! I saw that girl! I couldn't figure out what was going on - are we supposed to be wearing running socks outside of the gym now?!

Britt: Um, I hope not. She was French, and so chic, but that's one thing I definitely don't want to try and pull off.

Natalie: Maybe she was just keeping her feet warm. Since this is still fake spring.

Britt: Please stop saying that! Spring IS here.

A few months ago, we went to the Marc by Marc store on Bleecker St.

"All the Little Marc clothes are on sale," said the Shop Guy, "and if you pick out the large and extra large sweaters and shirts, they'll fit you!"

We'll confess we do this at Gap Kids (in the boys' section) all the time, but we'd never thought to do it at MJ - despite the fact that fashion editors have bought little boy's blazers at Ralph Lauren and Hickey Freeman for years.

Now it seems there's another little kid craze sweeping some fashion women, and it's all because of Brooklyn Beckham.

The little cutie was photographed with his mom in a Ben Sherman checkered shirt, and we hear that hordes of British birds realized they could buy it, wear it as a three-quarter sleeve blouse, and maintain their status as a secret Posh worshipper.

You can see more photos of Brooklyn on Just Jared ; you can see more plaid shirts at Little Ben (or, we guess, Big Ben).

Call it Agyness mania, but we couldn't help but notice the new mannequin in Anna Sui's Soho boutique.

She's got a short pixie punk cut, but that's not so unusual.

What's bigger?

The eye patch painted onto the mannequin's quirked face, just like the one Agyness Deyn had to wear down the House of Holland runway after opening Anna's show in America with a nasty eye infection. The patch was replaced with huge sunglasses for Fendi.

Is Anna sending a subtle get-well-soon message to Miss Aggy in London?

That would be cool - as long as the Sui-worshiping high school crowd doesn't misinterpret the patch as a full-out trend, and start wearing it to their weekend lunch excursions at Cafeteria.

Months after the Costume Institute announces it's big ball theme - Comic Book Chic - and already we're seeing it reverberate in the mass market.

To the left is an upcoming print from Puma; to the right is a hoodie from Topshop. They're almost identical, and they're not the only Pop prints you'll see this Spring and Summer.

This is on top of the runway masks at Marc, Luella, and Alexander McQueen, and past the editorials in Bazaar and V that literally turn comic books into fashion spreads.

And if Vogue isn't sponsoring a Lichtenstein exhibit in the next year, then our Magic 8 Ball is totally, totally busted.

One of our most hotly debated trivia questions was last year, when we asked which fashion company had actually patented a color: Tiffany Blue.

The shade is synonymous with Park Avenue engagements, prep school graduations, Audrey Hepburn yearnings, and of course, "I'm sorry I cheated on you with the nanny and Page Six found out before you did."

But now it seems the color is getting hijacked by someone else:

Swarovski.

The brand most famous for sponsoring emerging designers, and decking Naomi Campbell in a pair of crystal headphones, has taken a turn from it's deep violet ads starring Gemma Ward and Jessica Stam, and shifted instead to something...

Well, something that looks a lot like Tiffany blue.

Is this just the best shade to show off a sparkle? Or is Swarovski trying to imply something else?

A few weeks ago, Sienna Miller was photographed wearing blue cheapo sunglasses in Heathrow Airport.

ELLE Magazine loved it; we did too.

Then FabSugar found Paris Hilton, also wearing bright blue shades. Even though she is dating the darling Benji Madden, we still don't approve of Ms. Hilton's personal style - but still, more blue shades.

The whole thing made us wonder where else they might go, and this morning, we found out:

Onto hipster boys.

The good news: These things cost like $3 on St. Mark's Place or at Venice Beach or even CVS.

The bad news: Well, you can just fill in the blank with that one.

Tory Burch has always had an under thread of youth culture humming beneath her hems: Those signature tunics swing a little bit hippie; those insipid ballet flats can be doused with black spray paint to look rather awesome; the MisShapes DJ her Fashion Week parties.

But now it seems her cool aftertaste might be rising more to the surface, at least according to her newest arrivals:

The boatneck Noisetta dress may claim inspiration in maritime fashion, but we've seen this shift before: On the Giles Deacon runway, in Gwen Stefani's Sweet Escape video, and most recently, in the Kate Moss for TopShop collection.

Meanwhile, the blue blazer with piping...

Well, we don't even need to explain that one.

Maybe this is the time to note that Tory's two daughters are both college-age; one does studio art and the other interns for Proenza Schouler.

Guess she's been paying more attention to the girls and their friends than the women who frequent her shop.

Something's in the air:

Could it be tie-dye?

We never thought we'd see the return of our favorite 'month of July when we were in third grade attire,' but the first inklings of it we saw a while back are now materializing into an actual on-the-street reality.

Henry Holland had a bit on tie-dye in the newest Vogue UK, the tie-dye-esque Zimmerman dress at left has been headlining our ShopBop Wish List for weeks, and now Sass & Bide is helping raise money for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer with the tie-dyed heart shirt dress at left.

On a somewhat related note: En route to work this morning, we saw a mismatched girl sporting a beanie and hoop nose ring on the street. We suddenly feel like popping Kids into the DVD player, er, VCR.