• Kate Moss was shot by Mario Testino for the September cover of British Vogue. That trench coat looks very Gisele photoshop-gate/neighborhood flasher, no? [Design Scene]

• Speaking of Gisele, she has signed on to voice a series of web cartoons intended to educate children about the environment, finance, and science. The supermodel will record the role of Gigi, a supermodel who doubles as an environmental superhero. [UK Elle]
• Another image from Victoria Beckham's Armani campaign has dropped. [Daily Mail]
• Transformers director Michael Bay shot the Victoria's Secret holiday commercial. [P6]
• For some reason, Lady GaGa apparently told the News Of The World that she spends all her money on clothes. "Every single dollar that I've earned I put into my tour. Mainly into my crazy outfits. My performance is my life. And I'm not that great with money. I've gone bankrupt four times already." Um, hire a financial planner? Or a stylist who can pull Jean-Charles de Castelbajac Kermit coats for free? [NOTW]
• "My fashion wisdom comes from gardening. This is a difficult time for many, but I am not in crisis mode. Like the seasons of gardening, there is a time to plant and a time to harvest, and now is a time to weed. This will pass." Oscar de la Renta, like everyone else, is hoping he has green thumbs. [WWD]
• Mid-size fashion businesses, those who expanded in the boom years to $7-$10 million in annual sales, are at a greater risk in this recession than any other tranche of the industry, so Oscar will in fact probably be safe. But not so designers like Peter Som and Jane Mayle. As retailers continue to contend with falling consumer spending by cutting inventory and ditching labels that don't move swiftly from the racks, more designer bankruptcies over the coming season are likely. [WWD]
• Zandra Rhodes, on her style icon: "Me! Otherwise what am I designing for?" [Independent]
• We are not sure why this story, which has no news about Alexis Bledel and her projects, but several large photos of the actress wearing a leotard with incredibly teased hair, exists. But it does. Also, Alexis Bledel is not Rory Gilmore in real life. Who knew? [WWD]
• John Varvatos, who in the past has chosen rock stars like Iggy Pop as models, this year selected ZZ Top for his fall campaign. The group was shot against a diorama of water buffalo at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. [WWD]
• The British Fashion Council is moving its headquarters — and its largest event, fashion week — to historic Somerset House. This September, London Fashion Week is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and British designers from Matthew Williamson to Gareth Pugh have vowed to show in the city. [Telegraph]
• Bobbi Brown and Lauren Bush are co-launching a FEED makeup bag. The model's charity project supports the U.N. World Food Program. The makeup pouch will cost $50, including three Bobbi Brown lip glosses, and Bush says the cost will support 10 women in the UNWFP's Food for Work program. [WWD]
• Alexander Wang's e-commerce venture is now live. When it asks for a password, type in AWSTYLE.COM. [AlexanderWang]
• Ciara supports not texting while driving. [WWD]
• Lela Rose may be on to something as an ice cream cook. When asked her favorite flavor, the designer replied, "My own homemade ice cream called Brown Bread. It's an almond base, with bread crumbs that have been baked in butter and brown sugar with almonds. It's just delicious." [WWD]
• Roland Mouret, on quitting smoking: "I read Allen Carr books. I was hypnotised. I am now a non-smoker, and I smoked for 20 years. It's over." [Guardian]
• Catherine Deneuve and L'Oréal principal shareholder Liliane Bettencourt are among those inducted this year into the International Best-Dressed List Hall of Fame; that, in case anyone's wondering, is Vanity Fair's made-up list of well-dressed people. [VF]
• Following the news that leather suppliers were selling skins from cattle involved in illegal deforestation of the Amazon, Clarks, Timberland, Adidas, and Nike have asked that their suppliers stop that. Seems a little weak. [Guardian]
• Tom Ford's directorial debut, "A Single Man," an adaptation of the Christopher Isherwood novel that stars Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, will take place at the Venice Film Festival this September. [WWD]
• Fast-fashion chain Peacocks is making its own très Chanel-inspired quilted rain boots. Maybe they heard Audrey Tautou's endorsement of the real thing? [Guardian]
• Instead of having to pay back 100 million Euros this month, and another 350 million Euros next July, Prada has won a loan extension until 2012. [WWD]
• Uniqlo's same-store sales for the month of July fell 4.2%. [WWD]

• Amy Winehouse has returned to London after a stay in St. Lucia, in the hopes of reconciling with her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil. But Blake's mother, who called Amy a "trollop", says a reunion isn't likely.[DailyMail]

• "[Blake]feels very let down by his wife and he's proceeding with a divorce," Georgette Civil says, "Amy has behaved like a trollop. Since his release there has been no contact. Blake realised the marriage was doomed some time ago and I don't believe Amy will get round him now. I never want him to go back to her. It would be bad news. He's divorcing her because she cheated on him and the sooner the marriage is over the better."[DailyMail]
• Gilmore Girls star Alexis Bledel will be featured on the 2-hour series finale of ER, playing intern Dr. Julia Wise. Somewhere, Paris Gellar is screaming, "I was supposed to be the doctor! Me!"[People]
• "Growing up in Colombia has given me the clarity of mind to recognise that education can help break the cycle of poverty. It unlocks every child's potential, and teaches them that they can have whatever they want in life."- Shakira [TimesOnline]
• Sad news: radio legend Paul Harvey, a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame, has died at the age of 90. [CBS2]
• Katie Holmes allegedly skipped the Oscars due to extreme fatigue brought about by a recent detox diet. "Katie has almost rid her body of toxins but sometimes it makes her lethargic,", says a source. "Tom's encouraging her to stick to the diet because they are hoping to conceive baby number two."[DailyMail]
• Watchmen director Zack Snyder says his film will be the one that essentially kills the superhero genre: "Twenty years ago my parents wouldn't know who the X-Men were, and now everybody knows that stuff. It means that deconstruction of the superhero is something you can do," Snyder explains, "All those movies have led to a point where we can finally have 'Watchmen' with a Superman character who doesn't want to save the world and a Batman who has trouble in bed. Essentially, I want to kill the superhero movie because now we can."[LA Times]
• Uh-oh: did Kourtney Kardashian's fiance dump her for Kristin Cavallari? "He went to Las Vegas with Kristin this weekend," says a source, "When Kourtney found out, she was furious and 'broke up with him' even though it was pretty clear he had already moved on." [PageSix]
• Pink is apparently none too pleased at reports that Britney Spears will be using live animals during her upcoming world tour. "Pink is really angry at the idea of elephants being carted around on tour," says a source, "especially with the loud music, lights and craziness that generally ensues on a tour of any kind, but she's waiting to see if the rumour about using animals is true and what Britney will be doing with the animals before judging."[PopCrunch]
• "Sometimes I get an idea for cinema. And when you get an idea that you fall in love with, this is a glorious day. That idea may just be 1a fragment, but it holds something. It might be a scene, or a part of a scene, or a character, or a way the character talks, a light or a feel ... You write that idea down. And thinking about that idea will bring other ideas in – there's a hook to it. And things start to emerge. And then you see, one day, a script. A script is just words to remind you of the ideas. And you follow that, but always staying on guard, in case other ideas come in, because a thing isn't finished till it's finished. And one day, it's finished."- David Lynch[Guardian]
• Robert Pattinson is considering recording an album: "I might make an album but not through a record company or anything. I'd like to do something independent," Pattinson says, "I don't care if people buy it or not. I'd just like to have it just for myself so I can work with good musicians and stuff."[ShowbizSpy]
• Bono admits that his kids find him to be boring, recalling an incident when he overheard his daughter, Jordan, complaining about him during a celebrity dinner at the family's home. "I went in to get some wine out of the fridge and I heard her talking to her friends, because she loves Jay-Z and Beyonce," Bono says, "I heard her saying, 'He's probably boring their a***s off talking about Africa.' And, actually, I think I was at the time."[YahooUK]
• Club Kid killer Michael Alig, who is up for parole in 2010, has been moved from a maximum security prison to a "more lax" facility. "I just visited him, and he's doing better," says his friend, Steve Lewis, "He's getting to be more involved with the general prison population. He's alert, he's dynamic, he's even become a very good painter. Obviously, he still hasn't fully reconciled the fact that he committed a brutal murder. But he definitely feels an obligation to make amends."[PageSix]
• Is the Jonas Brothers phenomenon finally slowing down? While the brothers took first place at the box office this weekend, their 3-d movie is underperforming and was barely able to hold of Madea Goes To Jail for the top spot. [Yahoo]
• Little Britain star David Walliams has apparently been two-timed by his 18 year old girlfriend, Lauren Budd, who is reportedly also still dating her college boyfriend. [DailyMail]
• "When I was 8, I fancied myself a combination of Elvis, Chuck Norris and Richard Pryor. I'm not kidding" - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. When I was eight, I fancied myself a combination of a mermaid, Rainbow Brite, and Punky Brewster. I'm also not kidding. [PageSix]

Village Voice:

Resist if you dare, and for as long as you must, but even the hoariest haters eventually succumbed to the girly, cottony charms of 2005's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, if in the privacy of their Netflix queues. I foresee a similar fate for its blandly engaging sequel: moms, daughters, and faux-ironic twentysomethings filling the theaters, the rest of us filling our jammies and DVD players in six months.

Fox News:

Stuff happens, feelings are hurt, boys dramatically enter and leave their lives and major problems wrap up a bit too neatly, especially at the picturesque ending. That "Traveling Pants 2" offers material that's tailored to an underserved audience _ girls and women who like films that allow them to think and feel _ is, of course, a solid start. You just wish it were a more comfortable fit.

The Hollywood Reporter:

Much has transpired in the lives of best friends forever Tibby, Carmen, Bridget and Lena and their shared globe-trotting jeans in the three years since the first "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

But it's nothing compared to castmate America Ferrera's career in the interim, as the Emmy-winning breakout star of ABC's "Ugly Betty."

She remains very much the team player in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2," a shapely sequel that retains much of the sparkle and warmth that made the original such a pleasant surprise.

USA Today:

With the quartet of girls now in their first year of college, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (* * 1/2 out of four) is more of a coming-of-age story than its 2005 predecessor, tackling more mature subjects. However, for all its moments of believable dialogue and persuasive emotional truths, it also has some fairy-tale scenarios. But that's almost a textbook definition of a chick flick, so it doesn't interfere much with the film's appeal. And the performances of the four young women, particularly plucky America Ferrera and sardonic Amber Tamblyn, are likable and often charming.

Entertainment Weekly via CNN:

But three years ago, in "Sisterhood 1," half the cast were way more famous than the other. Back then, TV stars Alexis Bledel ("Gilmore Girls") and Amber Tamblyn ("Joan of Arcadia") were the well-known pair of actresses, although you'd never know it from the movie, which smoothly offered all four performers equal time to be cute, freak out about something, and literally wear the pants.

Perhaps it's no shocker, given the way Hollywood likes to turn 'em over, but now it's the other two members of the sisterhood — Blake Lively of "Gossip Girl" and America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty" — who are a lot bigger deals outside the multiplex.

Once again, much to the sequel's credit, the story doesn't seem to care. The movie keeps moving quickly (but not sloppily) among the heroines, so that if you're overloaded, say, on one sister's sugary plotline, it only comes around every fourth scene or so, and never sticks around too long. Even at 111 minutes, "Pants" mostly sprints.

Variety:

With very little sex and very little city, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" still seems a good bet to grab a sizable chunk of the underserved chick-flick demographic, boosted by its young stars' blossoming profiles (particularly "Gossip Girl's" Blake Lively) and a blithely shallow approach to story. A likable quartet of players, a surfeit of male bimbos and an appetite for quick-cooked emotion should make the Aug. 6 Warner Bros. release a bigger hit than its 2005 predecessor, which grossed $39 million domestically.

Chicago Sun-Times:

The movie intercuts quickly but not confusingly from one story to another, is dripping with seductive locations, is not shy about romantic cliches and has a lot of heart. The women are all sincere, intelligent, vulnerable, sweet, warm. That’s in contrast to “SATC,” with its narcissistic and shallow heroines. The “SATC” ladies should fill their flasks with cosmopolitans, go to see “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2” and cry their hearts out with futile regret for their misspent lives.

The Los Angeles Times:

In the current popular culture, female friendships — at any age — are generally considered secondary to life's "important" relationships, the romantic bonds between men and women.

Nowhere is this depressing trend more evident than in Hollywood, where story lines putatively about women's friendships tend toward the saccharine ("Mona Lisa Smile"), the malicious ("Mean Girls") or the boy-crazy (take your pick).

Which is why it's such a pleasure (and a relief) to encounter movies such as " The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2." Like the first "Pants" movie, it presents its heroines' relationships as complicated, challenging and particularly rewarding, and not simply as a vehicle for finding the perfect boyfriend.

Premiere:

It's easy to dismiss The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 as just another typical teen film with jocky dudes and back-stabbing girls that tend to flood the teen market. There was the toothless film adaptation of The Baby-Sitters Club in 1995, starring Rachael Leigh Cook, who later graduated to become the ugly-duckling social outcast rescued by Freddie Prinze Jr. in She's All That in 1995. Similarly, we saw Clueless, starring Alicia Silverstone as the designer-clothes crazed Cher in 1995 and the Lindsay Lohan vehicle Mean Girls in 2004. While those films were either underestimating their audience or merely featuring makeovers and female rivalry, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 bridges the gap between them. The idealism of the books about childhood friendship smoothly tackles the mature relationship topics that are common in these other comedies with none of the angst or crassness. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, directed by Sarah Lawrence grad Sanaa Hamri, depicts refreshingly positive female friendship based in reality without cynicism.

Wednesday Is The New Friday In Movie Releases [LA Times]

Earlier: 'Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 2' Isn't Amazing, But You Should See It Anyway

'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2' opens today, nationwide.

The director, Sanaa Hamri, also helmed Something New, and she handled the story of four smart young women dealing with romantic, familial and working relationships really well. I dig Tibby (Amber Tamblin)'s pseudo-feminist character because she's sharp, witty and vulnerable. (Plus, her boyfriend is Asian. And they don't even mention it!) Carmen (America Ferrera) is alternately fierce and insecure. Lena (Alexis Bledel) has a magnetic attraction to the hot hot model from her figure drawing class, and that's before she sees him naked. He's black, but, again, they don't even mention it. The only character with a weak plotline is Bridget (Blake Lively), but since she appears in scenes with both Blythe Danner and personal fave Shohreh Aghdashloo, she of House Of Sand And Fog, you try to forgive. Is it too long? Maybe. Does it go back and forth between the characters too much? Perhaps. But seriously: A movie directed by a woman, written by a woman, based on books written by a woman, starring young women with minorities and older women as supporting cast? Give it a chance. Or at least rent it when it comes out on DVD.