Aly Michalka was in a band with her sister AJ, creatively called Aly & AJ. She made a valiant effort to toughen up a sweet, floral frock with a studded belt, but the result? Meh.


Due to my sordid past at a teen magazine, I have interviewed iCarly's Miranda Cosgrove — who was also in School Of Rock — and found her absolutely charming. Much like this bow-tiful dress.


Andrea Bowen — Julie on Desperate Housewives — made her Broadway debut in 1996 as Young Cosette in Les Misérables. Unfortunately, her faux-bandage dress with shiny purple shoes should really go to the guillotine.


Friends, this is Amy Astley, editor in chief of Teen Vogue. Surely she has heard the phrase "wear the trend; don't let the trend wear you." And yet.


The Buff Werewolf wears his tuxedo with just the right amount of insouciance. Wait a minute: Is it denim?


We see London, we see France, we see Ashley Tisdale's sexyface. And bra.


Willa Holland was Kaitlin Cooper on The O.C. and Agnes on Gossip Girl. She's experienced in LBD selection, and in choosing this classy number, it shows.


Katie Cassidy has been on Supernatural and Melrose Place. Her dad is '70s pop idol David Cassidy. While the colors — and the fingernails — are fun; she seems to have forgotten her shirt.


My unapologetic love for Kelly Osbourne grows stronger everyday. This little black dress with embellished sleeves looks great.


Seventeen-year-old Selena Gomez plays it safe… in an ensemble that seems like it's for someone twice her age.


Hey, Haley Bennett! You were great as Cora in that mediocre Drew Barrymore/Hugh Grant flick Music And Lyrics, which is one of my guilty pleasures. But I'm not a fan of your long-ass sweater. Sorry!


Raven-Symoné's black nails and black top are okay, but are her black leggings starting to disintegrate? I think I see skin.


Chelsea Staub was was in the Bratz movie, but that can be forgiven, since this polka-dot dress is adorable.


Hayley Hasselhoff's headpiece is a little kooky, but she's 17 and her dad keeps passing out at home so let's give her a pass.


Not only did Sofia Vassilieva play the leading role in My Sister's Keeper alongside Cameron Diaz, she was Eloise in two made-for-TV movies. Her smile — and her little silver dress — are awesome.


90210 2.0's AnnaLynne McCord attempts sleek retro-chic; succeeds.


In a sea of black and grey, Victoria Justice stands out in a shimmery red sheath. Kudos.


90210 2.0 star Jessica Stroup's square-looking midsection is just one of the reasons jumpsuits should fade away.


Danielle Panabaker's dress is business in front…


…Party in the back!


I've been going back and forth on this dress worn by 90210 2.o's Jessica Lowndes. Flirty and fun? Or too prom-y?

[Images via Getty.]

As Eric Wilson writes for The New York Times today, teenagers around the world have become interested in all sorts of careers in fashion as a result of the industry's increasingly outsize place in popular culture.

"Project Runway," the designer competition originally set at Parsons the New School for Design, has alone been credited with causing a spike in applications to fashion schools. At Parsons, applications have gone up 41 percent over the last five years. At Pratt Institute, they have gone up 20 percent.

And then there's fashion week, fashion blogs and The September Issue! Continues Wilson:

For much of America's youth, fashion is where it's at. But this wave of Anna Wintours and Michael Korses in training is coming at a moment when the industry is shrinking; retailers are collapsing; several magazines within Teen Vogue's parent company, Condé Nast, have closed; and jobs, of any sort, are scarce. A report last month from the NPD Group estimated that 12 percent of fashion companies will not survive the recession.

Still, let's say you do get an internship in fashion. Teen Vogue's book warns, "Be prepared to suffer." Karl Lagerfeld says: "Are you ready to accept injustice?" There will be no hobnobbing, lavish lifestyle, reaping rewards. It's all grunt work. And I've been there. Steaming piles of dresses. Filing. Addressing envelopes. Stuffing envelopes. Paperwork. Packing boxes. On a good day? Cataloguing heaps and heaps of shoes. Quickly. On a deadline.

It's not that there's anything wrong with young women wanting to go into fashion — dreaming of being surrounded by pretty things, and models, and the beautiful life. But it is still an industry. A business. Which requires hard work, connections and skill to succeed. You'll make zero money, but be expected to dress well and live in an expensive city. People with better connections and a fancier college on their resume will always be ahead of you. And just because you love shoes or dresses doesn't mean you're cut out to be a designer or editor. And even if you do find a great job, there's still a chance that the business will fail; the magazine will go under. Take it from Teen Vogue's editor in chief, Amy Astley, who started at HG, (Condé Nast's House & Garden). Last week, she told mediabistro.com: "I love interiors still. I'm crazy about decorating and really thought I would be a decorating editor. HG was a wonderful place to start my career. I love interiors. I love flowers. I love decorating. I love food and tabletop. I love clothes, obviously fashion, so it's all of a piece to me… I worked at HG for about four years, until the magazine was closed, in 1993."

Still, if young women are going to spend money on magazines and books about fashion, Teen Vogue might as well get a cut of the cash, right?

Looking for a (Long) Leg Up [NY Times]
So What Do You Do, Amy Astley, Editor-In-Chief, Teen Vogue? [mediabistro.com]

Okay, I'll admit it. The Teen Vogue way to wear this plaid D&G trench coat, which is not priced and probably won't be in stores until the temperature drops below 95, looks a lot more fun than the "run"-way. Maybe because the D&G way is…well…for starters, orange is a bad color for eyeshadow and…it looks like it was styled by the department of the Pentagon that conceives all the propaganda in charge of turning Americans against people wearing headscarves. (Or wait, Victoria Clarke!)

Behold: the punk pencil skirt, brought to you by Marc Jacobs. Everyone knows how Marc Jacobs invented grunge, but not everyone realizes he was one of the co-founders of punk as well. That is why his plaid at $238 is so affordable compared to Dolce & Gabbana's; he wants the kids to be able to pair his pieces with their $230 vintage T-shirts and $296 "Blue Blood" backpacks! He is like Ian McKaye in that way.







These are my personal faves. Doesn't it look like she just stepped out of a 1992 Mandee? Well except for the top part, which probably would have been a bodysuit. And she should probably be wearing a choker. I can't find a price tag on these House of Holland pants but their their website makes me want to kill myself.

No we can't tell you the price of Sigrid's Just Cavalli jacket. If you have to ask you probably think sprinting in a snakeskin motorcycle jacket and bangle bracelets is a good idea but it will probably only make you die from dehydration and Teen Vogue likes to look out for its readers.

This is ping-pong, "their way." The Etro scarf and Leekan necklace are unpriced and we'd say they're pretty optional anyway, but those yellow Louise Goldin goggles are obviously an imperative so why can't we get a price on that? In other news, that cuff is $439.

Perhaps you always thought beach volleyball players, so ripped and bronze and well-adjusted, exemplified some sort of platonic sportsgirl ideal…

But you would be forgetting the critical necessity of a $225 metallic swimsuit so high-cut you can't wear it without matching booty shorts!

And finally, fencing. Who knew donning puffy white astronaut garb and swordfighting with nerds could be sexy?

Why…Veronique Leroy! Who obviously designed these platform shoes — no we can't tell you the price — with your epee in mind.

Earlier: Vogue's World's Best Bodies
"Girls Hurt": The Soccer Story That Will Pain Your Pretty Little Head
Teen Vogue Message Boards: "I Gained Alot Of Weight Over The Summer. It's Disgusting"
Alexandra Michael Is About 28 Pounds Too Fat For Modeling

• Teen Vogue editor in chief Amy Astley's New Year's Resolution is to read more books in lieu of the New York Post and break her kids of their Disney Channel habit. Because what you are offering the culture is sooooo motherfucking wholesome and thought-provoking, Amy Astley. [WWD
  
• Jude Law maybe to play Halston in a biopic about the designer. [Fashionista]
  
• Rapey designer Anand Jon's sister thinks every one of the 30 women accusing him of sexual assault is a gold-digging whore. [Times Of India]
  
• Every time you order champagne you are probably only lining the pockets of Scarlett Johansson, if you think about it. Maybe get high instead? [WSJ]

• Some clothing company took out ads that read it "is not racist like Tommy Hilfiger." God this is so stupid. Tommy Hilfiger is not racist, just talentless and clearly somewhat repressed. Whatever stupid clothing company is trying to drum up publicity by reminding everyone of the urban legend that Tommy Hilfiger hates the race of people who used to buy his stupid clothing is only getting blogged about because nothing is going on in the fashion industry right now and I am not even going to name it here but go ahead and click if you want. [Observer]
• I don't know who Jessie Randall is but I hate brunch, too. Not the meal itself, just the dogma of it, or something. [The Fashion Informer]
• Anne Hathaway is the new "brand ambassador" for Lancome. No link, it's just an email I got. Exciting, right?
• You know that phenomenon whereby people with entirely too much disposable income resort to spending it on pointlessly expensive "luxury goods" to broadcast their wealth, superiority, etc? Well have you heard? It even happens in the Middle East. [WWD]
• You know that other phenomenon whereby models are thin? Yeah there's apparently more to say about that too. [Vogue UK]

"My friend, "Audrey", if visiting from boarding school," it reads. "And when she's here, Things Happen.

Oh, and if you were wondering, Chloe, who is 16, wears skinny jeans, leopard print Tory Burch flats and a ruffled Juicy Couture peacoat while Audrey, who is 17, wears a Pucci-print tunic with Chanel boots.

"Audrey passed out on the beach, and a friend buried her up to her head. But then the tide came in! She woke up, and water was in her face. Audrey, you could've died!"

Audrey laughs. Chloe smiles and says, "Whatever, I've been worse. The drunkest I've ever been, I passed out in a cab, and I don't remember anything from that night. I think everything was fine but I just can't remember!

The girls flag down a waiter, who asks to see their IDs. Audrey shows her fake and Chloe says, authoritatively, "I just talked to your manager. He says we're fine." The waiter takes their order. It's their fourth drink of the night—they were at a pre-party earlier. "Girls can get away with anything," pronounces Chloe. Adds Audrey, "It's funny—we're both obsessed with the show Gossip Girl. "Seriously, we're the real-life Gossip Girls—but who really goes to the New York Palace Hotel to drink?"

lets get skinny!

Posted: Nov 13, 2007 9:23 PM

today i hade lemon zinger tea with one packet splenda 0 cal and water and took my meds...then during the day i just kept taking sips of hot tea to fil me up.... so far ive had o calories total!!! whooohooo...

To which poster BUH-bye added:

height:
5'7
weight:
120
I gained alot of weight over the summer. its disgusting.
I want to be 98

I also love the feeling of hunger. I feel so clean and light and empty.

This is a tiny sample, with hints rather than clues. The first impression is one of strong competence.

The 'm' form shows 'mountaintops' that signal a person who likes to gather information on her own.

Between the mountaintops is a distinct 'V' formation, the indication of a person who can deftly analyze matters and situations.

The connection between the A and the m is smooth and fluid. She can, if she chooses, express herself elegantly.

There may be a sign of personal initiative (where the first m-line heads downward and then breaks away upward). When an opportunity pops up, this writer will probably go after it without anyone else's OK or urging. The significant tent-like formation in the A and the m signals stubbornness. The writer will cling to what she believes in, right or wrong, long after she realizes that it's better to let loose.

• The Spice Girls are reuniting, and Donatella Versace may be dressing them for the reunion tour. G-d works in mysterious ways, and Jennie may have just forgiven Him for the Holocaust... [AHN.com]
  
• Prada sells Azzedine Alaia back to Azzedine Alaia. Which would sound all heartwarming and benevolent, if only it weren't a shrewd business decision. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Stella McCartney will be debuting a lingerie line next year, offering a "high-end product with prices that are a little below La Perla." And by that they mean $71 for panties and $447 for chemises. If these represent reasonable prices, Nick Denton is definitely not paying us enough. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Vanity Fair's September issue proffers its annual "Best Dressed" list, featuring a few members of the Conde payroll: Vanity Fair's fashion director Michael Roberts, contributing editor Lisa Eisner, and photographer-at-large Jonathan Becker, as well as Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Amy Astley, Vogue's style editor Alexandra Kotur, contributing editor Marina Rust Connor, and Anna Wintour spawn Bee Shaffer. That we are reading about this in an article penned by a few slightly, um, less-dressed members of the Conde payroll is not at all making us feel like we are seated at the nerd table in the cafeteria. [WWD, 1st item]

• In a move straight totally copped from our college's alumni association, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is launching a Business Services Network which seeks to connect members with "key industry executives" that can provide resources and help for their businesses. If you're already a CFDA member, how much help do you actually need? Oh wait. See financial records of the majority of American high-end fashion houses. Never mind. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Annie Leibovitz's latest way to pay the bills? The Bottega Veneta fall 2007 ad campaign! Woman's got a family to feed, yo! It ain't all taking celebrity portraits for the glossies and mourning Susan Sontag! [Vogue UK]
• Aw, models! They're just like us! One of Burberry's latest faces? The son of Virgin tycoon Richard Branson, 21-year old aspiring rocker Sam! [Vogue UK]
• One of our main reason's for not taking that fourth year of science in high school? Our aversion to safety goggles. Which look dumb, no matter how good your shoes are. So why the fuck would we pay Dolce & Gabbana to re-create this look? [FabSugar]
• Hermes bags: Ridiculously overpriced, but rightfully named for true style icons. [See Birkin; Jane; Kelly, Grace.] But Naomi Campbell? Puke. [Sassybella]

• Maybe it's the magazine's practice of prefacing the prices on all the featured clothes and accessories with the word "about." As in: "Melet Mercantile Vintage Jodhpurs, about $348" (page 161) or "Daryl K leggings, about $290." (page 163). You know, because if you have to ask how much, we're going to shove it in your face that we work at Teen Vogue."
  
• Perhaps it's the profiles of the "back to school" style-plans of Jeannie Casandra, 14, who tells the magazine she calls Anna Sui "aunt," and Katherine Drexler, 15, who really does call J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler "dad"... which is why she has to buy clothes you can actually get at a mall?
  
• Or is it the profile of Teresa Missoni — who is introduced in the headline as a "third-generation Missoni" — because every twelve-year-old should understand the grave importance of what that implies?
  
• Could it be this sentence from the cover story on L.C. and Whitney from The Hills, the reality show about working at Teen Vogue: "Whitney's due to graduate from USC and is being considered for a spot on staff at Teen Vogue."
  
• Or perhaps it's this sentence: "It seemed to be the perfect storm of biological, social and emotional issues that led 23-year-old Cho Seung Hui to kill 32 students and faculty on the Virginia Tech campus."
  
• The magazine's rabid coverage of the Costume Institute Gala? Also: The word "gala"?
  
• Just go here.
  
• Agyness Deyn, page 184. Her fucking haircut, the spelling of her name, the fact that she was a real bitch when she showed up to our own Intern Maria's American Apparel branch in Brooklyn. We could go on.
  
• Quotes like this, from designer Marc Jacobs: "The scent is youth in a bottle: Heady, whimsical and fun." This would surely annoy us if it appeared in Vogue, but in a magazine FOR said youth, only make us want to drink said perfume.

It turns out your parents aren't kidding when they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day.... According to a study published in the September 2005 Journal of the American Dietetic Association, girls who didn't eat breakfast had a higher body mass index than those who regularly did.

Earlier: Teen Vogue Panelists Tell It Like It Is

• The name "Celebrity Legs Of A Goddess" (Someone was paid to come up with!)
  
• The fact that the Venus "Celebrity Legs Of A Goddess" event was held at NYC's Metropolitan Pavilion, where one can host a wedding reception for $135 to $175 a head.
  
• The fact that $135 to $175 a head is considered a really good deal for a wedding reception in New York.
  
• The fact that we even know that.
  
• The knowledge that if Intern Diana is really really lucky she will, like the "bevy of professional photographers" she found herself amongst, find a job enabling her to continue attending such events after she graduates from Duke.
  
• The bubble guns they hold in this picture, perhaps that they symbolize the infantilization of adults borne by market consumerism. Or just that they annoy us.

It's Rihanna's fucking haircut!
Yeah, it makes her look drag-queeny, but that's missing the point! What we're depressed about is the fact that we know that haircuts are how women's magazine editors make deals, do business and wage war, because, when we wrote all jokes-ey-like about the haircut war between Vogue's Anna Wintour and Allure editor-in-chief Linda Wells, we got all these emails from Conde Nast people saying "Oh my god that's so true! They hate each other!" And so we can only assume that Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Amy Astley (middle) — herself a mere figurehead (hah!) at the Vogue empire and obvious prisoner of Anna Wintour's spHAIR of influence — has been forced as well to subtly (or not!) suggest certain Wintour-like shearing strategies to the celebrities the magazine features. [Not to mention her own hairdresser. -Ed.] Anyway, if it matters any, we liked Rihanna better bang-less, like the first time she met the Teen Vogue blog staff.

The Day I Met Rihanna [Teen Vogue]
Off With Her Head: Anna Wintour Not Exactly A Style Icon To 'Allure''s Linda Wells

• Juli:"I was so stressed when deciding what to wear to my interview. I ran around all day in a panic."
  
• Sara:"I felt really stressed out about what to wear to my interview. This culminated in some impulsive, last minute shopping at the Barney's Co-op."
  
• Diana:"On the day of my interview, I slipped into my favorite little black dress, Sigerson Morrison peep-toe wedges, and classic Burberry trench coat."

• In Juli's entry, on the day of her interview she" finally decided on a yellow Marc Jacobs dress" (this slip dress, originally, $995 but now on sale for $597 perhaps?) before making "a split second decision to ditch the yellow dress" and wear "what I wore to my interview at Men's Vogue, (where I intern when I'm not at Teen Vogue)" which is to say an "all black skirt/shirt combo from Intermix". (Sort of like this this $475 Alice Ritter bib dress...)
• Sara, meanwhile, cops to wearing a "Rebecca Taylor velvet dress" (which was probably a little pricier than this $449 crocheted bell-sleave dress, but you get the idea) to her interview, although "nobody actually saw it as I felt too cold to take off the large sweater I was wearing over it!". Sara adds (in some "top-secret advice" for fellow interns): "sometimes, I wear Uggs on the way to work, and then change into ballet flats when I get to the office." (Prob these Jean-Michel Cazabat Napa leather ballet skimmers for $395 — from Sara's beloved Barney's Co-Op, naturally!
• Meanwhile, Diana pairs a nameless "favorite little black dress" with Sigerson Morrison peep-toe wedges (like this $460 pair?) and a "classic Burberry trench coat (just in case)" (something like this $795 number?)
• And Shavanna talks about two outfits, a black and blue French Connection trapeze dress (no longer in stores, but you can snag this Izzy dress for $188!) and a first-day outfit of a vintage dress (Vintage Pucci, perhaps? $795) and vintage Ferragamo pumps (like the ones we found for $76.99).

InternBlog [TeenVogue]

Earlier: How To Ace A 'Teen Vogue' Interview: Love Clothes!
Related: How To Become A Conde Nast Intern [Gawker]

omg you are so fashion forward! i see you on misshapes site for party you look so hot! teach me your styles! are you friends with cory kennedy????

I am so enchanted by the whole fashion and magazine thing!

That was an incredibly well written article you're the total package: beauty and brains...

emily you are truly an amazing intern. i am in complete awe of you and literally just want to be you!

wow! Diana, you are such a cutie pie! i bet u are an amazing intern at teenvogue! congratulations! if Barbie had an internship, i bet she would have chosen your job because it's every girl's dream! she might have worn a burberry trench to her interview, as well. :)

Behind The Seams: Meet Diana [Teen Vogue]
Earlier: Teen Vogue Panelists Tell It Like It Is

Q: Is there such a thing as too thin?
Rachel S., 17: Theoretically, yes, but I think all the starlets that magazines say are too skinny are really attractive. When Jessica Simpson was superslim, you could count her ribs, I thought she was pretty. It's sexy to see bones.

And!

Q: Will Hollywood become more accepting of full-figured actresses?
Rachel S.: America [Ferrara], Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah—they're not full-figured. They're fat.

2. We would totally love to offer you an internet TV show! The pay is crap, but think of the exposure! Especially after reading this:

My parents are supportive, but some of my friends' mothers aren't so nice. The moms will spend a lot of time at yoga or working out and they're skinnier than their daughters. Then they call their daughters fat.

Teen Vogue
Earlier: 'Teen Vogue' Donates Funds To Help Treat Eating Disorders It Keeps Perpetuating

• Did the failure of Bonnie Fuller's 23-word-title self-help tome scare off the publisher for her replacement at Cosmopolitan, Kate White? White has apparently changed the title of the paperback edition of her latest non-fiction book, cutting it down from 17 words (18 if you're not counting hyphenated phrases!) to 15. With Fuller's book selling only 338 copies in paperback since its release in early January, we don't blame her! [Radar]
• Teen Vogue's Amy Astley may soon see that her staff has one-less intern to boss around. Intern Jenna admits on the magazine's "Intern Blog" that she loves cheapo American Apparel clothes; gives absolutely no love to Teen Vogue advertisers Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs, & Chloe. [TeenVogue]
• Before she gave birth, "Project Runway" and Elle magazine diva Nina Garcia reportedly had much of the fashion department's staff running around to style and produce a photo shoot to showcase her then-baby-filled belly. [Rush&Molloy]
• Meredith Corporation-published mom-mags Ladies' Home Journal, Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle magazines will soon have an online video presence. What does this mean? More online content to ignore! [MediaWeek]

A: You wanna be a fashion stylist? or a fashion editor?
W: Yes, most definitely
A: You love it.
W: Yes.
A: Love clothes?
W: Love clothes
A: Well listen i don't really have any more questions for you.

After the jump, the full interview, wherein Amy Astley makes a very credible attempt to simulate the actual magazine interviewing process. Not!

A: What we look for is that one or two very special people who can really know everything that's really happening in LA before it happens. I would love it if you could really give me a bit of input into what photographers you like, what designers you like..something that would give me a sense of you, your visual taste.

W: Well, Bruce Weber is a favorite of the magazine as well as mine. (Ed: As well as Abercrombie & Fitch! Which is where these girls would, in the nineties, be working. Sigh.)...Mario Testino

A: He's always flattering

W: Yes, he..

A: Girl always looks great

W: Yeah

A: And what about designers you love

W: Designers I love? I love Balenciaga, I love YSL, they're not clothes that i can affrord but just looking at them, just being in the presence of them, is just amazing.... (Ed: Way to get out of pronouncing "Ghesquiere", Whit! Not to mention "Yves"! Not to mention knowing who the fuck designs Yves these days!! We know the situation would be different if you could afford the clothes...)

A: Is this what you really want to do?

W: Yes (nodding), most definitely!

A: You wanna be a fashion stylist? or a fashion editor?

W: Yes, most definitely!

A: You love it.

W: Yes.

A: Love clothes.

W: Love clothes

A: Well listen i don't really have any more questions for you.

Reality Bites [Teen Vogue beauty blog]
Whitney Falls Down Stairs [BringingBloggingBack]