A dark and stormy sea? We'll be seeing this one on the red carpet, for sure.

While there's a lot going on here — asymmetrical, bandage, mesh — the silhouette remains simple.

Better in long form, no? The contrast between fitted and flowing is pretty, and there's something mermaid-y about the hemline.

A little toga goes a long way.

Gray day at the shore? This is too basic for my tastes, but the drape is interesting — and it's cool how there's structure at the shoulders, but swing at the hem.

For some reason this just makes me think of being tangled in seaweed. But in the most romantic way.

Yeah… no.

How do we feel about one sleeve? Is it chic, an elegant twist, a fashion-y wink? Or will you be at a cocktail party with one arm covered in goosebumps?

This draped white seems so right and fresh for spring. Add gold bangles and go!

Yowza. This is enough to make me forgive the man for working with Miley Cyrus. Simple, but not boring. Unique, but not bizarre. Fashionable and wearable. Bravo. Me likey.

This Little-Mermaid-in-mourning number, on the other hand, is not as appealing.

And even though the color here is lovely, the ruching is gimmicky.

But when you think "spring," you think fresh and green, and this clever little looks-strapless-but-isn't dress certainly delivers.

[Images via Getty.]

• Nastia Liukin's long-awaited and appropriately bendy BCBG ad is the business! [Popcrunch]

• Now that stars have inaugural balls to shop for, they're "totally over" the frivolity of dressing for awards shows. Celebs "are taking the registry very seriously — no one wants to be the Laura Bush of this inauguration." [MSNBC]
• Justin Timberlake's line, William Rast, is making its Bryant Park debut next month. "And for those who might anticipate a concert, there won’t be one." [WWD]
• Oh no she didn't! Did Michelle Obama insult Vera Wang's taste?! Um, no, she didn't, TMZ. [TMZ]
• Menswear designer Thom Browne, known for "avant-garde antics and perverse, themed spectacles" brings the pain to Europe. [WWD]
• Thakoon's new "Addition" line is good. Really good. [Style.com]
• Badgley Mischka is lowering their prices. We're guessing from "exorbitant" to "extravagant." [WSJ]
• Ferragamo goes green: "The collection, entitled Eco Ferragamo, feature five day bags in the Italian label's signature style - think chic, soft leather in classic shapes. The difference? These bags have undergone a tanning process that uses natural products instead of the the usual, environmental unfriendly metal elements, making the leather biodegradable and water-resistant." Sadly, they're ugly. [ElleUK]
• Big news: Claire McCardell’s mid-century classic, What Shall I Wear, is being reissued! [Fashionista]
• Was Valentino one of Madoff's many victims? [New York]
• Valentino says no! [WWD]
• Uniqlo introduces "interactive reviews." Which is great, if Uniqlo clothes don't make you look like a frumpy teenager. [BlackBook]
• Even though Michelle Obama wore one of her dresses, reporters seem surprised that designer Maria Pinto is, um, still living and working normally. [IHT]
• Not exactly peace in the Middle East, but a start: Following security closures, Benetton reopens its Tehran locations. [WWD]
• Oy. Macy's is closing 10 stores. [WSJ]
• Want to feel inadequate all day long? The new Anna Wintour ringtone dispenses fashion advice! Alternatively, Andre Leon Talley dispenses "career advice." Cause that's not gonna get you mugged on the bus! [New York]
• Would Anna find those sporting "Save Anna" shirts to be, how you say, losers? [Gawker]
• Only the good die young: Husband and wife rad-clothing-line Obedient Sons and Daughters is an economic casualty. [Fashionista]

(Click on any image in galleries to begin the show)
BCBG:



Nicole Miller:



Erin Fetherston:



Baby Phat:



Abaete:



Alexandre Herchkovitch:



Sass & Bide:



Rock & Republic:



Herve Leger:



DKNY:



Tracy Reese:



Diane Von Furstenberg:



Miss Sixty:

• Remember the news about the new reality show in which Tyra Banks pits a group of young women against one another to compete for a job at a fashion magazine? Well, it looks like the ladymag in question is ELLE and creative director Joe Zee and fashion news director/calorie restrictor Anne Slowey are going to be judges. Having worked with these people, allow me to just say this is going to make for good television. [WWD, 2nd item]
  
• The Danish Fashion Institute is putting up signs throughout Copenhagen that read "Eating Is the New Black" and "The Weight of Your Worth Is Not Measured in Kilos." First person to wrangle us one gets a pony! [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Victoria's Secret has named Victoria Beckham the sexiest mom of 2008. We're seriously doubtful about the credibility of this list, though, as it also named Ryan Seacrest as having the sexiest smile. [Sassybella]

• David Beckham wearing the naked Victoria Beckham Marc Jacobs shirt! [Chic Report]
• ELLE's Nina Garcia offers this following advice to the masses, "Don't be a fashion victim. Be true to yourself and get your own personal style and look." She uttered these pearls of wisdom, mind you, while shilling for the new pink Blackberry Pearl on Tuesday night. Exactly. [Fashion Week Daily]
• The fashions at Wal-Mart: Supposedly getting "cooler." [WWD, sub req'd]
• Intimates designer Josie Natori now has a ready-to-wear line. It is called (what else?) Natorious. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Imitation of Christ designer/prepster-turned-hipster/Wes Anderson main squeeze Tara Subkoff has paired with Bebe to do a capsule collection for them. Ooooh, pleaaase call it the Imitation of Christ Bebe Jesus line!! [WWD, sub req'd]
• Moschino has a new diffusion line called Love Moschino. Only it's not exactly new. It's just Moschino Jeans, renamed. Moschino Jeans, incidentally, used to be named Love Moschino. Follow? [Vogue UK]
• We do not approve of Van Cleef & Arpels and Earnest Sewn collaborating on blinged-out jeans. Ew. [Fashion Week Daily]
• For those of you always asking how you get a smoky eye, here ya go. [BellaSugar]

• Lancome spokeswoman Kate Winslet managing to sound annoying while dissing the celebrity product endorsement business: "I remember five or six years ago, it was really a big deal to be the face of a campaign or a spokesperson for a particular brand name. Now, it just doesn't seem to matter so much." [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Tim McGraw is getting his own fragrance through Coty; we hope it smells like blue jeans, beer and jealous wives. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Katherine Heigl is the face of Nautica's newest fragrance "My Voyage for Her," a name which sounds to us sounds like some seventies book on the female orgasm, but okay. [WWD, sub req'd]

• And in further fragrance news, singer Eve wants one, even if no deal has been inked yet: "I not only want to meet the nose, but I want to be the nose. I want to be that person who's in there putting stuff in the little bottles. I'm obsessed with smells." [WWD, 2nd item]
• Designer Rogan Gregory has won the CFDA/Vogue fashion award, beating out Philip Lim, Erin Fetherston, the Threeasfour gang, the Vena Cava girls, and the duo behind VPL. Honestly, what? We didn't even really realize he was in the running. Also he designs jeans and T-shirts. Albeit, eco-friendly jeans made with fair trade cotton and endorsed by Bono's wife or something. [Vogue UK]
• CoverGirl is giving itself a makeover, with its advertising to be more focused on "individualized beauty" and less about its approach of "fresh and clean" beauty. Which would normally be "whatever" until you think of the implications for NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE OF TOP MODEL WHEREIN THEY SHOOT COVERGIRL COMMERCIALS. We so think Heather is going to win. [WWD, sub req'd]
• J.Lo is now designing an intimates collection. It is to be "infused with Latino sensuality." [WWD, sub req'd]
• Okay, but if you thought that was absurd: Vivienne Westwood's cultural-political manifesto, uniformly declared a flop when she presented it earlier this year, is going to be presented once again, this time in London, with Georgia Jagger (yes, Mick and Jerry Hall's daughter) reading the part of Alice in Wonderland (yes, Alice Wonderland figures into the manifesto, which is sorta written as a play). Says Westwood of this trip down the rabbit hole, "If you follow it your life will change." [Vogue UK]
• Infamous footwear designer Manolo Blahnik has been made a Commander of the British Empire by the Queen of England. For his great contributions to giving women across the land major foot problems? [Vogue UK]
• Model Karen Elson just gave birth to her second child and has already been shot as the face of the new BCBG ad campaign. How do these woman look so damn put together this soon after giving birth? To the spawn of Jack White, nonetheless? [FabSugar]
• See Chloe Sevigny as the face of Chloe fragrance here. [Sassybella]
• Aw, we have tears in our eyes: Donna Karan, Zac Posen, and Diane von Furstenberg are all going to work the cash register at the 7th on Sale event (lots of shopping, benefits AIDS patients) this weekend. [NYP]
• Nike is selling off its low-end brand Starter. [WSJ]
• Liz Lange maternity has also gone all private equity on us blah blah and sold a majority share of its company off blah blah. Meaning that now banker types can not only knock their wives up but clothe them on the cheap too? [WSJ]
• And lingerie line Agent Provocateur was just sold to a private equity firm too. [Independent]

Apparently Ciara and Ashlee's sis were both in attendance at this show; as was Ashlee, but we spent our time stalking Katja, a kindergarten student and Jersey City resident who was one of Fashion Week's few attendees electing to partake in the free Krispy Kreme donuts — and wait a minute, did Krispy Kreme rise out of liquidation or whatever just to taunt the ketosis fanatics? — until she allowed us to ask her, "What dress was prettiest?"There was some deliberation. Then Katja, the daughter of a stylist, said:

I liked the blonde ones the best

[Photos by Briana E. Heard]

Images from the show coming soon.

• Tomorrow is Fashion Week, and to get your bile a-flowing we have excerpted the inimitable Ralph Lauren: "What is wonderful is that I have had success doing what I love and what I believed in. I didn't sell out; I didn't wine and dine anybody. I just learned how to kiss on both cheeks. I'm proud that it worked. I think it's inspiring for my children, and for young designers. I care about this industry..." [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Fashion show tickets, yours for $500 on Craigslist. [Fashionista]
  
• Milla Jovovich is doing a Target line, which may be her best career move since Dazed and Confused. In our, uh, highly unbiased opinion.[Fashionista]
  
• Ever wonder how Coach went from being completely, mercifully ignor-able to ubiquitous? The Washington Post's Robin Givhan explains. [Washington Post]
  
• Model Maggie Rizer is going to be blogging for ELLE.com all during New York Fashion Week. We, however, will not be modeling for ELLE.com during New York Fashion Week. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Images now out of Maggie Gyllenhaal in her skivvies for the new Agent Provocateur campaign. We still think she seems permanently grumpy. [Sassybella]

• Designer Nathan Jenden is happy that actress Thandie Newton likes his clothes since "[s]he epitomizes the type of woman I design for. A successful, strong working mother." Who doesn't let any of that stand in the way of rampant eating disorders? [Vogue UK]
• Yves Saint Laurent is publishing a manifesto. It includes photographs of Gisele, and two million copies have been printed thus far. On recycled paper, natch. Why do we feel whatever was on that paper before this document was probably more worth reading? [Vogue UK]
• Other people love my Prada shoes! [Coutorture]
• Never would we ever have associated BCBG with Frank Sinatra and Elvis. [GlamChic]
• Noir designer Peter Ingwersen's Spring 2008 collection inspired, weirdly, by "little old ladies with lilac-dyed permed hair." We are officially terrified. [The Fashion Informer]
• What do Estee Lauder fragrances smell like? Disability discrimination! [Daily Mail]