• Fran Drescher is launching a skincare line — called FranBrand — this fall on HSN. The products are organic and paraben-free, because, as Drescher puts it, "Women are schmearing stuff on their décolleté, wondering why we're all getting breast cancer..."

• "...Once you wake up and smell the coffee, it's hard to go back to sleep. So I'm sounding the alarm." Drescher, a survivor of uterine cancer, founded the organization Cancer Schmancer. (And she also taught us to love Loehmann's.) [The Cut]
• As we learned yesterday, London Fog confirmed Gisele Bundchen's pregnancy by the roundabout way of announcing it had airbrushed her 5-6 month belly out of its latest campaign "to protect her privacy." But the outerwear brand also released a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot, which includes footage of the raw, unretouched shots as they appear on the computer monitor. A side-by-side comparison reveals exactly what London Fog thought wouldn't move units this fall. [SassyBella]
• Bar Refaeli is allegedly seeing Israeli multi-millionaire Teddy Sagi. Sagi owns a company that makes software for Internet gambling sites, and the nicest thing the Daily Mail can say about him is that he "has a lovely smile." The supermodel's relationship with Leonardo Di Caprio ended earlier this year. [Daily Mail]
• Liya Kebede addressed the UN Secretary-General's Forum on the topic of maternal health. Writes the supermodel, "In times of economic crisis, it is tempting to turn inward, to ignore or postpone the problems of the outside world and focus on ourselves. But, if we hope to thrive once again, we must realize that there are no outside problems in today's interwoven, globalized world. Each mother who dies leaves behind a devastated family and weakened community that will eventually, somehow, affect each of us. Each mother who dies deepens the financial and social strain on our world and puts economic recovery further away. Mothers are our best stimulus package because they invest in their families and in our collective future." [HuffPo]
• SassyBella unearthed footage of Karen Mulder hosting an E! special in 1999. The Dutch model encounters a new girl, who, when she introduces herself, turns out to be an 18-year-old Adriana Lima. [SassyBella]
• The first pictures of Rad by Rad Hourani, the Canadian designer's diffusion line, are looking pretty good, at least for those who were already fans of Hourani's unisex, pared-down rocker aesthetic. "This is exactly the same thing," as his main line, Hourani confirmed. Only instead of costing thousands of dollars it costs hundreds. We need more of this. [WWD]
• The writer of the sometimes entertaining, sometimes savage, always fascinating fashion blog The Emperor's Old Clothes has revealed himself — as New York designer Eric Gaskins. Gaskins, after 22 years in business, was this week forced to close his doors because of the economy. [NYTimes]
• And in September, Daphne Guinness is releasing a signature scent with Comme des Garçons. Only unlike most celebrity perfumes lines, this is actually the distinctive fragrance Guinness has, herself, been mixing for years. "I'll be in airports or in a taxi and the driver will say, ‘What are you wearing?'" reports the heiress. [WWD]
• Designer Hussein Chalayan is "weirded out" by models with clothing lines, like Kate Moss, Amber Valetta, Erin Wasson, and Elle MacPherson: "If you have a really strong sense of style and people want to aspire to being like you, I can understand that. But if you really are doing it just because you think of yourself as a brand and you haven't had the training and you know nothing about clothes, it kind of demeans all the training that designers have had." Chalayan thought Kate Moss's line for Topshop was a poor effort. "I don't think it represented her, and I didn't think she worked hard enough. I even told her to her face." How did la Moss respond? "She said, ‘Oh, I'm just trying to do a light thing; I'm not trying to do anything serious.' But I said, ‘That's not the point.'" [WWD]
• In which case, add Jessica Stam to the list of models who've raised Chalayan's ire. The Canadian just announced a collaboration with Rag & Bone. [Style.com]
• Vogue's Lauren Santo Domingo, on being told her boss Anna Wintour had worn flats to a party in the Hamptons: "I wonder if that means we can wear flats to the office now?" [The Cut]
• Fashion blind item: "Which fantastical designer has a new man? She's ditched her long term fiance for an artist with prime real estate." We're with the commenters on this: signs point to Erin Fetherston, who hasn't been photographed in public with her longtime fiancé, Hedi Ferjani, since late April. [Fashionista]
• Ali Wise, the Dolce & Gabbana publicist who was arrested for hacking into the voicemail of a woman who was dating Wise's ex boyfriend, is no longer a Dolce & Gabbana employee. Which must seem like the least of her problems: Wise is facing felony charges of computer trespass and eavesdropping. [WWD]
• A well-written parsing of W magazine's cover story on model Lara Stone: "The fashion industry — and, in turn, the fashion media — have such a warped concept of slimness that a model like Lara Stone is so much larger than her contemporaries that they feel the need to explain her presence. If Stone's body is such an outlier, what does that say about the rest of us? Worse, the magazine saw fit to issue the disclaimer that Stone 'is, it should be noted, a very lithe five foot ten.' Why, yes, do note that! As if there's the slightest chance someone is going to look at these photos and think Stone needs to, like, slow down on the Cheetos." [GlossedOver]
• Lagardère, the French publishing company that owns Hachette Filipacchi Media, which owns the U.S. edition of Elle magazine, has denied that it is in talks to sell the title to rival Hearst, as had been reported in yesterday's New York Post. [WWD]
• Scott Nylund, Beyoncé's design director, comes from Owatonna, Minnesota. Which is where you can see an exhibit that spans his earliest childhood sketches of women in dresses, to his college fashion collection, to his creations for Beyoncé. [StarTrib]
• Freja Beha Erichsen says Karl Lagerfeld's house in Vermont — which recently served as the setting for the fall Chanel campaign she starred in with Heidi Mount — is a serious farm. With horses and chickens and — spitting llamas. Erichsen also praised Chanel for providing food backstage at its runway shows, which a lot of brands don't manage to do. [W]
• Fashion Meets Finance, the terrible event for douchebags and gold-diggers, is back. It's happening August 6th in — where else? — Murray Hill. [FMF]
• Will Ferrell has a Nike sneaker coming out in Japan. It's inspired by Anchorman's Ron Burgundy, that lovable asshole we met, uh, five years ago. [HighSnobiety]
• Timberland lost $19.2 million in the last quarter, a worse-than-expected result that came off the back of a 14% drop in sales, to $179.7 million. [WWD]
• Shiseido was even worse off — its profits declined 57.8%. [WWD]
• Likewise Hugo Boss, which lost $21.17 million in the last quarter. [WWD]
• Bare Escentuals profits also slid 20% in the same period. [WWD]
• Competitor Avon's profits fell 64.3% on revenues that shrank by 9.7%. Revlon's sales fell 12.2%, and its total profits declined to just $200,000, from $19.9 million one year earlier. [WWD]
• Bucking this downward trend is Tod's — the Italian leather brand reported a 3.4% increase in sales for this first six months of this year. [WWD]
• Ann Taylor wants to cut $30 to $40 million in costs by "right-sizing" its organization. No word yet on the number of people who will be laid off. [WWD]
• Three members of a multi-million-dollar New York counterfeiting ring received prison sentences, and a fourth was sentenced to probation by a federal judge. Michael Chu, the group's leader, was in 2005 ordered to pay $7 million in damages stemming from an unrelated counterfeiting case involving North Face jackets. This time, Chu, who imported fake Nike, Chanel and Burberry products, was sentenced to prison for just over 8 years. [WWD]

• This is what Gisele Bundchen looks like, pregnant — only not, because London Fog retouched her stomach flat again. Is this the world's first prenatal airbrushing? [WWD]

• Oh man, how weird must it be to have your boyfriend of years dump you the day before your birthday, and then still have to go through with the launch of a perfume called "Fancy Love." Which you have to make public appearances for, and see your own face on the ads of. Jessica Simpson, this is just not your week. [People]
• Marc Jacobs Homewares. It's happening. (And it's already 50% off.) [FWD]
• Matryoshkas may be getting rarer in real life, but they're popping up increasingly on the runway. [Telegraph]
• Christian Lacroix met with the French minister of culture yesterday. [WWD]
• Our favorite Obama volunteer, British top model Jacquetta Wheeler, has been more than keeping up her blog entries for British Vogue. Sometimes she posts two entries a day — overachiever. Wheeler writes about backing her car into a pillar, getting downgraded to economy on a paid business-class ticket and then sitting on the tarmac for two hours, and experiencing the scene at the Jane Hotel Bar. That last stop prompted Wheeler to reflect, "I realized that, although great to visit, I have left that life behind me, and am quite ok about it! Bring me a pint and some oysters and my Notting Hill pals at the Cow any day of the week." [Vogue UK]
• The DKNY jeans campaign that Scott Schuman was shooting during the Topshop SoHo opening day madness is out. It stars Gracie Carvalho, Sophie Srej, and, uh, this Hilary Duff girl, you may know her? [WWD]
• Alexa Chung was also in one ad, but apparently only the British publications noticed that. We think she looks great. [Elle UK]
• And there are also some more fall campaign shots from Lindsay Lohan's new Fornarina campaign. [GlamChic]
• Lagardère, the French media company that owns, among many others, the Elle and Marie Claire titles — though in the U.S., Marie Claire is published by Hearst, under a long-term licensing agreement with Lagardère — is said to be in talks with Hearst about selling off American Elle as well. Elle, which earlier this year surpassed longtime rival Vogue in advertising pages, has an estimated worth of $200 million. Hearst's entire profits for last year were only $225 million. [NYPost]
• Guess? co-founder Georges Marciano, who is planning a bid for the governorship of California, has just been ordered to pay $370 million in damages to five former employees whom he defamed. Marciano was excluded from the week-long trial by the judge because he persistently skipped pre-trial deposition hearings. His former employees testified their reputations were ruined after Marciano publicly accused them of stealing his e-mails and plotting to sell pieces of his art collection. [LATimes]
• Massimiliano Giornetti, the menswear designer for Ferragamo, will now design the Italian house's womenswear as well. Giornetti is replacing Christina Ortiz, who seems to have been fired after just two years for making clothes that were a little too sex-ay. [WWD]
• The Telegraph has been running an unusual number of wholly uncritical Chanel advertisementsarticles lately. To whit: "Why I Love My Chanel — Four Fashionistas Reveal The Moment They Fell In Love With Chanel." Barf. [Telegraph]
• Allegra Hicks, who had to shutter her business last fall, is back in the saddle with a new investor. [WWD]
• Moises de la Renta, on his new fashion label, MDLR: "My aspiration is to show people almost a beautiful and glorious gloom-that it's OK to be melancholy. I want to speak for the lady in the corner of the club, you know what I mean?" Which club, exactly? "You've ever been to the Roxy in 1985?" No, Moises, but something tells us neither have you, since you were born in 1984. [Blackbook]
• Michael Fink, the former vice-president and women's wear director of Saks, has a new position: Dean of the Savannah College of Art and Design's Fashion School. May all of the 1,100 people Saks laid off in January bounce back so well. [WWD]

A&E IndieFilms, in addition to bringing us documentaries like Jesus Camp and co-producing The September Issue, is owned by Hearst Entertainment and Syndication. Hearst Entertainment and Syndication, as the name might suggest, is owned by Hearst. What else is owned by Hearst? Vogue competitor Harper's Bazaar, Glamour doppelganger Marie Claire, and a raft of other direct pendants to Condé Nast media properties. It's not clear that A&E IndieFilms' ownership status meant that anyone at Hearst enjoyed editorial control or creative influence over The September Issue, it is surprising that Condé Nast would accidentally put itself in its rival's hands.

And it does fit with reports that the documentary is notably harsher on Anna Wintour than previously thought.

Fashion Week Daily acquired a copy of the documentary, which isn't to be released in the U.S. and U.K. until September 11, and posted a detailed recap of its contents on the Friday before the long U.S. Memorial Day weekend. Cutler opens with a long discourse from Wintour, defending fashion on intellectual grounds, and calling people who criticize the fashion industry frightened:

"What I often see is that people are scared of fashion — because they're frightened or insecure, so they put it down. On the whole, people who say demeaning things about our world, I think it's because they feel in some way excluded or not part of the "cool group." Just because you like to put on a beautiful Carolina Herrera dress of a pair of J Brand blue jeans instead of something basic from K-Mart doesn't mean you're a dumb person. There is something about fashion that can make people very nervous."

It's often those who themselves are most desperate to be taken seriously who are quickest to project "insecurity" onto others. Perhaps it isn't a coincidence that Cutler, when he succeeds in getting Wintour to talk about her family, admits that her fellow high-achieving siblings — Patrick Wintour, political editor of the Guardian, Nora Wintour, deputy-general secretary of the Public Services International union, and James Wintour, an official with the Gravesham Borough Council who works in low-income housing — all regard her work with, she believes, "amusement."

What seems to emerge as a theme of the film, however, is Anna Wintour's relationship with Vogue stylist and former model Grace Coddington. Coddington, unhappy about the documentary team, threatened to quit the magazine and resisted Cutler's attempts to film her for months, the director recalled. (Coddington eventually relented, and Cutler's team's presence at one of her shoots led to a charming picture of Caroline Trentini and a cameraman, jumping together for an editorial.)

Wintour says that the cameraman's stomach needs retouching. "You need to go to the gym!" she says, not remotely in jest. (This is the woman who ordered Oprah to drop 20 lbs before shooting her for the cover, and who bullied André Leon Talley into taking up tennis, a sport he is filmed pursuing while decked out in Damon Dash pants, a Polo Ralph Lauren shirt, a vintage diamond Piaget watch, a Louis Vuitton towel, a Louis Vuitton racquet cover, and a Louis Vuitton gym bag.) Coddington rejects Wintour's criticism of the cameraman's body — "Everybody isn't perfect in this world. It's enough that the models are perfect. You don't need to go to the gym" — but she waits for her boss to leave the room before airing her disagreement.

The film also apparently gives an unprecedentedly detailed look at Wintour's managerial style and her level of involvement with the magazine. Wintour retains absolute creative control over every editorial shot. She does not shy from killing spreads by talented and proven long-time collaborators, such as Edward Enninful (Coddington's story with Trentini is a re-shoot of an Enninful effort) and Coddington herself. "I'm in a really foul mood right now because they've just killed another spread of my '20s story, and they're about to kill another one," says Coddington, at one point. "And they're all lying to me about it. It's just incredibly boring."

She also kills a spread with models Hilary Rhoda and Chanel Iman, jumping. (This was during Vogue's long, just-ended drought of faces of color on its editorial pages — it's interesting to note that Iman, who is black, was even in the running for inclusion in American Vogue in September 2007.)

It's no wonder, really, that her publication's creativity so often ends up channeled into the inevitable jumping editorial, the inevitable lavish-but-boring set piece. Wintour's nit-picking leaves even the talented eyes and minds around her too hamstrung to function.

If the full film is as critical as FWD maintains, then that means Anna Wintour has made one move worthy of respect: allowing Cutler to film her, no-holds-barred. But will Condé Nast be pleased at the results?

The September Issue, Revealed! [FWD]
More Details from The September Issue Vogue Documentary Featuring Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington [Fashionologie]
Hearst Takes On Condé [FWD]
Film reveals soft side to Vogue's icy style queen Anna Wintour [Guardian]

Earlier:
Vogue Documentary Is Delicious & Devil-ish

• Jessica Simpson's perfume is coming out. It's called "Fancy" and the following description doesn't even need to be parodied. '“Fancy is as alluring, feminine and romantic as Jessica Simpson herself. Her talent, charm and values have made her America’s sweetheart and have shown her to be the kind of person that women of all ages can admire,” Parlux chairman and CEO Neil Katz said in a statement.' Have at it, ladies! [Cosmetics News]
• Thakoon's new line is awesome. Which is good, because here's the part we really care about: they're doing a line for Target! [Glamour]
• Perhaps we underestimate Cavalli's influence? Kate Moss dropped from Grazia's best-dressed list. Maggie Gyllenhaal (yay!) is on it! [NY Mag]
• Wait. Victoria Beckham is showing at Fashion Week after all. "In the spirit of elitist designers like L'Wren Scott and Marchesa, Posh opted to show her frocks during New York Fashion Week to top editors and buyers by appointment only." Is this better or worse than a real show? [FabSugar]

• Proponent of sleaze, vertically-integrated manufacturing Dov Charney has lost his dog. Signs all over LA read: "Her Name is Hedkayce. I have had her for 10 years. She weighs 10lbs and has a scar on the left side of her face. She was left in the front yard of my home at 1809 Apex Ave. (Silverlake [sic] area). Please call at 213-923-7493 (cell) or my assistant Maria at 213-923-0616. ~ Dov Charney" [Racked]
• Fashion industry abandons plan to eliminate size zero models. "It has been shelved over claims of discrimination fears it could prevent models from working in this country, and a lack of support within the industry and from other fashion hotspots such as New York and Milan. " [Telegraph]
• Designer Ella Moss, known for cute, pricey, girly duds, to start making cute, pricey, girly swimwear. [WWD]
• There must be a dearth of real videographers around, otherwise why would model Coco Rocha be filming "behind the scenes" during fashion week for style.com? [Page Six]
• Zara (the #1 store in the world)'s fall and winter collex. [Telegraph]
• Intellectual fashionistas Rodarte up for a big award. [Style.com]
• Ann Taylor, mid-makeover, names new prez. [Wall Street Journal]
• Australian retailers/designers counting on the new Sydney Fashion Festival to get the dollars flowing. [News.com.au]
• Judge throws out L'Oreal's suit against eBay; the cosmetics giant was suing for the auction site's vending of knockoff cosmetics. [Wall Street Journal]
• More on that sleazy male model's kiss and tell: "Don't hit on the model whom the photographer has his eye on. If I couldn't figure out which girl he was going after," Hulse writes, "the likelihood was that he was coming after me." [BlackBook]
• Limited cuts a bunch of Limited Too stores, converts others to lower-end chain. [Wall Street Journal]
• Stephanie Seymour on the term "supermodel": "It's very embarrassing when you meet, like, a Russian prostitute, and she says she's a supermodel. And you're like, 'Hey, me too'," she told the World Entertainment News Network.' We, too, find it embarrassing when this happens.[VogueUK]

• Between expanding his "empire," hosting Mad Men parties, judging Project Runway, and, presumably, tanning, Michael Kors is guesting on Gossip Girl. "I love the clothes, everyone is good-looking, the plot line is a riot," Kors says. "I love the show. They called and said, 'You are very Gossip Girl.' I thought, 'Finally, I am a teenager.'" Question: When does this guy have time to actually design? [WWD]
• Perennial fashion critic Mr. Blackwell hospitalized! [AP]
• Just try and get rid of Heatherette! Rumors to the contrary, the glitzy design duo ain't going anywhere. [The Cut]
• NYC Boutique Opening Ceremony staying open for a marathon 72 hours. Cause that's what Olympic athletes would want them to do. [New York Times]

• July was a rough one for retailers; even Wal-Mart tanked. [WWD]
• Tyra/Michelle may have a lock on Bazaar, but Cindy McCain's got mag connections too, albeit crummy ones: "News of Tyra Banks' homage to Michelle Obama in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar broke Tuesday, but that didn't stop Cindy McCain from stopping by the Hearst Tower that afternoon to have lunch with Hearst Magazines president Cathie Black, Cosmopolitan's Kate White, Joanna Coles of Marie Claire and Rosemary Ellis of Good Housekeeping. During the lunch, McCain's daughter, Bridget, sent her mother a picture via BlackBerry of a new dress, seeking approval before leaving the house. The potential first lady approved." [WWD]
• The battle 0f the vibrating mascaras! [New York Times]
• The "work to flirt" dress: slutty for both day and evening! [Telegraph]
• Tara Subkoff capitalizes on the perennial power of faux lesbianism to sell clothes. Also, looks silly in today's GBU. [The Cut]
• The Nike equestrian boot is controversial. "One rider opined on a Web site that it looks like "the stripper boot of the horse world." U.S. Olympic rider Gina Miles wonders if wearing a swoosh might lead to lower scores in a sport that prides itself on centuries-old traditions. And Nike archrival Adidas, which is also creating new shoes for the Games, said no to riding boots. "We didn't feel we could come in with some meaningful innovation," says James Carnes, Adidas' creative director." [Business Week]
• More immediate, community-fostering webzines giving fashion mags a run for their big money. [New York Times]
• Behind-the-scenes vid of Nelly for Sean John undies. NSFW, obvs. [The Life Files]
• So that's why he looks like a shorn lamb: Justin Timberlake cuts his own hair. "I don’t require hair or nail appointments. I actually cut my own hair — that’s why it’s all the same length." [The Sun]
• Nine companies fined for non-disclosure of "inappropriate drawstrings" on children's clothing. [CNN]
• Is Wilhelmina modeling agency going public? [New YorkTimes]
• New fashion director appointed to Out mag. Grant Woolhead "is joining Out, recently acquired by Regent Media, as it publishes its September fashion issue. The issue, due to hit Aug. 12, features Neil Patrick Harris on the cover and has188 ad pages, up from 172 last year, according to Aaron Hicklin, Out's editor in chief." [WWD]
• Ancient lensman Bill Cunningham on summer scarves. [New York Times]
• File under: we should all have such troubles. The agony of care labels on expensive clothes. [The Cut]
• Teen retailers, including - if you can believe it - HotTopic - are feeling the pinch. [Wall Street Journal]
• Somehow grossly-named luxury retailer Aquascutum expanding. Prices are very reasonable. "The Aquascutum London line will feature blouses, wool skirts, and silk graphic dresses with pricing around $780. The vintage collection will include designs inspired by Aquascutum’s archives, such as a hot pink wool swing coat priced at $3,940." [Fabsugar]
• Yuck. Thanks to the Olsen Twins (and yeah yeah I know they don't wanna be called that), "glossy leggings" are a must for fall. [ElleUK]
• Paging summer '03! Band-Aids as "fashion accessories." [New York Times]
• Protect your investment: "A perk that comes with the purchase of a pricey status handbag is that most makers will fix broken straps and zippers, missing rivets and torn linings — often free of charge, if the fixes are simple." [Wall Street Journal]
• "Christian Francis Roth is back. A fashion darling of the early Nineties, Roth is trying to make his mark again with a contemporary spring collection called Francis by Christian Francis Roth, inspired by high school cliques." It's apparently the clique who wore really, really, really ugly clothes. [WWD]

• Gwen Stefani's soon-to-be-released Harajuku Lovers fragrance collection comes with dolls that look just like her own Harajuku girl back-up dancers. WTF. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• OMG is Britney Spears going to "collaborate" on a clothing line with Ed Hardy? Like whoah. [Star]
  
• The newest Donatella-designed Versace watch retails for $226,800. Says Donatella: "Women don't really need a watch to tell time today — they have their cell phones and BlackBerries." You heard it straight from the horse's mouth: It's expensive shit you don't need. [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Why does making your own deodorant actually sound like fun? [BellaSugar]

• More expensive shit: Armani luggage. [WWD, sub req'd]
• And more still: Pictures of Kate Moss's face. [Vogue UK]
• So-called upscale beauty brands Clarins, Kiehl's, Origins, Bare Escentuals and Bumble and Bumble are now selling their wares through so-called not-upscale mass retailer Target. The brands are all nervous about diluting their image. Don't they know? Getting something at Target is the new getting something at Bloomingdale's. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Why do watch brands need "ambassadors"? Um, here is an essay that explains it. [Financial Times]
• Bras: Big business in Britain. [Telegraph]
• Speaking of which, Agent Provocateur has relaunched their website and it is "steamy" and "raunchy" and "seamy." Enjoy! [Telegraph]
• For those of you deeply concerned about where all of Carla Bruni's clothes are coming from, rest assured: her rep says, that she "either borrows or buys. And it's all her personal budget. It's not the state budget. The same goes for her hair and makeup." [WWD, sub req'd]
• The amazing Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) on being a "muse" to Karl Lagerfeld: "I don't think I'm a muse. I'm just like... A regular, maybe. Just a character in Karl's world." [Fashion Week Daily]
• Aw, tear! Hearst is starting a website called DonateMyDress.org where real-life Serena van der Woodsens can donate their old clothes to real-life Jenny Humphreys. No chance in hell the Blair Waldorfs are going to get in on the act. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Kim Stewart is the "face" of Ciate's paint pots, aka nail polish. When you see Kim Stewart, is a manicure is the first thing you think of? [Kiss And Makeup]
• The NYPD had a good time in Queens last night, confiscating $5.5 million in fake Burberry, Chanel, Coach, Fendi, Kate Spade, Gucci and Prada bags. [WWD, sub req'd]
• MAC is opening up something called a Pro Store that isn't just retail, but an "educational center" as well. Hmm, smells like a ruse to get you to spend more time at the counter, and more money on expensive shit. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Christian Louboutin: Now doing resort footwear. [Fashion Week Daily]
• This is what I look like in sunglasses. [Coutorture]

• For its 140th anniversary issue, Harper's Bazaar styles little kids to look like mini-versions of our favorite (and not) fashion designers. And oh my god, is it awesome. (Please note mini-Olivier Theyskens, at left.) This is 10 times better than that Simpsons fashion spread, which was itself pretty freaking inspired, and may force us to reevaluate our position on the whole magazine, which is a lot to handle right now. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Last night's "Fashion Rocks" event in London featured: Uma Thurman screaming at Johnny Borrell for smoking during Razorlight's set for Burberry, The Gossip's Beth Ditto throwing her shoes into the audience, Lily Allen being introduced as model Lily Cole, Stella McCartney's models playing musical chairs, and Iggy Pop. Pictures later! [Vogue UK]
  
• Karl Lagerfeld has created a limited edition carrying case for Dom Perignon. It holds 6 bottles. At $140,000 it is the most expensive item in the Harrods Christmas catalog. And to all of this we say: Of course he did; of course it does. [Vogue UK]

• Pervert and D-list designer Anand Jon has been slapped with another lawsuit, by one of the 19 women named in the indictment against him for charges of rape, battery, and committing lewd sexual acts on a child. Natalie Pack says she is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her rape by Jon. We hope he is once again found guilty. [Yahoo]
• Moe's complaints have been heard! The second go-round of Simply Vera Vera Wang for Kohl's clothes will be offered in smaller sizes than the premiere collection. It seems during the debut retailing they expected, er, bigger girls to be buying the Wang garb. Turns out the skinnies like the cheap shit too. [WWD, final item]
• Um, how did we never know before that Nestle (as in makers of the deliciously-heinous chocolate beverage) owns close to 30% of L'Oreal? Yeah, but they're thinking of selling their shares. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Okay, WWD, good move. The headline on their story about Stella McCartney launching an exclusive "green" collection at everyone's favorite Simon Doonan creative-directed department store: "Stella McCartney Comes To Barneys, Naturally." [WWD, sub req'd]
• Rock & Republic CEO Michael Ball is being sued for libel by fashion photographer Markus Klinko. Ugh. [TMZ]
• Check out Hollywould for Target here. [Coutorture]
• i-D magazine has seen a 56% increase in newsstand sales with its November. Why, you might ask? Because it has Kate Moss on its cover with her new bangs. No, seriously. [Sassybella]

• How come Kate Moss has no visible vagina in sculptural form? Just sayin'. [Vogue UK]
  
• TopShop chief Sir Philip Green is our improbable crush of the day, for responding to naysayers' accusations that his company is "in crisis" thusly: "If it's being said that I'm in crisis then let's think what that means....Foot and mouth - now that's what I'd call a crisis - and I haven't got that." [Vogue UK]
  
• Roberto Cavalli: an egotist with a heart of gold. On designing for H&M: "The young stop me all over the world in the street and say 'Oh, Roberto, you're my idol.' I said ok to H&M so that youngsters could have the chance to wear Cavalli..." [Vogue UK]
  
• "American Eagle Outfitters Inc. wants to do more than simply sell clothes, and has determined that one way to do so is by producing original entertainment content.": Um, if we may? Simply sell clothes. [WWD, sub req'd]

• Dresses: People still wanna wear 'em. We stand by our reason for being partial to the dress: Laziness. One item, over the head, all done. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Other retailers doing poorly: Gap stock fell to its lowest price in over 4 years. [WWD, sub req'd]
• So we think someone needs to tell Gap's founding owners that maybe they shouldn't be off buying art right now. [NYT]
• Steve Madden sales have plummeted and it's a mad dash to sell off shares. A theory: flats = bad for the economy. They don't need constant re-heeling and they're comfortable enough that you're not constantly searching for that "perfect pair" that doesn't exist, trust us we've looked. [Reuters]

• You know they're not fucking with you the "Red-Hot Read", page 81 concerns a woman whose husband is such a relenetless cheater he actually sends her away on vacation to cheat on him. AND SHE CAN'T DO IT. That's right! No "hot"-ness this month. Sigh.
• Then there's a story about how four women learned how to "Love Yourself Thin," but not only are none of them remotely thin (Crystal, for instance, went from 266 to 250 pounds), the biggest font in the profiles is reserved for examples of "Your typical negative self-talk about your body." Examples: How did you let this happen? I never thought I would let myself get this big!"and What's the matter with you? Why can't you stop eating and start exercising? Why are you so lazy? Yikes.
• Which doesn't make it any easier that fucking Faith Hill (on page 125, not in that stupid shirt) is, like, Holy Shit hot. Seriously, she looks like Ashlee Simpson, post-surgery, only she's hever had surgery and she's old enough to be Ashlee's mom. Fuck her.
• In "The Secrets Couples Keep", page 143 a woman relates how her husband didn't tell her about the million dollars of debt on his company's balance sheet until he announced they were going to lose the house and that, oh yeah, he'd have to take a second job.
• Page 120: "My Mother Abandoned Me At Birth." This is for a new section called "Your Stories" that is sort of like a similar section in Jane, only in Jane the stories are more like "I gave my second cousin a blowjob during a family reunion but everyone was on mushrooms and we're hippies so it's okay."
• And the macro, colossal sad story to end all sad stories: "How Bad Does the Health-Care Crisis Have To Get?" on Page 166 is a serious, thoughful explanation of the problems plaguing the American health care system accompanied by profiles of sympathetic working women who struggle to keep their health insurance.
• The woman with the dead daughter, Ann Hood, wrote a book called The Knitting Circle. This is the back page essay, page 214, and she died from strep throat. So it turns out you can die from strep throat. Wow.

In conclusion, thank you, Stacy, for thoroughly reminding us of the important things in life, and how lucky we are to be here. Not sure you're really lowering the age of your readers, but our eyes didn't roll back into our brains as we were reading your magazine, so that's, you know, something.

Redbook
Earlier: Will 'Redbook' Blogger Trade Anal For Home Furnishings?