The Good:


Krysten Ritter's pretty take on the Grecian trend has a flirty, 20's vibe, no? A little Cyd Charisse in that endless ballet sequence from Singin in the Rain?


Hilarie Burton pretty frock would be such a good prom dress! Maybe some One Tree Hill fan will take the hint? Does that show have fans?


Aw, ballet-influenced togs (the "What I Want!" in Lucky at least once a year) like A.J. Michalka's can be so pretty.


Chelsea Staub's crisp little number is a fun take on the "not-obviously-sexy" trend that's duking it out with the bandage.


The Bad:
Taraji P. Henson is my favorite, and I like short. And I dig cleavage. But it's distracting to do both!


Is it Aly Michalka's fault that this jeweled detail kinda evokes Forever21? (I should know; I bought some "jewels" there yesterday.)


The Bandage:


Sophia Bush. Almost made a 'Touch of Gray' joke, but I couldn't actually think of one.


Jordana Brewster. Gray.


Hilary Duff. Puce-Green.


Kherington Payne. Tangerine.


Melissa Sagemiller. Zebra.


What Say You?
Amanda Righetti's got something pretty going on, but also something matchy and peculiar: verdict?

[Images via Getty]

Not that, you know, I'd know or anything.

Hervé Leger's show in the tents yesterday afternoon was the scene of several slip-ups, and two notable falls. (Designer Max Azria blamed the set, with its slick dark wood tiled runway, but to his credit, he hasn't publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the models.) Katie Fogarty, the newbie who was one of the many girls to fall so spectacularly in the Prada spring-summer 09 show last September, must have felt like she was in a waking Groundhog Day nightmare at Leger. Look at her grim determination:

She didn't end up on the ground this time around, but one senses it was touch and go.

Walking on the runway is one of those things that most people who look at, think, 'Shouldn't be that hard!' and leave it at that. And that's a fine point, except for the fact that when you're wearing 6" heels, an outfit that might not fit and/or is held together with basting stitches and double-sided tape, you can't look at your feet, you've been given some nonsensical instruction like "Walk strong! But feminine! Not girly!" and you're in a darkened room where all eyes are on what you're wearing, it can get a little complicated. The fashion industry has a sort of deadline problem, in that most of the things we do only come together at the very last minute; all this past week I've been at castings witnessing designers putting together collections full of clothes that were manufactured in China but embroidered in India with knitwear done in Indonesia and leather accessories in Italy and every last bit of it is being altered, slowly, in the workroom, but first they have to pick models, and so-and-so might be confirmed for a bigger, conflicting show and in that case we'll have to go with someone else, and then the jewelry isn't ready but let's see her in that look anyway, there are decisions to be made about lighting and music and hair and makeup, photo reps and stylists just waltzing in to grovel for invitations, and are there going to be tights on the runway, what about tights, again? It's this giant, multifarious play acted out by people who mostly don't get paid very much money, and occasionally the left hand forgets what the right hand is doing.

And it's no surprise when minor disasters happen, like a poorly designed set causing a series of falls, because this is the first time all these elements were ever combined; there's no rehearsal where you find out the lighting design is going to blind the girls as they walk out, or that the last-minute alterations to that dress are going to cause it to split up the back, or that the floor is like ice under the soles of those Louboutins, so you all have to roll with it in the grand tradition of fashion experimentation. It was all the people at Leger could do, probably, to get the runway looks styled and more or less assign somewhat fitting shoes to each girl, and somewhere along the line someone didn't think about how slippery those unworn shoes might be on that shiny floor. (The same thing happened at Marc Jacobs a few seasons ago, when he used gleaming white enamel paint on his catwalk.)

The actual moment when you're on the runway is, strangely, the most zen part of a fashion show. It's the only time nobody's tugging your arm or pulling on or off your tights or mussing your hair; nobody with a headset is going to tell you where to go or what to do for those 10 seconds. It's not even long enough to form a thought as coherent as 'Make the dress look good' or 'Don't fall.' I don't know about anyone else, but my mind sort of blanks.

I imagine a fall coming in the midst of that serene mental quiet would be a tremendous shock indeed. And potentially quite painful. Monika "Jac" Jagaciak, a 15-year-old Polish model, and Karolin Wolter, a 17-year-old German whom Style.com hilariously described as a model who looks like she "arrived in NYC with a bit of life experience," both soldiered on admirably. Jagaciak is an industry veteran, with a Jalouse cover, an Hermès campaign, and an OMG babymodels! controversy in a secondary market under her 24-inch belt. (And this video attests to the fact she can walk, should any casting directors be in doubt.)

Now, because all's well that ends well, an image gallery of what went down on the runway yesterday afternoon.

This is Monika J.

And this is Karolin Wolter.



I'd say don't laugh at these poor souls, but, you know, I'm smirking now myself. If it's not tempting fate too much to admit to laughing with them. I just need my luck to hold through the rest of this season.


Related: Katie Fogarty Trips At Prada Spring Summer 2009 [YouTube]
Max Azria Would Rather You Didn't Focus On The Falling Models [NY Mag - The Cut]
Hervé Leger By Max Azria [Style.com]
Hervé Leger Fall 09: Full Of Model Falls [Fashionologie]
Protests Force 14-Year-Old Monika Jagaciak Out Of Fashion Show [Times of London]

• A celeb designer we could actually get behind: Helen Mirren! If given a line for Marks & Spencer, she says she'd call it, "DWS: Dresses With Sleeves." [Telegraph]
• Meanwhile, addressing the crucial shortage of celebrity fragrances, Patrick Dempsey launches "Unscripted," replete with "lavender top notes, fig mid notes, and patchouli finish." Quoth the Can't Buy Me Love star, “Sometimes people are scared off by patchouli, but I think most people secretly like it!” Think again, mister. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Brit presenter Alexa Chung: "I stopped modelling because it was just so stifling. It is very hard, when something is your passion, to be controlled and told how to do it and what to wear." Um, exactly which part was she "passionate" about? [Telegraph]
• Vogue editor-at-XXL Andre Leon Talley is sporting a rhinestone-bedazzled "Obama" hat, overcoat. President-elect backs away slowly. [WSJ]

• Michael Jackson is auctioning off his iconic "Billie Jean" glove! The embattled King of Pop must be, ahem, embattled. [WWLTV]
• While we have no idea whether or not Michelle would actually wear Khuraira's new bronze "Lady Obama" lipstick, she'd probably approve of a percentage of profits going to a breast cancer charity. [Nylon]
• Victoria Beckham's dresses are selling like gangbusters stateside! [WWD]
• Maybe it's because Posh has her design priorities: easy access. "I knew I would spend a lot on the best-quality zips because, like many women, I’ve had my share of crappy zips. I wanted a zip that undoes from both ends because then you can either put the dress on over your head or, if you don’t want to mess up your hair, you can step into it. And also, you know, going to the loo wouldn’t be this whole big palaver." [The Sun]
• Conde Nast's new odds-beating Love mag has a secret blog. [Fashionista]
• Celebs are all about odd-looking custom knits. [Telegraph]
• Speaking of bespoke: Will Savile Row's custom tailors be a recession casualty? [Independent]
• Meanwhile, mild winters spell doom for Russia's fur industry; probably still spells doom for animals. [Reuters]
• Also hurting: the overseas factories who supply U.S. stores. [FT]
• Ugh. Theory lays off 50. [WWD]
• Oscar de la Renta, however, has hired 15! [Fashion Week Daily]
• As we suspected, the Leger bandage dress is apparently impossible to eat in. [Daily Mail]
• Conversely, sales of men's XL clothes are way up in England. [Telegraph]
• Fashionistas are pissed that Marc Jacobs has canceled his annual holiday party. But could he really top last year's camel toe? [WWD]
• Rich Parisienne scores some haute couture bargain. "It must be because of the crisis everybody is talking about." [Reuters]
• They say YSL's art collection is good. Judge for yourselves! [Vanity Fair]
• Given that Nike's collaborating with APC, you know the resulting sneakers will be chic, simple, and way out of our price range. [VogueUK]
• "Have you seen a toddler? They're all bums and tums. But if you look at a mannequin of a toddler, it's a little shrunken adult body, like a little alien. If you're making clothes and using that as the model, it's not going to work." That's why Janice Wang makes realistic fit mannequins. [FT]
• Save the planet, celeb style! "The event not only showed off McDonald’s exquisite pendants featuring pavé diamond bears on top of geodes, but also raised awareness for Conservation International, an organization that protects the Ursus Maritimus as well as other endangered species." [WWD]
• New "invisible panties" are way less sexy, more practical than they sound! [Daily Mail]
• When you remember that awful urine-drinking Diesel campaign, it's no shocker that the film for their new kids' line is totally freaky: "The finale is unnerving, as the whole cast—bathed in an unearthly, almost hellish glow—start screaming. " [AdWeek]
• Mario Testino's new Burberry ads, featuring moddles in a plant nursery, is somewhat less alarming. [WWD]

(Click on any image to begin gallery)

• Now the face of Versace menswear, Patrick Dempsey has started referring to Donatella Versace as his "Italian mother." [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Model Erin O'Connor musing on the end of another fashion season: "...yes I'm howling, oh how woeful I was when the mini cab rocked up early Sunday morning to collect the regal attire, literally stripped from my back to be sent back to each designer. Kind enough to donate for the week I hear you mutter? Jees, and Cinderella thought she had it bad? Hark, where for art thou my four-door Sports Series Maseratti? Not even a pumpkin post-shows for this lowly creature, just her own two spindly legs to get her from A to B..." [Vogue UK]
  
• The Herve Leger dress that Victoria Beckham wore to the Marc Jacobs show last season is now on sale at Intermix. Er, maybe not? So many people tried to buy it online that the Intermix website crashed. [Fashionista]

• Why was this not a challenge on Project Runway this season? Clothing made from plastic bags is the new recycling. [Guardian UK]
• Alessandra Facchinetti debut collection for the Valentino label: Hitting the runway on Thursday! [FT]
• Fashion folk: Mainly computer illiterate. [IHT]
• Jeffrey Kalinsky of luxe boutique Jeffrey, is giving Nordstrom a "makeover." Jeffrey, if you have never had the distinct pleasure of being abused there, is known for its infamously bitchy salespeople. [WSJ]
• Yves Saint Laurent's Stefano Pilati wants shoppers to feel like they've been taking opium when visiting the new YSL store in Paris. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Oscar de la Renta has just inked two licensing deal for handbags and small leather goods, finding more and more ways to put a little O in your life. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Escada's got a new CEO and he's ready to whore out the company by focusing on money-making world of accessories. Didn't we just read like fifty-thousand stories on the death of the It Bag? [WWD, sub req'd]
• I will mock my boyfriend ruthlessly if he ever wears a robe like this. [Chic Report]
• Recession? What recession? Women's apparel prices areon the rise. [IHT]

(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:

• Miramax mogul Harvey Weinstein and Marchesa co-designer Georgina Chapman got hitched on Saturday night at Weinstein's home in Westport, CT. The bride wore Marchesa, the groom Tom Ford, the Gypsy Kings gave a private concert and even Vogue's Anna Wintour attended. Also there: Model Natalia Vodianova, celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe, Renée Zellweger, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Anne Hathaway and Cameron Diaz (all of whom, sadly, need no further introduction). [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Chapman designed not one but two gowns for her wedding: One for the ceremony and one for the reception. Modest! [GlamChic]
  
• This year's CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fun big winner Rogan Gregory is rumored to be the next designer to do a collection for Target, thus confirming Moe's theory that designers go straight from Vogue to the red bullseye, lovingly guided by Anna Wintour herself. [WWD, 2nd item]

• God bless Valentino. The man denied his retirement for an eternity, then announced he was retiring, then threw himself a giant party for the anniversary of his label, and now — just for good measure — he is being honored by the mayor of Paris with an honorary citizenship to the city. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Victoria Beckham's "V-Sculpt' make-up line scares us even more than Victoria Beckham's sculpted boobs. [BellaSugar]
• Oh Lord: Who would want Tara Reid to be the face of anything? Yet alone "sleepwear." [Sassybella]
• High Grant ex/English socialite Jemima Khan has designed a charm bracelet to benefit some charitable cause. The charms on the bracelet represent the five major world religions. Says Khan of her design, "I have been personally connected to the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism through my paternal grandfather, Christianity through my mother, and Islam through my marriage and my children." Well doesn't that make her special! [Fashion Week Daily]
• All that talk about Vivienne Westwood moving her show back to London from Paris? Sorta bullshit. Westwood will only be showing her secondary line, Red Label, in Mother England. The eponymous shit will still show en Paris. [Vogue UK]
• YSL designer Stefano Pilati has decided that runway shows and scary and impersonal so he will be showing the YSL menswear collection in a presentation and a private dinner this season instead. Touching is permitted. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Oh no! Another cryptic e-mail from ELLE's Gilles Bensimon! Really, someone please stage an intervention and soon. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Another reason to love/loathe Topshop: Launching collections ''collaborated" on by English designers Jonathan Saunders, Louise Goldin, Christopher Kane, Marios Schwab, Todd Lynn and Richard Nicoll starting in mid-January. [WWD, 5th item]
• Herve Leger is back! And now designed under the Max Azria label. Um, ok? [WWD, 4th item]