Patrick Dempsey Welcomes Donatella Versace Into His Family

Jennifer — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:30:00 EST

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]

Fashion Blogger Announces That "It" Bags Are (Finally) Dead

Jennifer — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:20:00 EST

On November 1 of last year New York Times fashion writer Eric Wilson put forth the bold headline: "Is This It for the It Bag?". Today, Los Angeles Times fashion blogger Monica Corcoran responds with the following: "The It Bag Is Dead. Designers Mourn." Well there you have it! Wrote Wilson back in November: "There is too much inventory. Prices are absurdly high... Status handbags, you see, are a lot like housing. After the rise of the $1,000 purse, fashion's equivalent of the $1 million studio, there inevitably comes talk of a backlash." (In the new issue of Harper's Bazaar, Bottega Veneta designer Tomas Maier rails against the very idea of such bags, calling them "bullshit".) But in her piece today, Corcoran suggests that the death of the It Bag has less to do with economics and more to do with celebrity, i.e., that the way we consume paparazzi images of women more famous more for forgetting to wear underwear could be impacting the status of the objects they carry that we are supposed to aspire to.

The Muse [the It Bag created by Yves Saint Laurent]...was the Palme d'Or among accessory addicts. Like a slain stag slung across the roof of a pickup truck, the Muse signified that a woman had bagged the right bag. Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and other starlets reserved the cozy crooks of their arms for the popular purse. These days, life pales for the Muse...[T]he YSL handbag was last seen...priced at 20% off. Much like the popular pretty girl who always dies first in a horror film, the "it" bag was a victim of its own ambition.

So really, when you think about it, the It Bag was both killed by Lindsay Lohan and is a metaphor for Lohan herself! Meta.

The it Bag Is Dead. Designers Mourn. [All the Rage]
Related: Is This It for the It Bag? [New York Times]

Jezebel: it bag

Patrick Dempsey Welcomes Donatella Versace Into His Family

Fashion Blogger Announces That "It" Bags Are (Finally) Dead