Model Anja Rubik  seen here with Mario Testino  has jumped on that undewear-as-outerwear trend. She looks hot.

I don't know, Lindsay. I'll assume this is Ungaro? Sparkles with black is an age-old party trick; wide trousers are cool… I just don't like this.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, daughter of Paris Vogue's Carine Roitfeld, looks like she just threw this on and walked out the door and instantly looked awesome. Not too fussy  a sort of undone casual glam. Jealous.

I think Alexandra Golovanov is a French fashion journaliste or something. She looks très Francais, which is to say: Chic.

Lara Stone is gorgeous, but this outfit is meh.

So. Over. Anna's Slytherin coat. Hamish Bowles, European Editor at Large for Vogue, is dapper as always.

[Images via Getty.]

• Nicolas Ghesquière picked the intolerably cool Charlotte Gainsbourg to advertise Balenciaga's perfume. Ghesquière calls his friend "one of the most inspiring girls in the world." Gainsbourg said, "I was secretly hoping to be the face of Nicolas' first perfume." [WWD]

• Sources are saying Rihanna has an editorial, shot by Steven Klein, in Italian Vogue's September issue. [Fashionologie]
• Julia Restoin-Roitfelt, French Vogue editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld's daughter, is the face of a new perfume by Jil Sander. [NowSmellThis]
• Hold onto your quirky hats, everybody! There's going to be a new hour-long television drama set in the New York fashion world. Because it's going to star a lady, it'll be just like the new Sex And The City! Isn't that exciting? [Variety]
• The ten finalists in this year's CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund are: Flora Gill and Alexa Adams of Ohne Titel; Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin; Patrik Ervell, Sophie Theallet, Waris Ahluwalia of House of Waris, Wayne Lee of Wayne, George Esquivel of Esquivel Shoes, Gary Graham, Monique Péan, and Simon Spurr of Spurr. Congratulations to them all! The winners of the six-year-old cash and mentorship award will be announced on November 16; past honorees include Proenza Schouler, Alexander Wang, and Doo-Ri Chung. [WWD]
• Doo-Ri Chung is just one of many designers whose business has been hurt by the economic downturn. Chung is owed more than $60,000 by the owners of Jake, a small, independent Chicago boutique. Specialty retailers have been among the hardest-hit in the whole retail sector, but the two men behind Jake, Jim Wetzel and Lance Lawson, actually managed to reorganize their company when it went bankrupt, and continue on as employees of a new entity, the Jake Retail Group. Except that Jake Retail Group did not assume liability for any of the store's debts  meaning that Chung, plus other young designers like Brian Réyes, Tina Lutz and Marsha Patmos of Lutz & Patmos, and Emma Fletcher of Lyell, are out tens of thousands of dollars each for clothes they made and shipped, and Jake sold, but which haven't been paid for. [NYTimes]
• Lyle Lodwick, brother of fameballer Jakob, is a male model. He says that male models take their jobs less seriously than women models do  which is generally true  but also that women models are, naturally, bitchier. "I've heard horror stories of girls putting needles in a girl's shoes so when she's on the runway she'll fall over." Lodwick: Whichever sweet model lady told you that is pulling your leg. [TDB]
• Ossie Clark, the iconic British label that was briefly revived by private investors, is closing again. [WWD]
• The occasion of Berlin designer Patrick Mohr's recent homelessness-themed collection, where he had homeless people walk his runway caked in mud, is used to peg a list of other politically edgy collections of varying levels of success  like John Galliano's own Spring 2000 homelessness-themed couture work, Rei Kawakubo's 1995 Comme des Garçons collection that looked like concentration camp victim uniforms, and Karl Lagerfeld's 1994 appropriation of verses from the Koran. Somehow, the list ends with nary a mention of Miguel Adrover's 2001 MeetEast collection, which was so widely panned it drove the talented designer out of business. [TDB]
• Alber Elbaz: ""The people I chose to run my new store in London are nice. I cannot work with bitches, I can't, I can't. Maybe I am too sensitive, I get blocked. There are some people who don't give a damn. With me, I find that if there is no energy flowing or no connection, I can't think. Talent is amazing - I love it, appreciate it. I respect talent a lot. But if you ask me, ‘Talent and bitch, or less talent and good?' I'll go with less talent." [MyFashionLife]
• New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo caught the firm behind the "Lifestyle Lift" cosmetic surgery procedure posting fake customer reviews and testimonials on the Internet  and won a $300,000 settlement for the astroturfing. [Clickz]
• U.K. lingerie maker Intimas is in bankruptcy administration. Around 200 jobs are at risk. [ToL]
• Liz Claiborne, which has been struggling in the recession, renewed its C.E.O. William McComb's contract, but didn't give him a raise  just a bigger bonus. [WSJ]
• That story about how Crocs are going bust is getting written again, this time kind of artlessly. [WaPo]
• In the second quarter, net income at Joe's Jeans fell 17.8%, on a same-store sales decline of 4.3% [WWD]
• Chemists have traditionally been unable to produce fabrics that are reliably water-repellent when doused with hot, instead of cold, water. Which is why the development of a hydrophobic fabric coating that can repel hot water is potentially exciting news. Scientists think it could have applications in protective clothing, for instance for people who are at risk of scalding burns. [NS]

• Freida Pinto and Evangeline Lilly are new faces of L'Oreal. To mark the occasion, Lilly said she's proud "to represent a brand whose ambition is to...contribute to the fulfilment [sic] and well-being of everyone." [PRNewswire]

• After long construction delays, cash-strapped Roberto Cavalli has opened his $30 million designer night club in Dubai. The floors are black quartz, and Swarovski crystals dangle from the ceilings, for that pre-recession look. [WWD]
• Designer Hussein Chalayan, for his part, sees the future, and it looks like you wearing his ugly sneakers for Puma. [Dazed Digital]
• The pop star Estelle, who recently designed a handbag, now wants a shoe line. [WWD]
• Giles Deacon is expanding his business. A new manufacturing deal with Italy's Castor Srl will allow his label to reach more than 120 stores worldwide, compared with his current 38, and to do pre-season collections. [Elle UK]
• Pharrell Williams, and Takashi Murakami. Making art, together. [WWD]
• Sophie Dahl, who recently published her first cookbook, is rumored to be in talks to present a food show for the BBC. [Metro UK]
• The Elle Decor of cokey hipster creatives, The Selby, shot Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's New York apartment. Look only if you can stomach a designer shoe collection with a total sticker price in the tens of thousands before noon. [The Selby]
• Christian Siriano, who has made Heidi Klum some clothes to wear during her fourth pregnancy, demonstrates the way not to talk about a high-profile client after the fact: "I think she's trying to cover it a little this time. She's getting older and wants to be more sophisticated, not casual. She's trying to keep it a little quiet." Klum's trainer, David Kirsch, shows the proper deference and positivity: "Why should she do anything differently? She had a beautiful body all throughout her pregnancies. She's very disciplined and dialed in to being healthy." [People]
• Sessilee Lopez credits last July's all-black issue of Italian Vogue, which featured her on one of its four covers, with "resurrecting" her career. [The Cut]
• Topshop is on the hunt for more retail locations in Manhattan. [NY Observer]
• Competitor H&M is making its latest designer collaboration, with Brit Matthew Williamson, available in more of its stores than ever before. The Swedish chain has 1,700 stores worldwide, and Williamson's summer collection will be stocked in 1,600 of them when it launches this Thursday  compared with the 200 stores that previous collaborations with designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney had reached. [WSJ]
• The H&M line is also Williamson's first foray into men's wear  something he might continue under his own label, if the mass-market collection goes over well. [WWD]
• Rick Ross wore a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses on the May cover of XXL magazine  and promptly received a letter from the company informing him they were counterfeit. "Louis Vuitton did not grant permission to Mr. Ross or to whoever did make the sunglasses to use our trademarks," wrote a miffed company spokesperson. Ross says the glasses are real, but that he had an L.A. jeweler add 14 karat gold accents to them. Which befits a style named "The Millionaire." [WWD]
• Macy's, ever neighborly, expands its inventory whenever a competitor within its ambit fails, in order to lure the bankrupt chain's former customers. [WSJ]
• Nordstrom is being sued by a group of former employees who allege that the company stole their sales commissions. When an item is returned by a Nordstrom customer, the commission originally paid the salesperson is deducted from that worker's salary  but thanks to Nordstrom's lenient return policy, in practice this policy means that items bought, and commission accordingly paid, months earlier can suddenly be rescinded. Nordstrom settled a racial harassment lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $292,500 last month. [Fashionista]
• eBay has won the lawsuit brought against it by L'Oreal, meaning the auction giant has no legal responsibility for counterfeit products sold through its site. [WWD]
• Liz Claiborne reported a loss of $91.4 million in the first quarter of this year. This was much steeper than analysts had expected, and the company's share price fell. [Reuters]
• If you want to fly like Superman, this leotard worn by Christopher Reeve  with reinforced slits for wires  might get you started. [Mirror]

The Good:
Milla Jovovich. Wine velvet. Nuff said. Okay, not quite: Damn her!


A little color-blocky, but it's fun to see Jessica Alba going in a more modern direction.


For some, fur is an automatic fail. I'm more sanguine when the stole  like Barbara's last name  appears inherited. The simple gown's a nice foil to the glam.


Okay, maybe controversial: I happen to think Anne V's YSL-style ecru onesie is a bold gamble that pays off in chic.


So basically, Waris Ahluwalia seem to be a full-time scenester who hangs out looking awesome, sometimes makes jewelry and shows up in the occasional Wes Anderson film. I know, sucks. Rachel Chandler looks rad, too.

The Bad:
I was already sorta tired of the bandage dress. And that was before Julia Restoin Roitfeld showed up in one made of green seat belts.


Besides...everything else....isn't Lauren Santo Domingo's getup a bit casual?


As stated above, I admire a gambler. And Miami Vice power jacket with sparkly nude leggings is nothing if not bold. But as Fabiola Beracasa should know, you gotta know when to hold 'em.


It's a sad state of affairs when I am so used to the sight of these shoes that when I see Tinsley Mortimer I think, "well...maybe..." Then I realized what I had become; a silent witness! No more!


Byrdie Bell's distressed (in every sense of the word) floral actually made my computer crash. Twice.


The ....?
Terence Koh and Jen Brill are either too wonderful for human comprehension or just dressed really horribly. But which???

[Images via Getty]

See, fashion is an industry based on image. Do you follow? Because, W has noticed, one of the effects of this is that people who work in fashion tend to be judged on how they dress. Kind of a lot, even. So many of them take the question of what to wear very seriously! And journalists, well, they find it interesting to write about in great detail without even a hint of the broader economic outlook or the narrowness of the audience that regularly wears $300 t-shirts from The Row and Lanvin flats.

Journalist Vanessa Lawrence's premise is almost too simple to be believed. "Working in fashion," she writes, "necessitates being fashionable from the moment you leave the house. And it is an implicit requirement that can prove exhausting for even the most passionate of clotheshorses....But when the weekend rolls around, they are faced with a dilemma: how to keep up appearances while giving their Yves Saint Laurent Tributes and Balenciaga sheaths a breather-if they choose to do so. Between trips to the gym, brunch dates and grocery store excursions, that 48-hour stretch is hardly a time for hibernation."

That's right. When you work in fashion, in addition to needing always to look your best, you might need to dress differently on different occasions. For instance, the weekend. Or the Hamptons! And any forays to distant nations  like the Upper East Side of New York, also known as "10021 land," where people wear these things called "blazers" and look "decked." What's a fashion worker bee to do?

Weirdly enough, everyone Lawrence quotes still seems to dress really well on the weekends. "When I'm in the Hamptons getting stuff at Citarella on the weekends, I'll see fashion girls who are in Marni and Lanvin in the daytime and I'm in a Tracy Feith cotton dress, Jack Rogers sandals and a ponytail," says designer Shoshanna Gruss, whose idea of 'weekend casual' is wholly relative. Others seem not to grasp Lawrence's issue: "French people don't really ‘underdress' on the weekends," remarks a confused Julia Restoin-Roitfeld.

There are plenty of moments of hilarity as the reporter valiantly tries to get a handle on the problem of what to wear in one's off hours. "Gruss's appropriately pulled-together look extends beyond Long Island summers to her Upper East Side residence," writes Lawrence; what range.

The thing is, anyone who spends a lot of time with magazine editors and stylists and General Fashion Personages knows a few things. For one, most of them do not have a lot of money  certainly not enough to be dropping $800 on stilettos every season. (Whether you've got a friendly quid pro quo going with a label's PR depeartment, or something occasionally goes missing from the styling closet is another issue.) For another, most of these people wear the same things every day. All-black ensembles are the norm, not the exception  because it's easy to look stylish in a dark monochrome, and you can switch out accessories without anything clashing, which is crucial if you spend a lot of time traveling and need to look like you have more outfits than you actually do. There are remarkably few people in fashion who consistently dress in ways that turn heads; pretty much everyone just wants to be stylish and look as nice as they can while they're working.

Which is fine, and normal, and fun  and the total opposite of the sort of sartorial-psychological weekend arms race Lawrence's article conveniently invents and then lavishes with attention, perpetuating the myth that all fashion folk are better-dressed than anyone else, and at all times. The real story is told in the pictures that accompany it: they're little images of the article's subject, photographed going about their daily lives, working in the fashion industry. Nobody looks bad  there's Charlotte Ronson at an event in a white dress and a black cardigan; Restoin-Roitfeld in denim shorts, a blue Oxford, and a blazer; Kate Etter in ballet flats, leggings, a green tunic and a long sweater. But nobody looks "fancy" or as purposefully styled as Lawrence's article implies is the industry norm. These look like outfits that have been doing reliable service in various forms for seasons already, and which will continue to see the light of day for a long time into the future. Bags and shoes might wash over Bryant Park like a tide each season, but a good pair of black pants is for the ages. And even people who work in fashion have enough good sense to know they can be worn on the weekends and to work.

Cartoon illustration via W

Weekend Warriors [W]

• Sam Ronson is mad at the animal-rights protester who threw flour on LiLo's fur stole! Blogged the DJ, "the girl who threw [the flour] acted like an animal herself...I take that back, it's an insult to animals to group her in with them, my dog is FAR more civilized than that person." [ElleUK]
• Meanwhile, Natalie Imbruglia is not "torn" about fur! In a new ad for PETA, the Aussie "is seen covering her breasts with a live rabbit, called Topsy." Of course she is! [Daily Express]
• "'Please don't write that I'm eccentric,' says Vivienne Westwood, who is dressed in a holey black dress with what looks like bits of flesh-coloured tights woven in and out of it, a pair of scruffy old trainers and a knitted hat pulled over her hair, which is the colour of clementines. She has drawn her eyebrows on in red pencil." [Guardian]
• Just in time for the recession! Gaultier launches a line of children's wear! [WWD]
• "Karl is hilarious. As serious and scary as he looks, he tells the best jokes." We'll take your word for it, Talluleh Harlech. [WWD]

• Oy. The October sales drop was the worst in 16 years. [WWD]
• Even Target is down! [WWD]
• Kai Milla, Stevie Wonder's designer wife, wants to make the inaugural gown for Michelle Obama. If wishes were trees... [Washington Post]
• The Michelle bump is still buoying J. Crew. [NY Times]
• Meanwhile, a bag favored by Carla Bruni is being sold to benefit Cape Town slums. [Times of India]
• Model Carol Alt starts a raw-food beauty line. Good for her! [WWD]
• Ford Models goes all digital. [AdAge]
• Sonia Rykiel hosts retrospective of, um, herself in "her spunky and insouciant style." It'll feature 200 ensembles. [WWD]
• More Vivienne Westwood: the designer opens "Anglomania" boutique in Manchester, for her younger, "marginally less expensive" Anglomania line. [Daily Mail]
• "Art of Dior" show in Beijing brought together "fashion luminaries and executives mingled with Chinese celebrities and stars of the art world." No, we weren't there. [WWD]
• The Bangladeshi garment industry is stronger than ever. [Global Voices]
• In deference to economic climes, Prada's new bag line is under a grand. [Nylon]
• Moschino designs truly grotesque dress for Barney's "Hippie Holiday"/EarthPledge. [VogueUK]
• Daisy Lowe will indeed be frontin' Marc by Marc Jacobs. [ElleUK]
• Fast fashion's courting the men's market now. [DNR]
• Family birthday parties, Roitfeld-style: "Among the 30 guests at the intimate dinner were Stavros Niarchos, model Lara Stone and Genevieve Jones." [WWD]

• Mini moguls Mary Kate and Ashley are dipping their tiny feet into the world of fashionable footwear. They're teaming up with Steve Madden to add a shoe line to their Elizabeth and James label. [ElleUK]
• Weirdly, model Twiggy's husband calls her Twiggy too. [Daily Express]
• Moddles fall all over the runway on Prada's slippery runway. Try not to enjoy it. [NY Times]
• Following in the steps of such sex symbols as Gorbachev and the Berlin Wall, Sean Connery goes before Annie Leibovitz's lens for Louis Vuitton. [WWD]
• Just saying, if I were running for office, known ass Andre Leon Tally is kind of the last person I'd want carrying a tote with my name all over it, even if it was a DVF original. [Concrete Loop]

• Diesel launches the Diesel car. Doesn't require diesel though. [ElleUK]
• As they say, the rich get richer: cosmetics mogul Laura Mercier sells pad for numerous millions. [Observer]
• Marc Jacobs turns London's black cabs into a "dasiy chain." "In promotion for his floral fragrance Daisy, Jacobs will be adorning black cabs in London with the flower, as well as outfitting the cabs’ interiors with faux daisy fields." One can only assume long-suffering cabbies were not consulted. [BlackBook]
• Remember Bag, Borrow or Steal, which got plugged in the SATC movie when Jennifer Hudson borrowed her fug purses from them? Yeah, here's more about that. [The Street]
• Heidi Klum is very gracious about J.Lo's obvious lying to get out of Project Runway finale. [The Cut via a href="http://www.accesshollywood.com/heidi-klum-on-jlo-missing-runway-finale-she-is-fantastic-i-believe-her_article_11364">Access Hollywood]
• Calvin Klein on fashion's realities: "It's a tough business. It's one that you really have to work at  if you're a very small business, or it's very large. It requires a full commitment. There is no easy way to do this," [Yahoo]
• Prada wants in on the pre-fab millionaire's playground that is Dubai. [IHT]
• David Bowie loans Ziggy Stardust outfit to a pop exhibition. What does he do with it the rest of the time? [Daily Express]
• Despite her involvement with the Freddy Prinze, Jr. vehicle Head Over Heels, Shalom Harlow will be the star of Viktor and Rolf's virtual fashion show. [WWD]
• To make up for flagging sales, luxury retailers focus on their outlet stores. Which are hopefully less depressing as a result. Looking at you, Saks outlet at Woodbury Commons! [Business Week]
• Le sigh. Editrice spawn Julia Restoin-Roitfeld to front British chain Accessorize. [WWD]

• Is Gossip Girl pretty boy Chace Crawford set to replace McDreamy as the face of Versace? [Perez Hilton]
• Fashion slang seems to have no regard for a word's actual meaning: "Designer Ashleigh Verrier said her favorite fashion word was "diaphanous"  an adjective characterizing fineness of texture. 'As in, 'That dress is so diaphanous!'' she said. 'I like 'Glamit'," said fashion designer Marc Bouwer, who uses the term for a fashion line. 'It is so gorgeous and glamorous. You don't want to use cliched words.'Designer Thuy Diep said 'prune"'was popular within her fashion crew to express disapproval." [Reuters]
• Vogue-interning hockey playing fashionisto Sean Avery on who should play him in the rumored movie about him: "'Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit, man. I dunno I dunno I dunno I dunno I dunno. Fuck. I dunno!...I don't know anything. That's what casting guys are for! Shit. No questions!'" Sounds like that'll be some sparkling dialogue! [Radar]

• This is like telling us the Earth is flat! An "expert in visual perception" claims that vertical stripes are actually unflattering! Prune! [Guardian]
• As if her life was not sufficiently charmed, stunning editrice spawn Julia Restoin-Roitfeld is now art-directing! "Casting fellow model and brother Vladimir as the male lead, Restoin-Roitfeld art-directed the campaign from start to finish. The result is a super-sexy music-inspired campaign that lends Rock & Republic's image rock and roll cool." [Daily Mail]
• Eva Mendes is feeling her banned CK ad: "It’s very rock ’n’ roll; I kind of like it. I want to do more. I want keep pushing the envelope.” [WWD]
• Apparently "pushing the envelope" means working on a home decor line with Macy's. "The line, created with Mendes' boyfriend, film producer George Augusto, will be called "Vida" and will initially feature five bedding styles." [Crains]
• High-street brands making token (read: "almost no") effort to improve the conditions of overseas manufacturing. [Guardian]
• More on the kinda heartbreaking Sears Fashion Week tent. [AdAge]
• Embattled retailer Steve & Barry's now getting sinister emails from a supplier: "When customers 'happily shop' at the chain, 'they are actually buying clothes … soaking of blood and tears of worldwide vendors,' one e-mail read." [NYT via a href="http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/supplier-has-harsh-words-for-steve-barrys/>The Post]
• In honor of fashion week, Luca Luca executives will ring in the closing bell of the NASDAQ Stock Market. Brokers will almost certainly not care. [WWD]
• After years of giving it short shrift, Calvin Klein focuses on high-end collections again. [WSJ]
• Teen spending down. [Portfolio]
• Gok Wan (the British Carson Kressley) on his idols: "Sarah Jessica Parker - she has amazing style, and when I saw her and Vivienne Westwood [another one of Gok’s favourites] on the red carpet at the same time, I didn’t know whether to throw up or fart - I was so excited!" Why not do both? [Mirror]
• Albino model Shaun Ross breaks the mold. [NYT]
• Things are looking gloomy for French Connection. Has FCUK had its day? [FT]
• Fashion minions give the Nuclear Wintour a piece of their minds - okay, anonymously. "Painter Geoffrey Raymond hawked his portrait of Wintour, dubbed The Annotated Anna, to Bryant Park and asked fashionistas to write a message to Wintour on the canvas. Comments ranged from 'Scaaary!'‚ to the more flattering 'You look great without the sunglasses"' Raymond plans to sell the painting on eBay, with a starting bid of $3,500." Wait, that's the best they can do? Pass that thing around Jezebel! [The First Post]
• This pleases us: fashionistas waiting on line get into the Target "pop-up bodegas." [WWD]
• Tory Burch seeks outside investors for her boho-country club empire. [WSJ]

The Good
I love Joely Richardson in this Beetlejuice-esque number.


This is supposedly Julia Restoin-Roitfeld but she looks different here, right? Whoever it is, she looks stunning.



If I had gams like Lily Donaldson, I'd sleep in this dress.


Dear Madonna, I dare you to be my BFF and give me all your hand-me-downs. (Truth: she wouldn't give me the time of day.)



Mary J. Blige can do no wrong and if you disagree with me, I will cut you.



Margharita Missoni has a great name, a great fortune, and a great dress.



Natalia gets my vote for best dress. She looks like the Chrysler building. That's a good thing!


Petra looks flawless. She was smart not to wear a necklace and direct all eye-contact to her boobs. Thank you pretty lady.


And last but not least, enter my new obsession: this couple. Sam Riley played Ian Curtis in that movie Control (which gave me like, 69 orgasms), and his girlfriend Alexandra Maria Lara was in the movie as well.




The Bad
Amira Casar, aka Frumpy Cold Medina.


Natalie Portman? More like Gnar Gnar Binks.


I love me a Juliette Lewis, but she's working a Miss Hannigan look here. I also love me a Miss Hannigan but that's beside the point.


Cecile Cassel . The hipster headband is soooo yesterday.


Natasha Poly is wearing a dress that's giving me an MC Escher vibe


Zhang Ziyi, step it up for crying out loud! "This isn't a dinner party, honey." (Name that movie)




The Ugly
Rose McGowan is wearing all the Mood leftovers that the Project Runway contestants ended up not using.


Tamara Beckwith looks like every girl who tried to beat me up in high school. In other words, she looks like an asshole from Long Island.


What happens in Vegas is incidentally what also happens to Sharon Stone when she dresses like a cougar.


Samantha Morton. Don't get me wrong, I love a good garbage bag; they're useful and what not! I just wouldn't attach sheer sleeves to mine and wear it a fancy party is all.


Orange you glad I couldn't think of anything better to write for Judith Godreche's big ugly dress?


I find it hard to believe that Milla Jovovitch thinks she looks good in this truly mediocre outfit. Plus, only 7 year olds and most of my friends can get away with wearing their hair like that.


Is it just me, or don't you think it's a little weird how Denise Rich tried this on and was like "This is it! Look out amFAR's here I come!"

[Images via Getty]

• The body of former model Katoucha Niane, one of the first major black models, has been found in the Seine river, in Paris. Missing since January, she lived in a houseboat and is presumed to have fallen off after a night of partying and drinking. Her career highlights included walking for Thierry Mugler, Paco Rabanne, Lacroix and serving as a muse to Yves Saint Laurent himself. [AP]
  
• Tom Brady is rumored to be the next face (well, chest) of Calvin Klein underwear. [Page Six]
  
• The BCBG Max Azria Group: 100% fur-free starting with its Spring 2009 collections. This is a huge sacrifice for them since BCBG has always been sooooo closely associated with fur coats, so don't forget to spend more money next time you're there! [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Rag Trade quote of the day: "Any woman over 40 has extra flesh here and here. I never hesitate to say to Alber [Elbaz, Lanvin's designer], 'Think of older women!'" Lanvin chairwoman Shaw-Lan Chu-Wang. [WSJ]

• Halle Berry is doing a fragrance deal with the sophisticated likes of Coty. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Why is Fendi excited that its new Paris flagship store has a courtyard? So that they can stage fur fashion shows there during couture season. Are you reading, Ingrid Newkirk? [WWD, sub req'd]
• In other Fendi news: Amy Winehouse is performing at the party for the store tonight. [WWD, 1st item]
• Twiggy's daughter is an assistant designer at Stella McCartney. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Julia Restoin-Roitfeld was given free clothes straight off the motherfucking runway by Givenchy. Because we all know she's truly a girl in need. [Fashion Week Daily, 6th item]
• Armani and Chanel are in the tennis racket business now. [Sassybella]
• Lutz & Patmos is doing a more "affordable" secondary line called Leroy & Perry. T-shirts retail for $300. [WWD, sub req'd]
• The Gap's key to success: shutting stores. [WWD, sub req'd]
• New Zealand: has a fashion industry?! [Economist]
• Shocker: Nicole Richie wears hair extensions. [BellaSugar]

• M-K Olsen is supposedly venturing out of her Salinger-esque hiding to attend the Giambattista Valli show today. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Too bad, because also in MK news: she is writing a book! With Ashley, about (what else?!) her inimitable style. We assume this means she'll also go on the road promoting it, as opposed to hiding it away to be unearthed at her death with her bottles of pills and thousands of empty Venti Starbucks cups. [Sassybella]
  
• Meanwhile, Giambattista Valli is a fan of Obama. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Erin Fetherston: The movie. Starring Zooey Deschanel and Kirsten Dunst. Based on Romeo & Juliet. We're, er, skeptical. [Nylon]
  
• Designer logos made with cocaine. [NY Mag]

• Kat Von D (of LA Ink fame) is doing a cosmetics line for Sephora, which will be in stores in May. [Sephora's Beauty & the Blog via BellaSugar]
• How did model Gemma Ward prepare for her role in the film The Black Balloon? "I...listened to '90s music (i.e. MC Hammer)." [Chic Report]
• "We got here early because this party is usually messy," Julia Restoin-Roitfeld on the Balenciaga afterparty. Ew. [WWD, 1st item]
• M.I.A is starring alongside Karen O, Joan Jett, Billy Idol and other in the new ad campaign for Converse. But it's cool because Converse is owned by Nike now. [Chic Report]
• What the fuck? Norma Kamali for Wal-Mart?! And it's going to be licensed through Cherokee?! [WWD, sub req'd]
• Oh yay: model Coco Rocha to try acting. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Pepe Jeans wants to be the brand that denim whores run to instead of the so-called "premium" denim brands. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Limited Brands' profits are down by a whopping 11.6% this quarter. That ain't good. [WWD, sub req'd]
• The funnel-neck: It's back. Oy. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Why don't models brush their hair? I assume because they are like me: Lazy. [BellaSugar]
• Oh no: The cold is killing the pashmina goats! [Reuters]

• Poor Marc Jacobs. First the world calls him crazy, now he's caught up in a bribery scandal. Turns out that the superintendent of NYC's 69th Regiment Armory, where Jacobs' shows are held each season, demanded little cash prezzies upwards of $30,000 from Marc et al in order for him to grant them permission to show there. KCD, the PR firm that handles Marc Jacobs, is allegedly responsible for making the pay-offs. [WWD]
  
• Meanwhile, Marc has invited K-Fed to sit front row at his show tomorrow night! [WWD, 2nd item]
  
• Happy Birthday, Horrible Hagyness. [WWD, 5th item]
  
• Fashion Week is bad for Chloe Sevigny's self-esteem, "Fashion week makes me feel very self-critical. Like I'm not wearing the right thing or looking the right way. It's stressful." [WWD, 9th item]

• Samsonite creative director Quentin Mackay on why the company has tapped Chloe to collaborate on the design for the company's Black Label collection: "She has that vintage attitude. Her films are always off-the-cuff so it fits perfectly with the vintage modern feel. Design is always one step backwards, two steps forward." We think he meant that as a compliment, and yet... [Fashion Week Daily]
• What do male models do when they're no longer male models? Why, they do quickie sketches of fashion shows, of course. Former model Blue Logan (and yes, we keep reading that as Blue Lagoon, too) sits in the front row and draws the crowds and as many of the looks as he can while the show goes on. Also, he owns a night club. [Vogue UK]
• Ooh Amy Adams on the March cover of ELLE: Love. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Actress Lindsay Price on why she loves Cosmo: "My parents never taught us about the birds and the bees. They sat us down to watch Blue Lagoon and assumed that would be how we learned about sex, but Cosmo came to the rescue." [Fashion Week Daily]
• "I don't know anything cool that's going on!": Julia Restoin Roitfeld. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Seriously, how is "Would you change your style for a man?" even a legit question to ask? [FabSugar]
• Mazel Tov to Tommy Hilfiger on his engagement to girlfriend Dee Ocleppo. [Page Six]
• Also to Alex von Furstenberg (son of Diane), who is engaged to firmly-legal girlfriend Ali Kay. [Page Six]
• Victoria's Secret model Karolina Kurkova will be starring in the live-action movie of G.I. Joe. [Page Six]
• First John Deere made tractors, now it's making jeans. [BrandWeek]
• What a shocker: Children's sweatshirts made in China have been shown to have a defective pullstring that has been known to strangle children. [UPI]
• Nicole Kidman's bathing suit: Now feeding entire impoverished villages. [NYT]

• Whoah. Prada Fall 2008 Menswear: Now featuring skirts! Oh yes, this is something guys would totally buy. [Chic Report]
  
• RIP Miu Miu menswear: The line will be discontinued as of the Spring 2008 collection. What, Miuccia just couldn't top skirts for men? [WWD, 1st item]
  
• WWD headline on Isaac Mizrahi's move from Target to Claiborne is: "Will He Hit Or Miz?" [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• And in other Claiborne news, the company is rumored to be in talks to license of its Dana Buchman label to Kohl's. [WSJ]

• Aeropostle, in an attempt to save the world and increase brand awareness, is launching a campaign called Teens for Jeans, encouraging its customers to donate their gently worn jeans at any Aeropostle store, to be given to homeless kids. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Anna Wintour must be a really good American Express customer: The credit card giant has just donated $500,000 to the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, which provides cash prizes to those young designers whom La Wintour deems worthy.
• Try to contain your excitement: Rihanna is doing a second umbrella line for Totes. [WWD, 2nd item]
• The after-party alone for Kate Moss's birthday last night cost approx. $40,000. [Vogue UK]
• Designer Charles Nolan on his latest philanthropic endeavors: "In the spring I'm hosting a group that's all about microlending...do you know that if you lend money to people, the 98 percent that pay you back are women? The two percent that don'tmen!" His heart is in the right place. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Lily Donaldson, and Theodora Richards have been "brought on" by fashion label Joie to host a party for the house during Fashion Week to make the line seem hipper, cooler, younger, etc. Incidentally, Joie hired Vladimir Roitfeld (Julia's bro, Lily's beau) to put the party together. Incesterfuckin marvelous. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Saks Fifth Avenue's spring advertising campaign features not models but illustrations. Didn't Nordstrom just do that? [Sassybella]

• Rumor has it that Victoria Beckham will follow her appearance on the cover of Elle and the Marc Jacobs ad campaigns with the April Vogue cover. [Sassybella]
  
• Speaking of: "No size zeros here!" say the Spice Girls when interviewed alongside Roberto Cavalli by International Herald Tribune fashion critic Suzy Menkes in Milan yesterday. Um, sure. [IHT]
  
• Alessandra Ambrosio is the latest Victoria's Secret angel to get knocked up. Ambrosio is allegedly "several" months along. And to whom did she choose to confide this intimate knowledge? The Hilton sisters, of course. [Page Six]
  
• Sucks to be Bergdorf Goodman's mens fashion director Tommy Fazio: Sucker got ousted from his front-row seat at the Versace's menswear show Saturday so that Beyonce's bodyguard could have some place to sit. Yeah, maybe you wondered where Beyonce gets off thinking she needs a bodyguard in a room full of emaciated models and juice-fasting gays, but you can never be too careful these days, what with the whole Benazir Bhutto thing. [Page Six]

• French Vogue editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld's daughter Julia Restoin-Roitfeld is designing the Fashion Week invites for both Peter Som and Frank Tell. We'd maybe chalk this up to nepotism, but Jesus Christ, invites? Do we even care? Why are we even reading this? Oh right, because it's Carine Roitfeld's daughter.[Daily Chic]
• Yves Saint Laurent designer Stefano Pilati thinks he's super-duper hi-tech. Why, you might ask? Because he's showing his menswear collection this season in a short film. Wow. Next he's going to tell us he's traded in his cassette tapes for these newfangled things called compact discs. [Vogue UK]
• Gucci is issuing a limited edition accessories line, Gucci Hearts NY, to be sold exclusively in the Gucci 5th avenue flagship store. Somehow we think tourists are being targeted with this one? [Fashion Week Daily]
• Coldwater Creek's profits are in the toilet. Is global warming taking a toll on the Christmas sweater market? [The Street]
• English retailer Marks & Spencer has teamed with Oxfam to launch a new initiative where customers get M&S gift certificates in exchange for bringing in clothes to donate to Oxfam. But in case you were wondering, lingerie, underwear, swimwear, hosiery and socks can't be donated. Um, thank goodness. [Guardian]
• Lover of the dance Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa is designing the costumes for the 27th-annual Elisa Monte Dance Gala, which begins on Friday at The Ailey Theatre in New York. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Burberry stock fell by 10% yesterday. Bet they're missing the chavs now! [FT]
• Ben Harper: Likes Lanvin! [WWD, sub req'd]
• January 23 is both the day of Valentino's couture show and the day of his retirement. Dude's been retiring longer than Cher. [Vogue UK]
• Dolce & Gabbana have collaborated with 20year old artist Alessandro Pezzati, who created hand-painted t-shirts for their menswear collection inspired by "found items." In other words, you can now buy a really expensive cashmere tee with a picture of garbage on it. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Model Coco Rocha: Enjoys a good spritz. [BellaSugar]
• 80s trend we'd rather not revisit... [Sassybella]

I looked closely at the captions on the commonfolk pictures, which were taken to illustrate another story on the coming winter times, and specifically how winter is synonymous with Beijing pollution. And then a little lightbulb went off! Maybe the celebrities were just trying to make a statement about the environment! Like: "We'd rather go naked than burn coal but since we're wealthy friends of Karl Lagerfeld we're just gonna wear fur if that's all right with you..." Gallery below.

• NY Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn continues to stick up for homeboy Marc Jacobs on her blog, disclosing that he personally dressed all of the models in his much-delayed show and that "if you're always under pressure, I suppose you're going to be more sensitive to the things you absolutely can control." Aw, tear? [NY Times]
  
• The Dress Barn's profits rocketed an amazing 38% this quarter. Um, what? Developing... [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Okay, we totally attended the wrong Fashion Week. Prince performed live at the Matthew Williamson show in London. [Vogue UK]
  
• Also at London fashion week: Courtney Love tripped Kate Moss, who went tumbling upon entering; someone spilled a drink on Anna Wintour; and Jade Jagger and Christian Louboutin were having "a private chat" (a private really ANIMATED and EXUBERANT chat, we're assuming) in the women's restroom. This is all at one party. [Vogue UK]

• Speaking of parties, the Christopher Kane afterparty was so good Agyness Deyn had to wait in line. [WWD, 2nd item]
• Things we did not know about Karl Lagerfeld that we learned just from reading a 300-word item about the forthcoming documentary about him: He has been sexually active since age 13, his family calls him "Shirley Temple," his bedroom looks just like mine, he talks trash about the former Chanel ("When I took on Chanel, it was a sleeping beauty. And not even a beautiful one. She snored'). [Vogue UK]
• Models/modelish types appearing in the Cavalli for H&M ads: Erin Wasson, Jessica Stam, Theodora Richards, Nicolas Malleville, Sean Lennon, Jane Schmitt, Lydia Hearst, Astrid Muñoz, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Anouck Lepère. [WWD, 1st item]
• Stella McCartney is adding a golf line to her Stella-for-Adidas label. Says McCartney, "I think it is about time that women who play golf can now echo what they wear in everyday life on the green." On our list of things it's about time for, this, uh, doesn't even make our pile of rejected ideas. [WWD, sub req'd]

• Donna Karan: Celebrating Rosh Hashanah in the Holy Land! For the first time! We hope she fits in some time for Buddhist meditation. [NY Mag]
  
• Bindi Irwin is designing a children's clothing line to honor her deceased father, the Crocodile Hunter. We think a Danielynn Birkhead line to honor her deceased mother might be more up the respective alleys of kids these days, but we're glad someone's trying! [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• J. Crew is venturing into the world of luxury with their J. Crew Collection, which has items priced upwards of $1000, and their first ever Collection store, opening on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the only place in America with residents douchebaggy enough to drop $1000 on J. Crew. [WWD, sub req'd]

• Michelle Pfeiffer is ditching her traditional red carpet courtesan, Giorgio Armani, for young designers Lela Rose and Jenni Kayne. This is a news event, people. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Paul Smith: Now designing Wedgwood china. Um, okay? [Vogue UK]
• Boston Fashion Week will be held concurrently with New York Fashion Week. Great idea, guys. [Boston Fashion Week]
• Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, daughter of French Vogue editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld, is the new face of denim line Restoration of the Monarchy. Seriously, sometimes we don't even have to think of jokes. [Fashion Week Daily]

• Hilary Swank is the face, or rather the hair, of Pantene's 'Beautiful Lengths' campaign, which raises awareness for cancer and for which everyone's most winsome trailer-park veteran will grow and cut her hair to be made into a wig for a cancer patient. Which is highly courageous for someone who has already once endured the indignity of short hair for one Oscar-winning performance. Maybe someone will get Renee Zellweger to give up food on behalf of starvation victims next. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• The upcoming issue of French Vogue features a fashion spread in which a model plays American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour in all her bitchy, PETA-offending glory. Is this catty? Cross-promotional? Yes, and yes, and don't forget to add, "totally despicable!" We can't wait to see it. [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Poor Julia Restoin-Roitfeld (spawn of Anna Wintour frenemy-in-chief/French Vogue EIC Carine Roitfeld) - growing up in fashion was so hard! [Vogue UK, 1st item]

• With Kate Moss out as the body of lingerie line Agent Provocateur, Maggie Gyllenhaal is stepping in and will be appearing in some online advertisements. Um, because the internet generation has not already seen enough of Maggie Gyllenhaal's intimates? [WWD, 3rd item]
• Coach is debuting a $10,000 handbag. Will Dooney & Bourke be next? Seriously consumers: Save for an apartment, eradicate world hunger, whatevs, you know our deal. [The Budget Fashionista]
• Bitter that you never got a Bedazzler as a kid? Torture your parents by taking their vacuum cleaner to English department Selfridges to get covered in Swarovski crystals. No really! Someone thought of this! [Vogue UK]
• Lauren Goldstein Crowe gem of the day: "One of the things that makes me proud to work in fashion is that it is practically impossibly to parody us." HAH. [Portfolio.com]

Roitfeld makes it into a laundry list of socialites cataloged in Teen Vogue, always considered the realm of Bee, thanks to a breathless dispatch from the magazine's "Style Blogger" who doesn't actually blog Kimball Hastings. Then today, real blogger Perez Hilton declared his love for Bee! Who will win? What do they even do all day? Is it anything as earth-shatteringly profound as Arden Wohl's movie?? WHO'S THE PRETTIEST?
The Feud: Bee Schaffer Vs Julia Restoin Roitfeld: Who Wins? [The Fashion Spot]

• WWD turns to everyone's favorite reputable source, reluctant fiction-writer James Frey for comment on the literary merits of Cynthia Rowley's new children's book, Slim. "I am very familiar with the genre of fantasy memoirs," he says. [WWD, 1st item]
• Vogue publishing director Tom Florio credits Men's Vogue as having "launched [Barack] Obama's campaign, right or wrong." [WWD, 1st item]
• Chloe Sevigny says her rebel-girl style stems from her disgust for the "homogenized, blonde, blue-eyed preppy girls" populating her Connecticut hometown. [Vogue UK]

• Fret not, Grey's Anatomy fans. Kate Walsh didn't take the plunge and chop her 'do into fierce bangs, as recently spotted at the GLAAD Media Awards: It's a wig. [People]
• Coulda-been-a-princess Kate Middleton gets offered a job by Tom Ford. [Fashionista]