Take this buffalo check shirt, for instance. The pattern was proclaimed as being "everywhere this season" by the LA Times in November 2008. Silll, buffalo check is actually for sale in Topshop right now, and Delia's is carrying it too. Original? No. But no one can beat the (frighteningly) low $12 price tag Miley and Max are offering.

Another item from Miley Cyrus & Max Azria: Liquid leggings. American Apparel pushed these in 2007; When seen on Nicky Hilton in February 2008, we were instantly over them; Miley seems to think they've got life in them yet! Miley gushes: "I'd say anyone from age 8-80 can enjoy this line." Maybe she means "as a source of amusement"?

Leopard comes and goes, from Van Halen to Katy Perry. But we've definitely seen leopard print pants or leggings recently at Urban Outfitters, and at TopShop, Alloy and Delia's.

Of course the kids shopping for Miley's clothes are too young to remember Ginger Spice's Union Jack dress, or Austin Powers' Shaguar, and Lord knows they don't know anything about The Who, but you've got to wonder: Why would Max Azria want to do a Brit flag shirt? Does he just like keeping up with what the kids like? Or does he suspect that — priced at a very affordable $7.00 — this item will fly out of stores?

The ruffled blouses in this collection — in red, white, blue and purple — are actually quite charming, and priced at 12 bucks — well below what J. Crew is asking for a very similar style, though J. Crew's are silk. But the point is: When a world-famous designer who has designed for Hervé Léger, BCBG and his own eponymous labels teams up with a Disney Teen Queen, the results are generic, run-of-the-mill but probably people-pleasing — just like a Hannah Montana song.

SNEAK PEEK: Miley Cyrus & Max Azria's Design Collaboration! [People]
Miley Cyrus & Max Azria [Wal-Mart]

• 1. Kate Moss is fat. 2. Kate Moss is in. 3. Fat is in. Q.E.D. [Times of London]
• Salma Hayek wore Balenciaga for her second wedding to Francois-Henri Pinault, head of PPR. [UK Elle]

• Robin Givhan has a report on the lobbying trip made last week by Maria Cornejo, Jason Wu, and Narciso Rodriguez. The designers went to Washington, D.C., to argue for a law that would offer stricter protections against design piracy. "There's a lot of misconception thanks to movies like Sex and the City or The Devil Wears Prada," said Cornejo. "People think designers spend all this time swanning around. We don't do much swanning." Cornejo, who has only twelve employees, can't compete directly with larger businesses on price. "The only way we can compete is with our ideas. That's like my bank. So when someone steals my idea, it's like they've put their hand in my bank. They're taking ideas out of my head." [WaPo]
• Diane von Furstenberg hit the headlines late last week after a Canadian blog revealed striking similarities — down to the placement of darts and the distinctive raw edged collar — between a jacket by von Furstenberg's company, and an earlier piece made by the Montreal label Mercy. Von Furstenberg, who has championed the expansion of copyright protection and attacked copy-catting in the past, is blaming the apparent knock-off on a member of her design team who is no longer with the company. "When I saw it on the Internet, I thought, The print is completely different. But then I saw something about the style with the bow, so I am not sure," said von Furstenberg. "I am finding out the information, and I have asked my attorney to contact [Mercy's designers] and say that we are investigating. I am mortified that something like that could happen here. I will do what is necessary to do, and if indeed there was an infringement, I will compensate and will use this example to make sure this doesn't happen again — not just for me, but for everybody." [WWD]
• Meanwhile, in one of Forever 21's several ongoing court cases on knock-off allegations, the company founders were deposed for two whole days earlier this month. Anthropologie is suing the fast fashion chain for allegedly copying nine of its garments. [WWD]
• That blonde lady with the nose has a new perfume. Wonder if they'll box them in a collection? 'The Nine Smells Of Paris Hilton.' [NYDN]
• Michelle Obama wears Rodarte. This makes me insanely happy, for some reason. [WWD]
• Lily Cole, the doll-faced red haired model, spoke at a student-organized ethical fashion show at Cambridge University, where she studies. [Daily Mail]
• Leggings: The Trend That Will Not Die. [WWD]
• Serena Williams, tennis star/fashion designer, has more than 300 pairs of shoes, but can't find a pair of jeans to fit. [NY Times]
• And if you think those two facts aren't connected, you're dreaming. Shoes are easy to love, and their sizing doesn't connote judgment. I can admit to refuging in a new pair of shoes after a mortifying defeat in some other wardrobe arena. Maybe that's why shoe stocks are winners. Of course, in spending money on shoes, I am left with less to put in shoes. Now that's an economic catch-22. [WWD]
• Ever wonder idly about Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone's relationships? No? Well, regardless, it turns out that Martone was the one who proposed, after having picked out matching rings at Jacobs' favorite jeweler in Paris. Now that the designer has met his fiancé's extended family in Brazil, it's full steam ahead to the wedding. Martone likes the thought of St Bart's in December. Don't we all! [The Cut]
• Kerry Washington already has her mind on gifts. "I'm not saying what I'm really going to get them — then it would ruin the surprise! If I could get him anything in the world, it would be a private jet so they could jet around all around the world to have fittings in the world with all the girls, stress-free!" [FWD]
• Beyoncé gets dressed with the aid of Style.com. [Style.com]
• Tim Gunn is set to receive an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the Corcoran College of Art and Design, when he speaks at its commencement ceremony on May 23rd. [Blogging Project Runway]
• Six people were arrested when police raided a warehouse full of $20 million worth of counterfeit goods in Brooklyn. [WWD]
• Filene's Basement, the much-loved discount department store, was acquired on April 21 by a company that specializes in liquidations, which could mean the 25-store chain will close. If Filene's does meet that fate, it could imperil former sister company Discount Shoe Warehouse, which lent Filene's millions of dollars. [WWD]
• Sophie Dahl: "To everything there is a season; from 17 to 21 mine was the season of chocolate cake. I didn't know how to eat within the boundaries of reason; instead I learned loudly through trial and error...I really don't believe in cutting out food groups or subscribing to militant, forbidding diets. What I do believe in is moderation and balance, because both have served me well. The recipes in my book are all things I cook and eat. There are recipes for rainy, insatiable chocolate days and lighter things for the gossamer, less hungry summer evenings." Now that's a cookbook I would buy! [Daily Mail]

• Well, what do you know? Excellent news: Divorcée, entrepreneur and girl-about-town Jessica Simpson holds forth on upcoming 'intimates' collection, which actually makes (celebrity-logical) sense. I mean, the woman knows from cleavage. Quoth she: "If you start with something that fits correctly and is comfortable and fashionable, it will only complement your look." [fabsugar]
• Not to be outdone, Lindsay Lohan premieres as the face of "Visa Swap 08" in which you're encouraged to get rid of your old clothes for charity. Wait, hold on: "Donors are then issued with points, which can be used to buy other vintage and second hand gems dropped off by fellow fashion fans." This, apparently, "highlights the work" of a charity called Triad. Trickle-down charity! Anyhoo, LiLo "has donated an Issa dress, two pairs of Jimmy Choos and a Miu Miu bag" - allegedly her own. [ElleUK]
• Oh yeah, and her leggings line: they're "footless tights cut out of Supima cotton and Modal ribbed knits and other fabrics spruced up with foil prints, yarn dyes and screen prints." [New York Magazine]

• Eva Longoria-Parker's presence urgently required in Moscow to promote Jacob & Co.’s jewelry collection at Maison Baccarat. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Christina Onassis's jewels go up for auction. [WWD]
• In other bling news, Harry Winston cashes in on new Lauren Weisberger novel with tie-in displays. [Fashion Week Daily]
• The CFDA is hosting a panel called,"The Beauty of Health: How the fashion industry can make a difference." The skinny: "CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors and model Coco Rocha will address the crowd at the Milk Studios penthouse on how the initiative has evolved, its importance and, in the case of Rocha, her own personal experiences as a model." Your humble servant will be lurking, reporting. [WWD]
• So, Tommy Hilfiger's engaged. [WWD]
• Rumor has it that a pregnant Nicole Kidman may be gracing the cover of Vogue! [Fashion Week Daily]
• Oh, that groovy Chuck Taylor! "Converse announced today that it had brought together the talents of Pharrell Williams, N.E.R.D., Santogold and Julian Casablancas as part of the brand’s Century celebration. The artists recently joined forces to create a brand new, all original music track, “My Drive Thru,” that will be distributed digitally free of charge to a global audience exclusively on converse.com and authorized Converse web sites around the world." [The Daily News]
• Botega Veneta launches china line. (?) [Fashion Week Daily]
• 12 Designers do "Olympics-inspired looks" which one can only assume Sharon Stone will not model. Designers took inspiration from such democratic pursuits as fencing and equestrian events. Philip Lim:""My inspiration was simply to recognize and celebrate the often forgotten elegance of the sport of Ping-Pong." [WWD]
• Meanwhile, Dolce and Gabbana outfits the Italian national soccer team. [Fashion Week Daily]
• ...While "dresses continue to thrive in tough market"/heat wave. [WWD]

• Yeah, Lindsay Lohan's line of leggings? I know what you are thinking: it goes without saying that the world should not be robbed of the opportunity to purchase the fruit of Lindsay Lohan's design skills, but leggings? What can you really do with leggings? Isn't the whole point of leggings is that they are not really "designed"? Well friends, as someone who went to Catholic school, I can only say that leggings, like life, are all about the tiny, generally imperceptible differentiating details (such as built-in kneepads?) [TheLifeFiles]
  
• A Virginia fashion school held an abaya design contest; abayas of course, being those modest robes worn by Muslim women initially to ward off vanity, but now they come with Swarovski crystals and Louis Vuitton linings because who has money for vanity besides the Kingdom of Qatar these days? [AP]
  
• Leigh Lezark of the deejay trio the Misshapes is officially a model now. The agency is IMG but I know you are thinking "more like OMG" becasue she is just so very the Renaissance woman; she is like the Yin to Agyness Deyn's Yang. [Fashion Week Daily]

• Teen Vogue is no longer hosting teen interns. This allegedly comes on the heels of one too many incidences involving impossibly-privileged high schoolers acting like impossibly-privileged high school Teen Vogue story subjects. It is profoundly depressing how badly I would like to know the details here, but fuck it; READERS, PLEASE. Start snitchin! [Fashionista]
• Donatella
• Versace said no to doing a line with H&M. This is sad sad news. Though not as sad as natural disaster. Or the fact that the entire modern fashion press insists on using the term "diffusion line" without any evidence of self-loathing. [NY Mag]
• And Liz Claiborne, much like all of us continues to bleed. [WWD]

[Los Angeles, May 8. Image via x17.]

• "It's out of control. There's always a different boy and everyone is worried he's going to pull a Halston." That's an anonymous friend of Marc Jacobs on the increasingly-erratic fashion designer. [Page Six]
  
• Ouch: David Lauren was not invited to his girlfriend (of three years) Lauren Bush's cousin Jenna's wedding. You know, Jenna Bush: Daughter of the POTUS. Apparently the Bush clan think David is too old for Lauren. Oh, and also too Jewish? Awkward. [Rush & Molloy]
  
• Kristin Davis is pissed about the injustices she faced making the Sex and the City movie: "It's in the contract that we get to keep our outfits, which is a fantastic thing, except that, for me, all of my outfits were samples. I kept my running pants, which I love and wear them a lot, but I was like, Where are my clothes?" [E!]

• Blondes need not apply to model for the lookbook for Lindsay Lohan's new leggings line. [Perez Hilton]
• God is dead: Perez Hilton is getting his own clothing line. For Hot Topic. [Celebitchy]
• The New York Giants' Super Bowl Championship ring was designed by their defensive end Michael Strahan, who told jewelers at Tiffany's he wanted a "Ten-table ring": "When I walk into a restaurant, I want you to be able to see it from 10 tables away." Um, thanks but no. [WWD, 1st item]
• And what does Giorgio Armani think about paying the most in taxes in all of Italy? "I was on a beach when I heard that. I'm not concerned with it." [NYDaily News]
• Cindy Crawford: Regrets, she has some: ""I regret that I wasn't wilder," she says. "I was working and I was nervous. I was the one in the corner with the book, being responsible. I can be wild now. I'll sometimes dance on a table for my husband and his friends. But not naked - those days are gone." [Vogue UK]
• China's latest offense: The exportation of fake Nikes. [LATimes]
• Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Glenda Bailey says that her permanent plus one Steven Sumner says she was only awarded with an Officer of the British Empire award because, "I shop for Britain. He thinks OBE stands for 'Owns Bloody Everything.'" [WWD, 4th item]
• It's so hard to be Diane Kruger. Of the goings-on after the Met Costume Institute Gala, she says, "I went to that party at Phillipe, which was way too overcrowded, so I headed down to Bungalow, where I danced with Christian Louboutin. That was fun!" [Fashion Week Daily]
• Eva Mendes: Pics of her topless in Italian Vogue here. [Egotastic]
• Donatella Versace is still trying to tell anyone who will listen that her girl Hillary Clinton should wear a dress. [Page Six]
• Karl Lagerfeld's handbag and luggage line is inspired by...Karl Lagerfeld. [Vogue UK]
• Fergie's daughter Princess Beatrice is working at Selfridge's department store during her gap year between high school and uni. How pleb of her. [Telegraph]
• Hermes: Sales up 13.4%. Good for them? [WWD, sub req'd]

[Beverly Hills, April 16. Image via Flynet.]

Lohan is thinking outside of the box, though. She recently revealed that she’s got a business idea to carry her over until her next windfall: She’ll be starting her own line of leggings. Lohan told Life & Style, “It will be a while before it comes out, but I’m going to do it. Some of them will have prints and some will have patterns. I love leggings.”

[www.msnbc.msn.com]

[New York, March 5. Image via Splash.]

[Paris, March 1. Image via INFDaily.com.]

[New York, December 26. Image via INF]

Quite why anyone over the age of six would wear leggings is frankly beyond me - and yes, that includes you, Sienna "style icon my arse" Miller. But, if you must, and the chances are that some of you must, just make sure you peruse this handy little guide to the do's and don'ts of revealing your mottled lower legs to the world, first.

In summary:

• If you have fat ankles, chunky calves or thunder thighs, you probably shouldn't wear leggings. But you will anyway, so just know you're going to look like crap.

• Leggings make you look stumpy, fatso. Don't compound the sin by wearing trainers.

• Make sure you cover your fat arse. No-one wants to see your blubber.

• Don't wear them more than once. They'll get saggy and you'll look even stumpier and fatter.

• If you're going to wear them make sure you wear a skirt over them. Down to your stumpy fat ankles. Or a Bhurka.

And if, after that, you still want to wear leggings, be my guest.

Fatty.