• Whitney Port isn't in Kell On Earth. And on Lauren Conrad: "We still keep in touch on a friendship level. But in terms of fashion we don't really talk about it anymore because we're not in the same arena." [PopEater]

• AIDS prevention is a cause dear to Carla Bruni's heart. Her brother, Virginio, died of the disease in 2006, and she told French television yesterday that working in fashion in the 1980s, the disease was omnipresent. "The fashion world was hit head-on by the AIDS pandemic," she said. "It really did lose members of its family." Bruni is now an ambassador with the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and malaria, and yesterday the Elysée Palace was festooned for the first time with red ribbons. [AFP]
• A fan named Diane called in to P. Diddy's Home Shopping Network show Monday night. "I'm so nervous!" she squealed. "Don't be nervous," replied the suave object of her affections. "I wish I could just jump through the screen and give you a hug, girl." [The Cut]
• Alber Elbaz designed some sweet heart-shaped Lanvin stamps, covered with his doodles, for the French postal service. [WWD]
• Maria Sharapova would like a fashion line, just as soon as she's finished kicking everyone's asses on the court. [Reuters]
• Liberty of London is taking its gorgeous William Morris aesthetic to the masses: it's partnering up with Target. [WWD]
• John Galliano not only designed a gorgeous Christmas tree that looks right out of a Hokusai print: it will be installed at the Claridge's hotel in a constellation of 20 of his haute-couture dresses. Swoon. [Telegraph]
• If Simon Doonan wanted a crowd, he should have gone the way of XOXO's flagship, which features a rotating cast of two female models paid to dress and undress in front of a glass window on 5th Avenue. The creative director who came up with the concept, in case you're wondering, is a woman. [CNN]
• Mango inked a deal with J.C. Penney. The Spanish brand has 1,200 stores worldwide, but only 12 in the U.S., so their distribution in this country has just officially mushroomed. [Crains]
• Carmen Dell'Orefice is working on a coffee table book of photography, scheduled for release on her 80th birthday. This story is funny mainly for how the Post mangles her name. Carmen De L'Orifice, indeed. [P6]
• Jil Sander's latest jewelry collection, made with Damiani, is out. "Jil Sander, even being considered as the brand of pureness, can create a product category such as jewelry," sniffed creative director Raf Simons. Prices start at around €890 for the baubles; Jil Sander watches are coming in the spring. [Independent]
• Seamstresses and designers who were employed in Christian Lacroix's workshop were yesterday told they had lost their jobs, following the court ruling that the bankrupt house could be transformed into a licensing operation. Dressmaker Nadia Schoope said, "I didn't think it would finish like that. I can't understand how a house like Lacroix cannot draw buyers." Monika Soszynska, who worked in couture accessories, said, "It's surreal, we can't believe that it's stopping, it's not possible. I can't believe we won't be doing the next haute couture collection." [ToL]
• H&M wants to open home stores. The Swedish retailer, which has been plagued by declining sales, opened 240 stores this year. [WWD]
• Dockers thinks the tag line "Behold the second dawn of man" will move some khaki pants. Global marketing vice president Jennifer Sey tells BrandWeek about the genesis of the campaign: "We started to do some research. In today's world, men have lost a bit of footing, in part because women have come so far, but we also found a few surprising facts: Eighty-percent of those who suffered unemployment in the last year were men. Women outnumber men in the workforce now. But the most surprising fact of all was that men's testosterone levels have been dropping by a percentage point a year for the last 20 years. All these factors add to up say, 'Wow, men are struggling in today's world.'" She's not trying to sell pants with pathetic anti-feminist rhetoric, she's just trying to "inspire today's men to be men," ladies. [BW]
• Roland Mouret has a capsule collection for Net-A-Porter on sale now. The seven lovely silk dresses come in seven bright colors, and cost $1,495-$3,070. [WWD]
• The fate of all Victoria's Secret diamond-encrusted bras is to be dismantled for parts. Because nobody ever buys them. [WSJ]
• Christian Louboutin, on Jennifer Lopez's single, "Louboutins" — which name-checks his brand 45 times, yes, he counted: "Jennifer told me about the song back in January, and I was extremely flattered. But of course, in America the public pronounces my name in like a million different ways. So Jennifer called me, and she was like, 'Listen, I want to make sure that I get it right.' And she did...from the very first time! I know the song by heart now. Because the brilliant part of the single is that it's not about me. It's about a girl and her shoe. When something is so in mass culture and you have almost nothing to do with it, it's kind of cool. It's weird but not disagreeable." [FWD]

• Naomi Campbell: "Unfortunately, we are the same as before...People, in the panic of the recession, don't dare to put a girl of colour in their campaign, full stop. Nor of any other race. It's a shame. It's very sad." [Telegraph]

• Designer Tara Subkoff is on the mend following the removal of a benign brain tumor: speedy recovery! [NYPost]
• Let the wild rumpus begin! Hipper-than-thou retailer Opening Ceremony, no stranger to the celebrity vanity project, is carrying a line of faux furs inspired by, yes, Where the Wild Things Are. We're more inspired by the dough suit in In the Night Kitchen, personally. [W]
• Speaking of Opening Ceremony: its Tokyo store opening was predictably sparkly and Olsen-studded. [WWD]
• Apparently high-end retailers - think Tiffany and Neiman's - have taken to holding secret sales for VIPs, so as to get the biz without "diluting their brand" with vulgar door-busters. [TimesUK]
• What does Maria Sharapova like to do? "I'd probably have to say shopping and eating...I mean, I am a girl after all, and there's no better place than New York to shop." What, no chasing men with a sassy sidekick? [WWD]
• TopShop is getting into workout clothes. Because we know we like sweating in "chenille." [WWD]
• "Themes of youthful disdain and playfulness continue in Victoria Beckham's second film for her A/W 09 collection," which you can watch. We don't know about the "disdain," but it's pretty cute. [Dazed Digital]
• Sara Ziff, on her documentary Picture Me: "(T)here's a hierarchy when you pair a 45-year-old male photographer-and many of the photographers are older, heterosexual men-with a 15-year old girl. And I think in a way you're asking for trouble if that girl is totally unsupervised, living miles away from friends and family. It's kind of a no-brainer. There should be some protection for these girls." [Mother Jones]
• Temperley of London is launching an affordable (no, really!) line of their ultra-cool duds, coming this spring. [New York]
• Grace Coddington, on The September Issue: "But my very favorite scene is when Raquel [Zimmermann, the model] was eating pies at the couture. She kept looking at them and saying she wanted one, while we were lacing her into this tiny corset and reminding her she wouldn't fit if she ate one. So she didn't eat them ... and she didn't eat them. Then when the shoot was over she ate, like, a whole pie! It's a funny scene, and she looks absolutely beautiful." Well, yeah: that box of pastries was just sadistic! [New York]
• Wait, what? In that doc, Anna Wintour's daughter, Bee Shaffer, says she wants to be a lawyer. Now, apparently, she's working in theatre. Lady's prerogative, we suppose! [NY Post]
• Well, thank God. Pamela Anderson's addressing the serious dearth of celebrity perfumes, launching "Malibu by Pamela" this fall. [New York]
• Kim Kardashian: "My YRB magazine shoot just came out and I am loving the results! "I really love the transformation and the clothes were amazing!!! This has got to be one of the most unique shoots I've ever done! Not sure I'll ever go for a permanent short cut, but it definitely works for this shoot." She looks kind of like Karen O, weirdly. [People]
• Speaking of covers: if you buy the special Lady Gaga issue of V, you can peel her New Wavy glasses off the mag and wear them yourself! Or, you know, not. [New York]
• Model Lily Cole, who's taken a hiatus to go to university: "I like learning. I was going to do social and political science, then I switched to history of art, but I could have done either. I can get impassioned about politics, but I find studying it can lead to a boxy way of looking at the world, so I was put off studying it." [TimesUK]
• Peter Som on his scaled-down collection: "I have to make sure that every piece I design is special and unique," Som says. "People don't come to me for basics. They come to me for print and for color and for happy clothes." [New York]
• Um. For Fashion's Night Out, which we're almost starting to buy the hype for, Calvin Klein has commissioned "a performance by CK One model Jamie Burke and his band, Burke." That'll pack 'em in. [WWD]
• Alleged designer and convicted rapist Anand Jon is about to learn his fate: he could get life. [Yahoo]
• Michael Kors' description of his trip to South Africa is exactly what you'd guess if you were parodying Michael Kors describing a trip to South Africa. "We saw the big five (lions, leopards, rhino, elephant and buffalo) within the first two days. Truly mind blowing. Chilled out midday at the spa and one day even ended up doing an impromptu yoga session in the bush next to the Jeep." [WWD]
• Tyra sports Alexander Wang on ANTM, leading fashionistas who speculate that she'll start supporting more high fashion. But Ty-Ty is a fickle mistress! [Fashionista]
• Department store shoppers, take note: Miranda Kerr was momentarily blinded by a spritz of "Heavenly Enchanted" perfume at the scent's launch. [NYPost]

I kind of like how Blake Lively looks like she ran here/did some yoga on the way/doesn't give a damn but is still wearing a completely glam sequined dress.


I'm never going to be convinced that animal prints are actually the basic everyone claims, but people like Maria Sharapova persist in acting like they are and wearing them everywhere, so maybe it's a self-fulfilling prophesy.


Designer Christian Cota knows a starlet is the best accessory.


So do these two self-satisfied executives.


Fireworks? No. But Ana Ortiz is looking pretty sharp and comfy.

[Images via Getty]

[London, June 24. Image via Getty]

Russia's Maria Sharapova plays against Argentina's Gisela Dulko at the All England Tennis Club on the third day of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in southwest London, on June 24, 2009. AFP PHOTO/GLYN KIRK (Photo credit should read GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

• Eva Mendes should just drop the transparent "acting" career. The woman — Calvin Klein perfume campaign-snagger, fashion event-schmoozer, Revlon face, and Italian Vogue poseur — is, as these Calvin Klein ads further prove, basically a model now. Embrace it! [People]

• Seriously, nobody is thinking about her critically acclaimed performance in Hitch here. Also the lingerie campaign shots? Are reminiscent of the Posh & Becks his 'n' hers Emporio Armani ones. [E]
• Stop the presses: Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson might still be together because Lindsay bought Sam a clutch purse at the NoHo shop Cream & Blue. She also picked up a pair of Nikes for her brother, Cody. In other Celebrities...Go Shopping! news, Robert Pattinson nearly caused a riot when he browsed the racks at Aloha Rag in the far West Village. There's a video of the commotion, but he's not in it. [Racked]
• L.A.'s boutique for the privileged ragamuffins of the super-elite, Kitson Kids, is being sued by its landlord for some $38,000 of unpaid rent. Kitson claims it is on a kind of rent strike until the landlord makes building improvements, including furnishing "a child-safe stroller ramp" so that parents will no longer have to "put children in danger on a daily basis" by taking the rugrats up the steps. [TMZ]
• Speaking of rich youngsters, Russian orange juice heiress Kira Plastinina might be making a comeback in the U.S. The self-styled fashion designer, already successful in Russia and Eastern Europe, expanded into the U.S. retail market with much fanfare — and then, seven months later, her chain collapsed into liquidation amidst allegations of unpaid wages by former employees. The teenaged tycoon is looking at two of her old L.A. locations, under the name "K. Plastinina." [WWD]
• You know what they get to worry about across the pond, where there are no guns? "Knife crime"! It's no joke: designer Nicole Farhi was allegedly strangled into unconsciousness and robbed of jewelry outside her London home by two knife-wielding brothers. And then there's fashion design student Ryan Houlton, of the University of Salford, for whom knife crime is inspiration. His latest collection is based on the hoodies and tracksuits that knife-crime-committing street gangs wear — but, the designer is quick to point out, the clothes are "not designed for people who commit crimes." Whoever does wear these threads will definitely look sharp. [Telegraph]
• Fellow British fashion student George Davies designed a dress that lights up when the wearer's cell phone rings. Maria Sharapova unveiled it. Why would you want anything so unsubtle? [Reuters]
• Dolce & Gabbana is launching an online store on June 23. [10 Magazine]
• Jesus Luz is also set to walk in Dolce & Gabbana's menswear show in Milan this Saturday as an exclusive (translation: Jesus Luz is going to make a lot of money from doing this show, and no others.) He already bagged one campaign for the brand; could this be the beginning of a beautiful partnership? [WWD]
• Diego Della Valle, who is the founder of Tod's and a big investor in Saks Fifth Avenue, owns the Schiaparelli trademark. But, Della Valle says he does not plan on reviving the house until at least 2011. That timeline casts doubt on the rumors that Olivier Theyskens, lately of Nina Ricci, could be set to take over the brand. Inquiring minds want to know: What is the Belgian boy-wonder gonna get up to instead? [WWD]
• When Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough of Proenza Schouler guest-edited A Magazine, the Belgian fashion title, they made it all Team America World Police-y. There's Chloë Sevigny with stars on her face, pencil drawings of Abe Lincoln, and a story about Marfa, Texas, inside. [NYTimes]
• Designer Kenzo Takada sold his art collection at auction for $2.6 million in Paris. [WWD]
• To the surprise of exactly nobody, retail apparel prices dropped again in May. In fact, the overall Consumer Price Index fell by its sharpest year-over-year amount since, well, January. [WWD]
• Liz Claiborne announced it expected a bigger loss for this quarter than it had previously thought. Its share price tumbled 13%. [Reuters]
• Money-losing company Pacific Sunwear has chosen a new C.E.O., and it's former Vans chief executive Gary H. Schoenfeld. [LATimes]
• Eddie Bauer declared its long-anticipated bankruptcy yesterday. It's the company's third bankruptcy filing in its nearly 90-year history; it hopes to be sold and emerge as a going concern. [AP]
• Fellow recession-plagued retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, while not bankrupt, has announced the end of its pricier Ruehl brand. Ruehl's same-store sales were down 33% in the month of May. All 29 Ruehl shops will be shuttered by the end of this year. [WSJ]
• Macy's is recalling 33,000 hoodies that pose a choking hazard. The hooded sweatshirts, sold under the brand names Greendog and Epic Threads between July, 2008, and March of this year, should be returned to the store for a full refund. [UPI]
• Topshop is renting bicycles to New Yorkers for free at its SoHo store. The catch? It's only for the week starting June 20, and there are all of 30 bikes available. But still: Free bikes! [

Although, in the 70s, Jimmy Connors was known for his loud exhalations and, in the 80s, Andre Agassi wasn't quiet on the courts, the age of the female "grunt" — which is louder and more sustained than one would think a grunt is — was ushered in by Monica Seles, with feats of oral excess topping out at about 93.2 decibels. Her successor is Maria Sharapova, whose euphemistically-entitled "grunts" are actually 101 decibels — 9 decibels shy of a lion's roar. Although she and many athletes claim they are completely unconscious, witnesses at her warm-ups at Wimbledon notice that her game is equally forceful... and her grunts are completely absent.

Portuguese player Michelle Larcher de Brito is reportedly even louder and, more suspiciously, her "grunts" last from the moment the ball hits her racket until it reaches the racket of her opponent. At the French Open earlier this month, her opponent complained the entire match and the entire issue made headlines.

In response, tennis great Martina Navratilova said she thinks grunting is little more than cheating.

I started having issues with it when I was playing Monica Seles back in the early 1990s. She was one of the first, and I didn't like it one bit. It affected my game because to me it is important to hear the ball hit the racket; you can hear a bad shot before you can see it and the sound is an imperative part of the game.

Screams like de Brito's that not only camouflage her own hit but the touch of the ball on the court are not just distracting but interfering with her opponent, in Navratilova's opinion.

Interestingly, the players most well-known for "grunting" — Monica Seles, who reportedly learned it elsewhere but brought it with her, Maria Sharapova, Andre Agassi, the Williams sisters and now de Brita — all trained at the same tennis school. That school is run Nick Bollettieri, who denies teaching his players to scream to throw off their opponents. They just, you know, all happen to do so with increasing volume and frequency.

One More Grunt And You're Out: Wimbledon To Crack Down After Complaints [London Times]
Wimbledon 2009: Maria Sharapova's Siren Call To Opposition [Telegraph]
Martina Navratilova: The Grunting Has To Stop [Times of London]
Not More Screechers Polluting The Air! [IOL Spot]
Grunt Music: An Analysis Of Tennis Screams and Battle Shrieks [Bleacher Report]
NBTA/IMG Academies 1987 - Present [Nick Botllettieri]

[Paris, May 29. Image via Getty]

PARIS - MAY 29: Maria Sharapova of Russia serves during her Women's Singles Third Round match against Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan on day six of the French Open at Roland Garros on May 29, 2009 in Paris, France. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

[Warsaw, Poland; May 18. Image via Getty]

Russia's Maria Sharapova returns a shot to Italy's Tathiana Garbin during their first round match of the Warsaw Open tennis tournament in Warsaw on May 18, 2009. Sharapova, the highest money-earner in women's sport, had been out of action since last summer due to a shoulder injury, missing last year's Wimbledon and US Open as well as this year's Australian Open. The 22-year-old Russian has seen her world ranking slump from No.1 to No.126 during her absence from the sport, but she played with plenty of grit to secure her place in the second round of the claycourt Warsaw Open today. AFP PHOTO / JANEK SKARZYNSKI (Photo credit should read JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

The Good:
Ooh, Kate Bosworth's delectable gown is reminiscent of Oleg Cassini.


Estelle is kind of becoming a fashion icon; how cute and spunky is this little romper?


Camilla Alves: like TV's pretend idea of what a real girl wears, but like a hundred times better.


Rachel Zoe's not a stylist for nothing, but then you reach her face and she's always making a face like she's smelled something nasty.


Say what one will about Agyness, she makes average clothes look cool, and expensive clothes look attainable, and that's really kind of the point.


Emma Stone: easy, breezy, beautiful.


Yes, I love me a good jumpsuit, and Gaile Lai's 80's/riveter iteration is exactly that!


Janelle Monae's is probably my favorite getup of the evening, and possibly in history.


Maria Sharapova has just totally justified her celebrity.


The Bad:
Krysten Ritter's futuristic nurse is ready for triage. (Good word!)


Astrid Bryant: Moratorium, please, on Hefty couture.


What Is Going ON?
Exhibit A: Zoe Saldana.


Exhibit B: Chloe Sevigny.


Exhibit C: Leighton Meester!

[Images via Getty]

• American Apparel is launching a "plus-size" sister label. Called "Colossal Clothing." It's only for the menfolk. [Kempt]
• The company is also busy harassing Woody Allen. The director called the clothier "sleazy" and "adolescent." [Page Six]

• Sienna Miller, by her own admission, doesn't actually do much for her fashion line, Twenty8Twelve. "My sister's the sketcher. I can barely draw a stick man, let alone a frock," the actress admitted. "I'll say, you know, can we get a top and make it that crinkly material? And she's like, 'Organza.' I don't speak the jargon." That sister — Savannah — went to fashion school, if you recall. "But I have an aesthetic that she understands," Sienna clarified. [Style.com]
• Georges Marciano, a co-founder of Guess?, is running as an independent candidate for the governorship of California. Platform: something about taxes (and, this is just a wild guess, fabulousness). [WWD]
• Model Jenny Shimizu named the late Richard Avedon as her favorite artist. "He would bring out stuff in you that you would never think was in you. He and I used to play together like apes in his studio. He was an incredible man, a genius." [Daily Beast]
• Sarah Brown, wife of the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, gave up paid work in PR as her husband advanced his political career, to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. For glitzy state occasions, she can't buy a new designer dress every time — so she rents them. Smart lady. [Telegraph]
• Daul Kim, the South Korean supe who made hilarious videos for New York once upon a time, dyed her hair ash blonde in Paris. And blogged funny pictures. [I Like To Fork Myself]
• Maria Sharapova, in addition to being the face of Cole Haan, will design for the brand. "Somebody needed to make a shoe that you can stand around for hours in," the tennis star said of her design inspiration. The stilettos for her line have Nike Air cushioning. [WWD]
• Miranda Kerr, the Australian Victoria's Secret model who dates Orlando Bloom, totally wants his sweet, widdle, scrumptious behbehs. At least, that's what the Daily Fail reckons. What Kerr actually said was "Yeah, one day down the line, of course I'd love to be a mum." Then the Fail calls her 23, then 25. Then 23. [Daily Mail]
• Naomi's on the cover of Giant, and she looks good. [The Life Files]
• News of Barbie's interminable semicentennial is kind of getting stale, but if you care, Henry Holland "curated" a Barbie stand at Dover St. Market. Interestingly, Holland's mum didn't allow her children to play much with the toy as a child, "because she gave lectures on the welfare state and sharing the wealth." When Holland and his siblings finally did get their hands on a Barbie, they took turns shooting at it with a bow and arrow. "My mum was well happy!" Now you know. [Dazed Digital]
• The owners of Christian Lacroix are looking to sell a stake in the brand. That puts them in the same boat as Brioni and Roberto Cavalli. For Lacroix, sales have been slow, and retailers are scaling back their orders, meaning the label will be further squeezed for cash over the coming seasons. [WSJ]
• Alessandro Dell'Acqua left Malo, the Italian knitwear label he had designed for less than a year, because of pressure from its owners over cost. The label is owned by IT Holdings SpA, an Italian apparel company that went into bankruptcy in February. No new creative director will be appointed — IT Holdings prefers to maintain the current design team, without a banner name heading it. Surely it is cheaper that way. [UK Vogue]
• Your Target or Macy's faux-leather handbag: another thing that could be killing you. No further details are available. Thanks, evening news. [KPBS]
• Missoni is going ahead with the opening of a luxury hotel bearing its name in Edinburgh, Scotland. Because the thing was already mostly built before the recession bit. The second Missoni hotel will open this summer in Dubai. [FT]
• Four words: Yves Saint Laurent Musical. Are these tears of joy or despair? I can't even tell anymore. Pierre Bergé, what have you wrought? [WWD]

• It's too early for this heartbreak. Pixie (Pixie!) Geldof got the March Italian Vogue cover. Have Franca Sozzani and Steven Meisel lost their minds? The cover line is "So young, so cool." So barf. [Telegraph]

• Maria Sharapova for Cole Haan is now a reality. The new campaign looks pretty good, and for fall, Sharapova herself will create a line of shoes and bags for the brand. Assuming, that is, that we've started buying celebrity fashion lines again by fall. [Sassybella]
• Alexander Wang has designed a limited-edition run of condoms called Proper Attire. They're for sale in Thompson hotels, and all the proceeds will go to Planned Parenthood. Wang, whose fall/winter show is, appropriately, on Valentine's Day, said of the collaboration: "I used a spare design that felt sexy, modern and empowering; after all, women should always come first!" Yes. [The Cut]
• Prada, meanwhile is concentrating on objects that are intimate in a different way: The next edition of its LG phone launched last week. "You carry it with you and it tells something about you," said Prada's director of licensing. I'd go through the specs, but if you're buying a Prada phone, you probably don't care about any technical point of difference so much as you do about it being a Prada phone. [Business Week]
• The Paris show schedule was just released. At Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquière is changing his venue, and there's no mention of the troubles at Nina Ricci — Olivier Theyskens is on the calendar. (Allegedly, creative director Theyskens is to be replaced at Nina Ricci before the end of his contract by Marc Jacobs' second-in-command at Louis Vuitton, Peter Copping.) [WWD]
• Manish Arora, a London-based, Indian-born designer who showed last season in Paris (you remember — it was the show both Madeline and Austria booked in Paris) has a Q&A where he discusses his use of color, the influence of his homeland on his designs, and his upcoming projects. Which include a deal with Swatch. [Style.com]
• And Fashionista has a sit-down with Elise Overland. Her fall collection is all about food — sushi, to be exact. "It's very sexual, almost macabre," says Overland, "the way they show all the sushi and how the fish is all cut up, up close. If you look at like it like a small human, kind of." That was not a pleasant image this early in the morning, but, carry on I suppose. [Fashionista]
• New York talked to Jason Wu at his little soiree the other night. Unsurprisingly, still riding the post-inaugural boost, he was upbeat. "You know, you have to give someone a legitimate reason to purchase something," he said, of the current economic climate. "And that can only help the market." [The Cut]
• Which fits right in with Women's Wear Daily's view that young designers should find the brave new economy "invigorating." [WWD]
• The WaPo's Robin Givhan is more sobering. Read her thoughtful and considered expectations for fall/winter 09. "The conversation is focused on survival," Givhan writes. "There's palpable anxiety about the economy and how the fashion industry — the part dominated by razzle-dazzle dresses, hand-stitched embroidery and Italian cashmere — will weather the storm. And there's confusion over what sort of tone the industry should strike as it muddles through the worst of it. Magazine editors are running through their list of synonyms for budget and bargain while trying to maintain the fairy dust of glamour and élan. Big retailers have been discounting everything but the light fixtures." [Washington Post]
• L'Oreal has stopped shipping supplies of its cosmetics — including brands like Lancôme — to a leading Russian retailer. The store L'Etoile has been late on its payments due to the credit crunch. [WSJ]
• A tipster tells Racked.com that Gucci has disbanded its in-house architecture firm, which would normally be responsible for store interiors, and set designs at shows. So, that could be true. Or not. [Racked]
• More news on the potential bankruptcy of the IT Holdings SpA division that owns luxury labels Gianfranco Ferre and Malo, and ready-to-wear licenses from Versace Sport and Just Cavalli, among others. The group hit trouble because of the credit squeeze and falling demand for luxury products (duh), which cause it to run out of money to operate those licenses. The company says it hopes to restructure and come out of bankruptcy. [WSJ]
• A pressure group called the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 33 well-known brand-name lipsticks over a year ago to find that 61% had lead levels of 0.01 - 0.65 parts per million, and a third had lead levels that exceeded the FDA's safe lead limit for candy. Twelve months on, the FDA still has not released the results of their own, independent lead tests. Lead is a neurotoxin and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to it. [UPI]
• The 18 million items L.L. Bean ships annually will now go via UPS. FedEx lost its contract with the brand after 12 years as their exclusive shipping agent. [The Street]
• JC Penney is advertising its most "fashion-forward" lines this spring, instead of its basics. Which lines might those be? Kimora Lee Simmons' and Charlotte Ronson's, for example. [WSJ]
• There's a cool-sounding exhibit called "Vreelandesque" up in Rome about Diana Vreeland's connection to Italian fashion. The co-curator says of the magazine spreads from the 40s to the 60s, "What you see nowadays on fashion magazines implicitly references these photo shoots, this is why 'Vreelandesque' should also be conceived as a reflection on yesterday and today's fashion, as the past is of fundamental importance to rethink what is fashionable nowadays." [Dazed Digital]
• Mandy Moore's new album was kind of a co-creation with Coach. She had company president and creative director Reed Krakoff style her cover shoot, and she played a private concert in Tokyo to open a new store there. Moore just closed her fashion line, Mblem, but says "I love the fashion world. I'm fascinated by it. I'm humbled by it." [WWD]

The Good:
Anna Wintour looks typically impeccable...but what's really awesome is that this appears to be the same dress she wore to the Sex and the City premiere!
I have a strange, platonic couple-love for NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg and his much taller, "Best Dressed List" lady friend Diana Taylor.


The Bad:
Keisha Whitaker (yes, Forest's wife) is certainly stunning, but her frock puts me in mind of Bat Mitzvah circa 1994.
I like that Maria Sharapova's working not obviously sexy, but it's one layer too many...and the purse makes me think that she may not really know what she's doing.
I'm really wishing we could see legendary tennis player Boris Becker's lower half here, because if it's half as rad as the suit/hair, we're in business.


The Martha:
Martha Stewart does unabashed "mom."

[Images via Getty]

• Maria Sharapova is denying that her controversial tennis getup had anything to do with her upset loss to Alla Kudryavtseva (dressed in a simple skirt and red-trimmed top). [Guardian]
• Recessionistas take note: Richard Chai for Target is cute. First look! [Nylon]
• No, seriously, Donatella. You need to stop talking. Now. [Radar]
• Justin Timberlake…Givenchy model? “The black and white images features Timberlake looking pensive or playful in a series of ads which has him in a recording studio, on a balcony, and of course lounging around on his private jet.” [Sassybella]
• And wait, Emile Hirsch is the face of Valentino?! [Fashion Week Daily]

• …aaaand Jude Law for Dior Homme Sport. [JustJared]
• I, too, am sick of Agyness Deyn and hate myself for giving her more exposure. That said, AGYNESS DEYN MODEL FEUD!!! Agy's been replaced at Burberry by younger and "more aristocratic" Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who, in addition to being "a distant relative of Queen Victoria and currently dating Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood’s son Tyrone", dishes: "Agyness used to be really sweet but when she became big she dropped me. I tried being her friend and texted her repeatedly for six months but she never replied, so I just gave up. Personally, I think Agy’s look is a one-off season look." [The First Post]
• Oh yeah. Some record Agy "inspired" is out now. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Beauty junkies cut back. [WWD]
• Elle MacPherson parts ways with her long-time manager. "In Elle's position she doesn't really need a manager. She has her own team of people looking after her and really that's all she needs," he says. What is this "looking after" of which you speak? [SMH]
• Bangladeshi human rights crusader fights for rights of garment workers. [Christian Science Monitor]
• Devil Wears Prada writer Lauren Weisberger is not at all into clothes. “The image I try to convey is casual, while still being neat and a little bit stylish. I'm a writer and I don't ever want to get super-dressed up.” [Wall Street Journal]
• Bumble and Bumble revamps curl line: (it's already pretty darn good.) [WWD]
• Can everyone swallow their pride so Hedi Slimane can get back to Dior, already? [fashionista]
• Luxury labels’ recession woes. [Wall Street Journal]
• Suspicious-sounding “micro-capsule” perfume “embedded in fabric” cures smelly socks? [Financial Times]
• "They wanted orange, and I wanted her not to look like a dancing pumpkin." New York City Ballet gets avant-garde. [Style.com]
• Responding to the demands of the harsh economic climate (?) Giorgio Armani launches pen collection. [WWD]
• To wear with your skort and wedges! Man-purses. [New York Magazine]
• Gareth Pugh crosses the channel. [ElleUK]

• Maria Sharapova was beaten by some complete and total nobody 154th-ranked player, who said it was easy, not because she's named "Alla" but because, "Well, I don't like her outfit. Can I put it this way? It was one of the motivations to beat her." I feel that way all the time about pretty much everyone in this city, except for the "motivation" part. [IHT]
• The Dow had a crap day and has lost more than 14% this year so far. [WSJ]
• The debates will be sit-down so John McCain doesn't look like the tiny old man he is. [McClatchy]
• I'm just going shed my propagandist and tell you that Obama is annoying myself right now, what with the talking about how he "bit his tongue" during the primary but no elucidation of what bad words he might have called her, or saying John McCain would roll back every gain women have made in 50 years which is just partisan inanity, or this DC gun ban thing where he praises Scalia for recognizing that the 2nd Amendment isn't absolute. [The Hill]

• Ugh. [Wash Post]
• Oh look guys, a sneak preview on the Friday animal picture orgy. [KG]
• And now I have to run. Sorry this is so abbreviated and shitty. Next time.

Some would say Wimbledon's all-white dress code encourages this kind of experimentation. Others would argue that it's part of a dangerous trivialization of one of the few sports in which women rule. "Only in this climate could it be written - as it was at the French Open - that the American Ashley Harkleroad had "upstaged" Serena Williams because she had decided to pose for Playboy," writes Marina Harker in The Guardian. "Williams had just crushed her in two sets, but whatever. Harkleroad's first-round draw here is Amélie Mauresmo, in a match swiftly billed by some commentators as the clash between the lesbian and the Playboy model."

Yes, this is appalling, and there is no question that the deification of a "celebrity" like Anna Kournikova at the expense of more accomplished athletes is bad for sports, society, girls and fashion alike. But I'm inclined to take a more relaxed approach. First of all, however trivial - and besides the point - these athletes' fashion choices might be, they are still drawing attention to genuine athletic accomplishment. (And all the players singled out for sartorial acclaim are actually world-class tennis players.) And is critiquing sportswear any worse than critiquing red carpet fashions, especially when the practictioners throw themselves into the fray with red-carpet-like zeal? At the end of the day, if focusing on fashion is trivializing the hard work of these women, it is also glamorizing it - and we could do worse than to glamorize hard-working athletes who, not incidentally, sport these clothes on toned and healthy-looking (read, well-fed) bodies. And, if nothing else, the dandyism is unilateral - Roger Federer can only grasp at the sex appeal generated by stars like Sharapova. And judging by the reaction to that cardigan, he's not doing very well.

Shorts and Sweet[Vogue UK]
Game, Set and Style [Vogue UK]
A trouser-rubbing timewarp that needs no new balls[The Guardian]
Trenchcoats up the Wimbledon fashion stakes[Reuters]

Earlier: Girly Fashions At The Australian Open: Game, Set, Matching Headbands
The Men Of The Australian Open Serve Good 'Sex Face'

• The New York Times claims that if you put Paris Hilton in a fashion time capsule, the future members of our planet will eventually open it up and WTF? their asses off. [NY Times]
• Fashionista reports that for the next Marc Jacobs ad campaign, celebs like Posh Spice and Dakota Fanning are out and regular models are in. I’m sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see who the chosen, Juergen Teller-approved will be. [Fashionista]
• LL Cool J is set to design a line of “hip-hop clothing” for Sears, which seems appropriate for some reason. Maybe it’s because LL Cool J knows fashion like, uh, Sears knows rap music? [WWD]
• “They don't understand where the line is between sexy and vulgar. I know where that line is,” says designer Roberto Cavalli. Riiiiight. Read more to find out how much he dislikes Kate Moss’ clothes and how he wants undesirable women who wear his clothes to “give them back.” [Telegraph]

• Whoopi Goldberg will be wearing a dress designed by Project Runway winner Christian Siriano to the Tony Awards. I really don’t think it will be that hard to make a hot tranny mess look like a hot tranny mess, but whatever. [EOnline]
• Japanese art director Nagi Noda, the genius behind a million things we don’t know about I’m sure, has created these synthetic hair hats. You have to see to believe: [Fashionologie]
• More dish on hockey player Sean Avery’s dip into the world of Vogue. I’m still puzzled by this, but no one else really seems to be, so fuck it. Rumors on a cover and how much he gets paid in this New York Post snippet. [PageSix]
• "Fashion for Peace will not change the world, although it does aim at changing people's negative perceptions of Kenya and Africa in other countries," a rep said in Nairobi National Park this past weekend, where a fashion show was held to help raise money for victims of Kenya's post-election violence. [Reuters]
• A new exhibit at the Horniman Museum in London delves into where our recycled clothing goes; pretty interesting, considering my favorite shirt in the world was probably belonged to your mom in 1975. [Guardian]
• Fashionolgie’s little gossip corner touches on Natalie Portman’s possible Vogue cover, Coco Rocha’s airbrushed body, and an amazing picture of Michael Kors from 1984. More here: [Fashionologie]
• Shoe guru Christian Louboutin got reprimanded at the Vanity Fair party at Cannes: A woman, bless her soul, yelled at him, telling him his shoes are too uncomfortable. Wait: has no one had the balls to say this to him yet? Actually it doesn’t matter. Painful shoes come with the Being Fabulous territory. [NYDailyNews]
• Narciso Rodriguez on climate change: “People aren't really interested in heavy winter coats. They want year-round materials because the seasons have become so erratic.” [Guardian]
• 22-year-old Australian Next Top Model hopeful gets bashed by judges for having collagen injections. "It's a tragedy what she has done," photographer Julia Balla says of the contestant. When model agents and fashion photographers — responsible for 99% of the images that glorify unrealistic examples of beauty every single day — disqualify a young girl for looking exactly like they expect her to, it is just that: A fucking tragedy. [News.com.au]
• Target has announced that it is doing a back-to-school line of bedding, furniture, and stationary by designer Sami Hayek, younger brother of Salma. [Reuters]
• Victoria’s Secret is in the midst of a legal battle with a company called Sexy Hair Concepts, LLC. Both parties have issue with use of the word “sexy”, claiming consumers are likely to confuse the two. Do they really think we're so dumb that we can’t tell the difference between a bra and a bottle of shampoo? [MSNBC]

• Oh sweet Jesus: There are reports that Victoria Beckham will serve as the stylist on Tom Cruise's new movie, The Hardy Boys. [Fashionista]
  
• It's confirmed: The all-black Italian Vogue cover shot by Steven Meisel is a go and Jordan Dunn is set to star. [Vogue UK]
  
• Claire Danes: The new face of Gucci jewelry. Says Gucci creative director Frida Giannini: "Claire Danes is a modern icon...[Her] sensual, confident beauty and her passionate, independent and strong character embodies today's Gucci woman." Also, Claire Danes always looks totally bored by everything. Just saying. [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Lindsay Lohan is the face of Visa's new glorified Salvation Army stores where old clothing can be swapped for other people's old clothing. How far she has fallen. [WWD, 5th item]

• Yay for the Humane Society for demanding for revised (meaning, honest) labeling practices for fur garments. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Barneys New York creative director/ my imaginary best friend Simon Doonan on the infamously red-soled Chrisitan Louboutin shoes: "Christian's shoes are like the circus coming into town. Louboutins are a total drug and there is no methadone." [WWD, 2nd item]
• Start counting down now: The McGraw by Tim McGraw fragrance enters drugstores in August. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Model Maggie Rizer wants to open up a doggy day care center and spa in New York's West Village. Of course she does. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Salma Hayek has been named the godmother of Puma's ocean-racing team. [Fashion Week Daily]

• Skincare guru Dr. Murad says that "being isolated isn't good for you." Is he saying that it's unhealthy that I work by myself from my couch watching Bravo reality shows all day? [BellaSugar]
• Maria Sharapova: Scared of Anna Wintour, and with good reason. [Page Six]
• Looks like Richie Rich and Trevor Rains' Heatherlette label has finally gone belly up. [NY Daily News]
• The new John Varvatos store in the old CBGB's space still smells like piss, beer and cigarettes. [NY Daily News]
• Africa: It's like totally inspiring. And fashionable. [Houston Chronicle]
• No shit! Celebs are good for selling products. [Forbes]
• Why hold out for the new iPhone when you can hold out for the new Prada phone? [Guardian]
• Why must Agyness Deyn continue to insist on her own importance? [NY Mag]

[New York, April 22; image via INFdaily.com.]

The Good:
It's crazy, but I love Camilla Belle's one-shoulder look.
Aw, cute kid, Tim Roth. Even if he does look like he's being forcibly dragged.
Well don't Steven Strait and Lynn Collins look to me one of those potentially-trashy-but-painfully-attractive-looking couples.

The Bad:
As Tim Gunn would say, Garcelle Beauvais' dress is a little Holly Hobby.
Anyone else feell ike Aimee Teegarden's childish orange frock is worsened by the Hooters sign in the background?
Why does Michelle Trachtenberg look so dowdy? And drugged?

The Ugly:
There are no words to describe the leopard-on-leopard look being sported by April Scott. Well, except for "Holy fuck."

[Hollywood, CA; March 5. Images via Bauer-Griffin].

[Los Angeles, February 4. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

Related: Women's Tennis Rankings [Sports Illustrated"