• Eva Longoria's perfume ad is a total Photoshop of Horrors. "I have always been somewhat allergic to all perfumes," admitted the actress. The scent was produced with the Falic Group, the company that recently shuttered Christian Lacroix. Priorities. [WWD]

• Phi, the edgy, six-year-old New York-based label, is closing its doors due to the recession. The spring collection shown at fashion week in September will not go into production; the pre-spring collection that just shipped will be Phi's last. Founder Susan Dell is the wife of tech billionaire Michael Dell; it's perhaps a little odd that she didn't want to reinvest to keep the widely acclaimed company afloat. Thirty-five employees learned they were losing their jobs yesterday; the C.E.O. says there will be a warehouse sale in January. [WWD]
• P. Diddy even gave Madame Tussaud's a bottle of his "I Am King" cologne with which to douse his new wax figure, for verisimilitude. [Spoiled Pretty]
• The four stars of Sex And The City will each get their own cover of Marie Claire, but that's absolutely not because they can't stand to be in one room together. [NYDN]
• A New Zealand fashion blogger who was invited to the America's Next Top Model Cycle 14 finale runway show — which took place last week in Auckland — but didn't go posted a shot of the invitation. Turns out Anna Sui is the featured designer. [IsaacLikes]
• "She already has a great handbag collection. She has a mirrored Fendi bag. And she'll say things like, 'I'm not going to wear that any more.' She has really good style as well. She knows what she likes and I can't force her to wear anything she doesn't, which is annoying sometimes. But now I rarely go shopping without her. She tells me what she doesn't like or she'll say: 'Mummy, you look nice' or 'that dress is amazing!' She's got it." Kate Moss, on daughter Lila Grace, 7. [Company via Daily Express]
• Agyness Deyn maybe made out with a dude at a club during Saturday night's snowstorm. Hot. [P6]
• "Giving back" is one way to characterize guest judging Project Runway, Catherine Malandrino. "I can give good advice and be an inspiration for the next generation. I think everyone in life needs direction and models." [HoustonChronicle]
• Thakoon Panichgul unveiled his first jewelry collection for the Japanese pearl brand Tasaki. It features lots of big pearls on rods. Prices range from about $6,000 to just under $40,000. [WWD]
• CFDA Award winner Sophie Théallet — whose dresses Michelle Obama has worn on more than one occasion — followed a traditional route into the industry, working for well over a decade in Paris and New York for established designers before founding her own label. (It became faddish during the 2000s to proclaim your design vision to the world immediately upon graduation from fashion school, à la Proenza Schouler, or even after dropping out, à la Alex Wang.) Jean-Paul Gaultier and Azzedine Alaïa were among her employers. "Gaultier taught me to stop at nothing and Alaia gave a taste for rigor," says Théallet, now based in Brooklyn. [Telegraph]
• Vivienne Westwood's wallpaper collection features her signature loud prints. [Vogue UK]
• A Racked tipster thinks this "Italian Appeal" store has a logo that looks too similar to the American Apparel trademark. We don't quite see it. [Racked]
• Karl Lagerfeld designed a doll with a spectacularly ugly dress, and a life-sized matching dress for little girls. They cost $315 and $1,190, respectively. Part of the proceeds will go to Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's charity. [WWD]
• In ten years of operation, online discounter Bluefly.com has never turned a profit. For the quarter ended September 30, its sales fell 14% on the same period last year, despite overall rising online sales this year. It is receiving a $15 million investment from Rho Ventures, and is reducing its inventory. [WWD]

• Laura Ingraham is auctioning Sarah Palin's fleece from her Going Rogue cover. Let's take up a collection and shoot a real Going Vogue. [Facebook]
• Givenchy was the winning bidder for Audrey Hepburn's How To Steal A Million LBD. [WWD]

• Sir Elton John is selling — completely fabulous, no doubt — designer clothes from his wardrobe for the benefit of his AIDS foundation. Prices start at £10. [Vogue UK]
• Michelle Obama wore Calvin Klein collection in Oslo. [WWD]
• Antonio Berardi is too cool to collaborate with Lady Gaga. "I was approached to design a clothing range with Lady Gaga but I knocked it back because I wasn't interested in someone whose music is meaningless," says the Italian-born designer. This, from a man who designed heel-less heels? [SN]
• "Women have many lives in a day, and I try to do the best I can to accommodate that. If I have a meeting at my son's school, I don't want to look like a total fashion freak. I think, ‘Could I wear this to Trader Joe's?'" Ever sensible, that Maria Cornejo. [WWD]
• Isaac Mizrahi is returning as the Narrator in the Guggenheim's holiday production of Peter and the Wolf. [NYP]
• Could Taylor Lautner be the latest face of Armani? [InTouch]
• Roberto Cavalli, when not lending his name to opulent Dubai nightclubs with black crystal floors, apparently likes to jet off to Africa and take pictures. Now he wants nothing more than to exhibit them, he told Martha Stewart, and the Daily, yesterday. "I love shooting primitive and simple things," explained Cavalli. You know. Primitive. Like Africa. [Vogue UK]
• P. Diddy visited the New York Stock Exchange for a party celebrating AOL's re-listing as a separate company from TimeWarner, and was apparently inundated with requests for fashion advice from finance chaps. [NYDN]
• A The Sartorialist clothing line and a The Sartorialist television show are just two of the many projects Scott Schuman is discussing presently. [Pedestrian]
• Versace's spring shoes are insane. Normally the shoes that actually enter production are watered-down versions of the sky-high runway clodhoppers; these look like they're one and the same. [TheLifeFiles]
• Jil Sander's second +J collection for Uniqlo will hit stores January 14. In the meantime, here are a few pictures. [Nitrolicious]
• Alexa Chung's MTV show, It's On With Alexa Chung, will end after its season finale on December 17. The network plans to "revamp" the show's format for next January; MTV has already shortened it from one hour to 30 minutes, and experimented with the timeslot. Chung's contract with the company runs through early next year. [Variety]
• At worst, Chung can console herself with the knowledge that she has inspired a Mulberry bag of her very own. The Alexa is a twist on the company's popular Bayswater, and starts at £695. [Elle UK]
• Yesterday, we linked to a Daily Mail story that stated Mulberry's sales had jumped 16% in the six months to September 30. Well, we ought to have known better than to trust that rag for financial news: although profits at the company rose 16%, sales rose a whopping 39%. [Vogue UK]
• Mango opened its first store in Iraq. [FWD]
• "I get my best ideas when I'm in the bath in the morning or when I'm driving," says accessories designer Lulu Guinness. [WWD]
• Lily Cole, on modeling versus acting: "I look at myself differently. I think in magazines I don't have very much control. If a picture of me is great, then great. If it's not so good, it's not my fault. I have less control in that situation. That is one of the things that I like about acting: I do have a lot more control over what I'm doing and more responsibility." [Interview]
• As part of her Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund award, Sophie Théallet will be mentored by none other than Oscar de la Renta. [WWD]

• 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]

• A friend of Daul Kim who IM'd with the model the night before Kim was found dead in her Paris apartment says that Kim complained of feeling depressed, and was in an abusive relationship. But she was scared to leave:

• Writes reporter Peter Davis, who read the chat, "She'd punched him in the face; he'd yanked her hair. But she was afraid to leave him, afraid to suffer the agony of being apart. The last time they separated, she hadn't been able to eat, dropping from 112 to 99 lbs. Her friend begged her to leave town, book a job, call her mother. No, she said. She'd miss her dog. She ended the conversation abruptly, saying she was going off to the clean the house. A few hours later, Kim was found by her boyfriend, hanged in her luxurious apartment in Paris' 10th arrondissement." This alleged history of violence between Kim and her boyfriend is the reason her father is understood to not believe his daughter killed herself. The rest of The Daily Beast's story is the usual sensationalist "5'10" stunner" bullshit, leavened with factual errors. Davis has Kim's work history spectacularly confused, and even gets both the name and the URL of Kim's acclaimed blog wrong. [TDB]
• Top Australian model Catherine McNeil — who has been taking a five-month break from her work — appeared in public in Sydney with what appear to be self-inflicted cuts on her arms. (Her agent says she "fell off her skateboard and into some bushes.") Sensitive news articles that quote experts on the subject of self-harm will probably help the situation, right? Oh, wait. The professor this paper dug up says: "Self-harm is, sadly, very common and is becoming a bit of a trend...In some groups of young people, it's even considered virtually a fashionable thing to do." [Daily Telegraph]
• Sharon Stone went to Uganda and saw some people with "nothing to eat. literally zero to eat." So her new jewelry collection for Damiani will devote a portion of its proceeds to building wells in developing countries. [WWD]
• Tom Ford: "I like Twilight. I liked the first one, and I'm dying to see the new one." [The Cut]
• Would Lady Gaga take inspiration from Doctor Who for a stage outfit? I think we all know the answer is yes. [Telegraph]
• Pierre Bergé, who is the president of French AIDS charity Sidaction — the recent auction of Bergé's and Yves Saint Laurent's household goods and art collection went to benefit Sidaction — went on French television to tell off a fund-raising telethon for children with muscular dystrophy. The telethon is "[sponging] off the generosity of the French in a populist manner by exhibiting the unhappiness of children," said Bergé. [WWD]
• Coco Chanel used to wear these big enamel bangles with the Maltese cross on them. They were made for her specially by a socialite jewelry designer who happened to be a member of the Italian nobility. Naturally, Verdura, the company the socialite founded, is reissuing the bangles in sets of two, made of 18ct yellow gold, and set with enough gemstones to make the 7-year-old rockhound in all of us squeal: there are sapphires, rubies, emeralds, amethysts, aquamarines, Madeira topaz, citrines, and a prasolite. Just in time for the holidays! They are, of course, price on application. [Telegraph]
• Stella McCartney had a comedy troupe in drag for her holiday party. Sounds like our kind of shindig. [Elle UK]
• Leona Lewis is going to do an animal-friendly fashion line with McCartney. [OK!]
• And McCartney has lined up Natalia Vodianova for her spring campaign. The Russian model will also be replacing Christy Turlington as the face of YSL — apparently Stefano Pilati is still on his supermodels kick — and she nabbed Givenchy's campaign. [Elle UK]
• Making Hermès boots involves soaking Swiss bullhides in chestnut oil. What, like you think they'd use inferior German bullhides? Pshaw. [Telegraph]
• Sean "P. Diddy" Combs will appear on a sleek, all-white set with windows that display the New York skyline, an animal skin rug on the floor, and a gas fire, to toast his latest act of selling out: Shilling his perfumes — count 'em, he's got two — on HSN. [WWD]
• Anna Wintour went to a party to celebrate current Vogue cover woman Cate Blanchett's role in A Streetcar Named Desire. [TDB]
• Charis Wilson, a model and Edward Weston's muse and wife, has died in California, aged 95. [NYTimes]
• By the way, that little fashion show Victoria's Secret threw a few nights back cost around $10 million to produce. [WWD]
• Sales of women's clothing fell 3.3% on last year for the first half of November, the opening of the traditional holiday shopping period. Department store sales fell 7.1%, and sales of men's clothing fell just 1%. Online sales across all categories rose 19.4%. [AP]

[New York, September 2. Image via INF]

• Katie Holmes made the cover of AnOther Magazine — along with Vanessa Paradis, Kate Moss, and Natalie Portman. [DesignScene]
• Apparently, we're supposed to support Gwyneth Paltrow's absurdly high-priced clothing line for Zoetee's because the profits are for charity. [People]

• Those pictures starring a Victoria Beckham lookalike, wearing Beckham's dresses, which the Daily Mail mistook for a lookbook from the line yesterday, are actually from an online-only editorial in V, and therefore not associated with Posh at all. Model Heidi Mount was cast by the magazine to impersonate La Beckham, and she does a mighty good job. [V]
• But the leaked images of Scarlett Johanson from earlier this week are indeed campaign shots for Dolce & Gabbana's new scent, Rose The One. [People]
• Marc Jacobs will have an after-party following his fashion show this season! And not just any party: He's doing it with Lady Gaga. [The Cut]
• Marc Jacobs said Anna Wintour is "Very maternal and caring," and then added the all-important follow-up, "to the people she cares about." [People]
• Because of Wintour's famed dislike of tardiness, all the bold-faced names at the September Issue premiere were remarkably prompt to arrive. Except for P. Diddy, who got to the red carpet, realized he was the only one there, and sprinted for the doors. Anna Wintour can make P. Diddy run. [NYObs]
• Maggie Gyllenhaal may be presenting Dries Van Noten with his award at the Couture Council of the Museum at FIT luncheon, which kicks off New York Fashion Week. Gyllenhaal has worn the Dutch designer several times in the past. [Stylefile]
• Michael Bay, the director the New Yorker called "stunningly, almost viciously untalented," is doing the Victoria's Secret holiday commercial again this year (he last got the credit in 2002.) And he just uploaded some behind-the-scenes shots of Doutzen, Adriana, et. al., to his website. [MichaelBay]
• Meanwhile, Hayden Christensen is shilling for Lacoste's scent, Challenge. [ONTD]
• We do not look forward to the day when celebrities, after developing exhaustive arrays of perfumes, launch into home fragrances, as Ferragamo is doing. [WWD]
• Christian Audigier says Jon Gosselin and Hailey Glassman, who flew to St. Tropez to holiday with the designer as reality TV star and reality TV star stylist, respectively, were not an item at first. But, "by the time two weeks passed it was a completely new story." Audigier also says that Gosselin "is not the same as he was. He has a more complicated life now." [People]
• Ralph Lauren went to a bar in Williamsburg, the ticking heart of New York hipsterdom, walked around, and left. This is news. [The Cut]
• Kellie Pickler is going to do an event next month for the charity Soles4Soles. [WWD]
• Could Haider Ackerman be in the running to take over Maison Martin Margiela? Margiela himself has been rumored to have stepped back from his namesake label for several seasons now — before the Fall 2009 show, there was a rumor that Margiela had taken on a consulting role, and just a couple months ago he was rumored to have left completely. Ackerman, when asked about the rumors that he might take over the house, said only, "When you meet the person you have admired for so many years, how can you possibly replace him? Sometimes it's better never to meet your heroes." [T via Fashionologie]
• And Jean Paul Gaultier is said to be resigning from Hermès, effective after his Spring/Summer show this October. [FWD]
• Perhaps we should be happy Rachel Zoe is a stylist, because if she hadn't ended up dressing small women in psychedelic tent dresses, she would have been "A psychiatrist. I am endlessly fascinated by people's minds and what makes them tick." [W]
• Electronic Arts is producing a line of video games targeted at 8-12-year-old girls, all of which will feature heavy product placement courtesy of Claire's, the costume jewelry chain. To wit: "My Fashion Mall, available for Nintendo DS, allows players to manage their own mall, taking it 'from drab to fab.' Girls can compete in mini-challenges at Claire's, which is featured in the game, as well as add Claire's charms to their virtual jewelry box." [BrandWeek]
• Christian Siriano is launching a line of makeup with Victoria's Secret, a collaboration that actually makes some sense because Siriano worked as a makeup artist when he first moved to New York. The products all reflect Siriano's Egyptian influence for his Fall 2009 collection, and include lots of bronzers and gold-flecked eye colors, named things like Oasis and, naturally, Gilded Fierce. And there's a kohl eye pencil that Siriano says is "really dirty and downtown — like, I dunno, you're going to go home with someone after you put it on." Or, as Edward Gorey put it, "The Wanton, though she knows its danger / must needs smear Kohl about her eyes / and catch the attention of a stranger / with drawn-out, hoarse, erotic sighs." [The Cut]
• Victoria's Secret just suffered a 27% decline in its second quarterly profit, so the chain is moving its focus to lower-priced items. Perhaps this means no more $80 tee shirt bra? [WSJ]
• Henry Holland loves "Walking. I just spent loads of money on a pair of studded Prada brogues and my justification was that my shoes are my car." We, car-less and broke and shoe-loving, wish we had never heard this justification. [W]
• Gap is apparently launching a pop-up store with the French concept shop Merci. All profits will be donated to charity, and the store will open on September 10 — just in time for fashion week — on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 54th Street. [WWD]
• A tipster claiming to work at Gen Art, the group that gives seed money to fashion designers and film-makers — Zac Posen is among the young talents to have received funds in the past — says the company, which has long been struggling financially, is the victim of its own leaders' mismanagement, and that while the staff experienced multiple rounds of pay cuts and layoffs, the brothers who run the show never even docked their own pay. [Gawker]
• Despite declining sales, cost-cutting at the Gap has meant the retailer saw a slight increase in its earnings for the second quarter, beating analysts' expectations. Sales fell by 7% across all the chains the Gap owns, but profits held virtually steady at $228 million, versus $229 million during the same period last year. [AP]
• Gap is also opening its first Israeli store in the city of Jerusalem on Monday. [UPI]
• Ann Taylor experienced a quarterly loss of $18 million. [TS]
• There is going to be a Twilight range of beauty products. By this point, we're only surprised there isn't one already! [WWD]

• Samantha Ronson reportedly returned home at 5am last night to find that Lindsay Lohan had been waiting on her stoop for hours. The paparazzi caught Linds crying, demanding to know where Sam had been, and shrieking, "I'm your girlfriend!"

• Lindsay had apparently been waiting with an anonymous friend who Sam kicks out saying, "She's on my property, I don't know her, I want her out." The girl leaves and Lindsay follows Sam into the house, slamming the door behind her. Video here: [TMZ]
• Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush have split, reports US. "Nobody cheated," said a source. Didn't they just go to Africa together? [US]
• A car Katie Holmes was sitting in on the Australian set of Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark started sparking and burst into flames seconds after she got out due to a problem with the car battery. "Katie was very shaken by the ordeal," said a source. "She took the rest of the day off while special effects staff looked over the faults. Katie has filmed scenes since but it has made her think about her safety on set. She will be shooting the same scene at a later date." [The Daily Mail]
• "A source very, very, very, very close to Jon Gosselin" revealed exclusively to RadarOnline.com that Jon is secretly still dating both Hailey Glassman AND Kate Major." Two things: is the source "very, very, very, very close to Jon" Jon Gosselin? Also, if this is how Jon keeps a secret what's his version of a public announcement? Is he going to go door to door introducing us to his new girlfriend? [Radar Online]
• A reporter Kate Major used to intern for at Chicago Now says Kate told her she and Jon Gosselin are together but he "can't talk" right now due to his "situation," meaning his pending divorce and contract with TLC. [Chicago Now]
• Tony Romo has instructed security to keep Jessica Simpson out of his Dallas home. A sign at the entrance to his gated community reads "RED ALERT!!! TONY ROMO HAS MADE SOME CHANGES TO HIS LIST OF PEOPLE ALLOWED IN....JESSICA IS NO LONGER ON THE LIST AND NOT APPROVED FOR ACCESS." [Us]
• Here's some good news: Rihanna's rep says that though she and Chris Brown stayed at the same hotel over the weekend, it was just a coincidence and they're not back together. Maybe she can explain that concept to Robert Pattinson/Kristen Stewart fans too. [MSNBC]
• A parole hearing took place today for the man who killed Kelsey Grammer's sister in 1975 in an attempted robbery. Grammer tried to attend the hearing but his flight was delayed, so he wrote a letter saying his sister was "smart and good and decent," and "I can never escape the horror of what happened" to her ... "Please do not release this man from prison." The parole board decided Karen Grammer's murderer will stay in prison for at least another five years. [TMZ]
• Kelly Clarkson's new single "Already Gone" has the same backing track as Beyonce's "Halo" and Clarkson says it's all the her music producer's fault. "No one's gonna be sittin' at home, thinking 'Man, Ryan Tedder gave Beyonce and Kelly the same track to write to ... no, they're just gonna be saying I ripped someone off," she said. [TMZ]
• The I.R.S has filed a $7,373 tax lien against P.Diddy's Atlanta restaurant Justin's Restaurant. Diddy says it's all a big mistake: the I.R.S. was sending notices to his identically named restaurant in New York that closed a few years ago. [The Detroit News]
• Tito Jackson has confirmed that Michael Jackson's body is at Forest Lawn cemetery. [Entertainment Tonight]
• Debbie Rowe just showed up at the Beverly Hills office of her former boss Dr. Arnold Klein, supposedly to visit another doctor who works in Klein's office. [TMZ]
• Fans at a Jonas Brothers concert this weekend concluded that Joe Jonas broke up with Camilla Belle after he changed the lyrics to a few songs and appeared to cry during the song "Camp Rock." [The Mirror, Perez Hilton]
• Now Camilla Belle's rep has confirmed the breakup explaining, "There is no third party involved and they care deeply about each other and will remain friends." [People]
• BREAKING: Victoria Beckham went to dinner with her hair in a bun. [The Telegraph]
• Sacha Baron Cohen has been threatened by the group of Palestinian terrorists featured in Bruno. A representative for The Martyrs Brigades released a statement saying they are "very upset" and will "respond in a suitable way." [The Telegraph]
• Lost creators Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof dropped some spoilers about season six at Comic Con, which you can read about here: [N.Y. Magazine]
• We're learning more fascinating details about Jennifer Lopez's 40th birthday party on Saturday night. Liza Minnelli, Gayle King, and various Lopez family members were in attendance, and a witness says J.Lo and Marc Anthony "were affectionate with each other and obviously loving the night. Marc's arm was around Jennifer a lot, they'd give each other pecks on the face every now and then. She was clearly pleased with how the night went." [People]
• Entertainment Tonight just figured out that Mischa Barton has been released from psychiatric evaluation (even though Us reported it last week.) [Entertainment Tonight]
• Joel Madden says he's working on a memoir about his experience with kids, relationship, and moving to L.A., "but I don't want to put a book out there if it's not actually meaningful. I'm not going to go there unless I can deliver." [People]
• Robert Downey Jr. will star opposite Zach Galifianakis in Due Date, a comedy about an expectant father (Downey) trying to get to the birth of his first child. Director Todd Philips of The Hangover describes it as "a buddy comedy without the buddies." [Yahoo]
• Robert Downey Jr. said he thinks he and Jude Law have a special chemistry in Sherlock Homes, joking, "It's called circumstantial homosexuality." He added that even in real life, "We just became really close really quickly, because we just rolled up our sleeves and started working from jump." [People]
• Tobey Maguire wrote a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Tom Harkin saying, "As a parent, I am contacting you because I am deeply concerned that unhealthy school lunches are contributing to our nation's childhood obesity epidemic. My wife and I just had our second child, so this issue is tremendously important to us…Let me ask you please to ensure the Child Nutrition Act provides more fruits, vegetables, and healthy vegetarian foods. Young people deserve healthful food, and I can't imagine a better investment in the future of our country." [Politico]
• "I haven't chosen any other action films since Kill Bill because I felt that everything else just sort of paled by comparison. I don't like to get lulled into some hole that I can't get out of." — Uma Thurman [The Daily Express]
• Megan Fox says she's too afraid to watch horror movies, but she enjoyed starring in Jennifer's Body because, "For me to be able to play something that I would normally be frightened by was really intriguing and interesting... It's cool to see myself being able to scare people because I'm just a little girl." [People]

• Daniel Radcliffe is a budding poet: one of his poems (written when he was 17, mind you) can be read here. It involves "glistening blondes," and "hookers and lies." Hookers and lies?! That's 10 points from Gryffindor! [DailyMail]

• Russell Brand reportedly declined Lindsay Lohan's advances at P.Diddy's White Party last week: "Lindsay is a very good-looking girl and she is used to getting what she wants. Russell has been on her radar for a while now but he doesn't want anything to do with her," says a source, "He finds her constant craving for attention and her heavy drinking a turn-off. It's not like he is short of female attention anyway." [TheSun]
• Despite an internet death rumor, Jeff Goldblum is alive and well, and thanks you for your concern: ""This was a rare opportunity to experience your own death. (Fans) still run into me on the street (and say), 'Glad to see you're alive!' I reconnected with people I hadn't seen in a long time. I wasn't angry I was touched." [DailyExpress]
• Morgan Freeman's publicist says the story about the actor marrying his step-granddaughter is "complete garbage." [DailyExpress]
• Paul McCartney will appear on the Late Show with David Letterman this Wednesday; it's his first appearance on Dave's show, but obviously not his first time at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where he made history performing with The Beatles in 1964. [Variety]
• The custody hearing over Michael Jackson's children has been pushed back to July 20. As of right now, Katherine Jackson still has custody; according to Debbie Rowe's attorney, Rowe "has not reached a final decision concerning the pending custody proceedings." [People]
• More than 6,000 people showed up for a memorial to Jackson in his hometown of Gary, Indiana. The memorial included a recreation of Jackson's Thriller video, complete with 500 "zombies." Says Mayor Rudy Clay: "He's going to put on those golden slippers and he's going to dance all over God's heaven.'' [NYTimes]
• The premiere of NBC's upcoming series, Parenthood has been pushed back due to an illness that has caused star Maura Tierney to undergo "medical evaluation." [Hollywood Reporter]
• "I had a real dialogue with my mother during the shoot. She was very supportive and funny. And I needed to make jokes about the whole thing. It was so heavy and it was great to be able to describe my day to her and joke with her about what I was doing. It was like, ‘Guess what I've been doing today?' You know, my day would go from crying and howling and screaming into the sex and the blood. It was hysterical and to put it into words in a text message was hilarious." -Charlotte Gainsbourg on how she coped with difficult scenes while shooting the film Antichrist. [TimesOnline]
• An old flame of Robert Pattinson says he's "amazing" in bed. Like, really amazing: "We just had this chemistry between us that made our kisses amazing," she says, "I felt electricity go between us! I'm really passionate, as is he. That's why, no matter how much we fought, it was always amazing in bed! We'd glance at each other throughout the night because it made it more exciting when we got home. The tension was so strong, we couldn't control ourselves. It was amazing!" Yes...but was it AMAZING!?! [ShowbizSpy]
• Artie Lange was charged with DUI yesterday after getting into a "minor car accident." [Yahoo]
• Despite earlier reports that Justin Timberlake and Bradley Cooper were in talks for the role, the Hollywood Reporter now claims that Ryan Reynolds will indeed play the Green Lantern. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Britney Spears has allegedly put Kevin Federline on a diet. "She's worried his eating habits are setting up the kids to make poor food choices," says a source. [ShowbizSpy]
• Amy Winehouse is heading back to England after an extended stay in St. Lucia. "She's been banned from hotels, the bars don't want her there and locals see her as a nuisance when she's drunk," says a source, "Her friends have all left and gone back home, her mum and dad couldn't stay in St Lucia with her as she was acting up too much. She's lonely and wants to get back to what she knows. But she has to knuckle down. She's on a very fine line with the label and has pushed them almost as far as they will go." [Mirror]
• Blind Item: "This American teen TV star's fall from grace has been documented all over the celebrity weeklies recently. But perhaps the saddest thing behind-the-scenes is that the actress doesn't think she has any real friends so her entry into the London party scene was to try to lose her loner's reputation - instead she descended into a drug spiral." [BlindGossip]
• Paris Hilton was in court yesterday to defend herself against allegations that she did not properly promote Pledge This, a flop that she co-starred in. The judge in the case was curious about Hilton's reality show, and according to the AP, "After Hilton gave the title - 'Paris Hilton's My New Best Friend Forever'- the judge remarked 'This will be my best case forever.' Without missing a beat, Hilton replied 'You're my best judge forever.'" Oh, Paris. [Yahoo]
• Michael Gambon, who plays Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, has found a way to hide his cigarettes inside of his Hogwarts robe: "I got the wardrobe to put a little pocket inside for them," he says. Hooker poems! Cigarette pockets! What is going on at Hogwarts?! [DailyExpress]

• Rihanna's May 28 concert in the Middle East, the first since the Chris Brown assault, has been cancelled. The promoter says, "it is not appropriate timing for her." [Neon Limelight]

• Ciara's new album Fantasy Ride, which comes out tomorrow, includes a duet with Chris Brown. "Honestly, with that record, it's just more about the music for me," said Ciara. "I wanted to focus on the music and leave it at that, because it's a record that I've had for a while, I love the way it sounds and it's one of my most favorite records on the album. And if I alter it, it's not gonna sound the same." [Rolling Stone]
• A Malawi court has adjourned Madonna's adoption appeal case indefinitely. [Reuters]
• In an interview on CBS's Early Show, 15-year-old James Kambewa spoke out again against Madonna adopting his 3-year-old daughter, Mercy James, who he has never met. "I want to take care of her and I'm capable to take care of my baby," he said. "Mercy, she is a Malawian-so [I] need her to grow as a Malawian, as well with our culture." [E!]
• Here's a higher quality video of the fan who rushed on stage during a Britney Spears concert. Supposedly you can "see the fear in her face." [Perez Hilton]
• In this video chat, Pink says of the incident this weekend in which she denied that she is bisexual, that she marched against prop 8 and has spoken out on gay rights, so "if I were gay, do you really think I would have a problem coming out? There's nothing wrong with being gay. There's nothing wrong with being bisexual. I would be waving my fucking flag all over the place, but it's not my truth." [Perez Hilton]
• In this video from Beyonce's concert in Rotterdam the lights don't go on at the right time and she sings, "somebody's getting fired." [Perez Hilton]
• Roman Polanski's lawyer told a judge that the director won't appear at a hearing this week to seek dismissal of the sexual assault case against him, and argued that Polanski's presence is unnecessary. [AP]
• In a story that gives some disturbing insight into the U.S. legal system, the Supreme Court has ordered a federal appeals court to consider reinstating a $550,000 fine that the FCC imposed on CBS over Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl. The case had been put off while courts dealt with the FCC's policy on "fleeting" cursing. [L.A. Times]
• Days after being hospitalized for "dehydration," Amy Winehouse was spotted frolicking on the beach with a mystery man at her resort in St Lucia. You can check him out here: [The Daily Mail]
• George Clooney will testify against two former waitresses who say Rande Gerber sexually harassed them. Clooney, who was an eyewitness, will take a lie detector test to back up his claim that the allegations are false. [TMZ]
• Two bystanders were harmed during the filming of a Nicolas Cage movie in Times Square when a car skidded and knocked over a lamp post. Their injuries are not life threatening. [TMZ]
• One of Jamie Foxx's friends, who is not identified, said of Foxx insulting Miley Cyrus, "He almost lost it completely on The Soloist, so it's little wonder he went nuts on Miley like that. I mean, people just don't know how close to the edge he really was." [E!]
• Robert Duvall is campaigning to stop the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter near a Virginia Civil War battlefield where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee first fought Ulysses S. Grant. Duvall is a descendant of Lee. [AP]
• Nadya Suleman, mother of octuplets, is being sued, but lawyer Gloria Allred won't reveal her client's identity. She says it's, "an attempt to protect Nadya Suleman's children." [TMZ]
• Dennis Rodman has agreed to go enter an outpatient rehab program, after his friends and family staged an intervention to get him to go to an inpatient facility. "Yes, they tried an intervention, but unfortunately Dennis refused to go," says Rodman's rep. "We all know how amazing he is when sober, and we hope he gets there soon." [E!]
• Jennifer Hudson is taking a break from her national tour this week so that doctors can treat a throat condition related to her singing. [E!]
• Twilight and Slumdog Millionaire lead the MTV Movie Award nominations. The show will air on May 31. [People]
• Here's a video of P. Diddy and Russell Brand hanging out in Las Vegas. [RussellBrand.tv]
• Russell Brand was dining with P. Diddy at Tao in Las Vegas, as was Holly Madison. "Russell and Holly were flirting with each other all night," a source says. [E!]
• Later this month Paula Abdul will release a new single titled, "Here For The Music." [L.A. Times]
• Jessica Alba says her 11 month old daughter Honor Marie is "getting new teeth every day," and "doesn't walk, but she's crawling around and pulling herself up," and is always "covered in lots of drool." [People]
• Katie Wright, who is expecting her first child with boyfriend Hank Azaria, says the baby is "going to come out already knowing all the voices," of The Simpsons characters his dad voices. [People]
• Natascha McElhone of Californication says she almost lost her home after her husband died suddenly at 43 without a will, a day after the their 10th wedding anniversary when she was pregnant with their third child. She says, "We thought he'd be the cash-flow guy, and I'd be the investor in our little team. So it was unbelievably stressful and that's why I'm so amazed that my pregnancy was fine, and nothing went wrong." [The Telegraph]
• At a benefit for the Padres Contra El Cáncer and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Eva Longoria said being around the kids makes her think about adopting. "They're resilient and they're hopeful and they're happy. They're amazing human beings, and to go through something like that and yet still be as strong as they [are], it really inspires me. I could only wish to have children as strong as the kids I've worked with," she said. [E!]
• Trent Reznor is engaged to Mariqueen Maandig of the band West Indian Girl. [MTV]
• Eminem says he's recovered from a drug addiction that ws so bad he was taking as many as 20 Vicodin, Ambien, and Valium a day. "The numbers got so high, I don't even know what I was taking," said Eminem. He nearly overdosed on pills a friend gave him that turned out to be methadone. "My doctor told me the amount of methadone I'd taken was equivalent to shooting up four bags of heroin," Eminem said, noting that had he known, "I probably wouldn't have taken it. But as bad as I was back then, I can't even say 100 percent for sure." [People]
• Marie Osmond, says that after she lost 45 pounds, in 2007 her 19-year-old daughter, Rachael, "went into my closet and threw everything away and said, 'I'm dressing you now because you are hot, and then I can borrow your clothes,'" Osmond says. "She said: 'No more long jackets, no more full skirts. You don't need to hide anything now. You just need to hide your credit card from me.' " [USA Today]
• Alexis Bledel says she is interested in doing a film in Spanish, her native language. She says, "Spanish is my first language-but since I don't look stereotypically Hispanic, it's hard to get cast in those sorts of Spanish-language films. I mean, if someone is making a film about a social issue that affects Mexican factory workers, I don't want to barge in and suggest that I should star in it. I don't want anyone to sacrifice the integrity of their story, in other words. But I'd love to do a film in Spanish. [Wall Street Journal]
• Tom Hanks said of Julia Roberts liberally using the F-word at a ceremony honoring him at Lincoln Center. Hanks said, "She laid into me, and then everybody else started doing the same thing. She is so much of a template, that lady! Everybody loves [Julia], and she decided to get right to the point and cut loose and turn the evening into what it was really meant to be because how much can you hear about 'nice guy' and 'quality work'?" [E!]
• When asked about her plus-size co-star on her new show Drop Dead Diva Margaret Cho said, "I don't think of her as plus-size. I just think of her as beautiful. I think people are going to fall in love with Brooke and the character Jane and realize that beauty comes in all sizes. That's something we are trying to promote with the show. The idea of being plus-size is somewhat ridiculous, because most women are. I mean, I am, and most women are." [CNN]
• "Probably the sexiest woman I know is my mother. She's an ethereal angel. Nobody looks like that woman. If I could meet my mother and marry her, I would. I would be with my mother now, if she weren't my mother, as sick as that sounds." - Shia LaBeouf. [Star]

• Vivienne Westwood's campaign with Pamela Anderson (and Viv's hot, much-younger husband) was shot on election day last year. The ladies talk about their friendship, which is based on sending each other books. [Times of London]

• The first season of Erin Wasson's much-anticipated line for RVCA is late. [Racked]
• Fresh from accusing Dolce & Gabbana from copying a menswear design he hadn't even then shown, Giorgio Armani has snide words for Rome's fashion week. (The Italian capital has a small couture week, which is separate from the bigger ready-to-wear week in Milan.) Rome fashion week responds, basically, that Armani should eat it. [Reuters]
• Meanwhile, Italian designers didn't necessarily enhance their fashion-forward quotient by showing an inordinate amount of Obamawear. Did nobody think giant screenprints of the man's face on caftans might be slightly too literal an interpretation of "hope"? [Reuters]
• The industry, like the country, continues to feel the effects of this recession. Macy's is laying off 4% of its workforce, or some 7,000 people, in company restructuring. [WWD]
• Liz Claiborne, which owns the brands Mexx, Lucky Brand, Juicy Couture, and Kate Spade, announced plans to cut 725 jobs across the company this morning. That's 8% of its workforce. [Reuters]
• Avon is struggling against poor sales, and the high US dollar. Restructuring made net income jump 80% last quarter, but the company expects 2009 to be tough. [WSJ]
• Meanwhile, retailers whose margins are hit hard by discounting this season are trying to find ways to manufacture and distribute clothing ever more cheaply. Think less embroidery and time-consuming embellishment, less air-freighting, and switching from Chinese factories to ones in countries like India. [WSJ]
• Update in the ongoing search for the "recession-proof" inessential of myth. It's not designer frocks. It's not lipstick. It's not body creams. But it might be shoes! A survey of consumers reports people are still planning to buy new shoes. [WWD]
• Annick Goutal's sales were up 7% on last year in December, but the figure for the average sale dropped. The iconic luxury perfumer is accordingly scaling back its expansion plans. So for now you'll still have to go to France, or the magical land called eBay, for those gorgeous bottles. [Financial Times]
• Uniqlo is faring better than most. Same-store sales climbed 5.7% in January, and it also grew sales through the difficult months of November and December. Their raft of designer collaborations for the coming months and their commitment to cheap, beautiful basics should put them in good stead. [WWD]
• Can you imagine New York Fashion Week taking place at Lincoln Center? The Bryant Park Corporation, which runs the park where the tents have dwelt twice-annually since 1993, has frequently clashed with fashion week organizers IMG, and apparently the $2-3 million it receives in rent from IMG every year is no longer enough to keep BCC happy. It wants the giant tents, the stiletto-clad editors, the sulky models, the hyperactive stylists, the vague celebs, the chattering media, the whole faaaaaabulous lot of us out after the coming September. Lincoln Center is in the middle of its own redevelopment, and I can't imagine designers who are mainly headquartered downtown, in Chelsea, or in the garment district being happy with such a faraway location. [New York Times]
• The Kaiser acquired a furniture company. "One thing is on the body, the other thing is around the body," he shrugged, says Women's Wear Daily. He's also dressing Marianne Faithful on her upcoming tour. [WWD]
• ABS by Allen Schwatz is rushing production on a $300 knock-off of Michelle Obama's Jason Wu inaugural gown (Wu himself is not producing the one-off dress for sale). Schwartz is also doing a version of Obama's Isabel Toledo sheath, but in ivory, since he thinks women won't buy lemongrass. Which is odd because lemongrass is exactly the kind of color most women would not have considered wearing until we saw the first lady looking so radiant in it. He doesn't give a fig what Jill Biden wears, either, so Reem Acra need not fear a reproduction of the red chiffon sleeveless gown Biden chose for the inauguration. Schwartz has bigger fish to fry, like taking inspiration from what Kate Winslet, Sandra Bullock, and Drew Barrymore wore to the Golden Globes, and guarding against "soft" sales in a market that has seen the designer dresses he copies so heavily discounted that they approach his versions in price. [WSJ]
• Maybe P. Diddy ripped off an artist's glass sculpture for his perfume bottle. [TMZ]
• Jason Wu's not going to show fur in his fall ready-to-wear collection, after all. Seems like quite a sudden reversal of concept less than two weeks out from fashion week. [WWD]

• Versace model Liskula Cohen is suing Google after a blogger called her a "skank" and "old hag." Cohen hopes the defamation suit will unmask the mudslinger. [New York Daily News]

• Kanye West might be releasing a Louis Vuitton sneaker. We wish he'd stop being so lamely mysterious. [The Life Files]
• Monique Lhuillier and Naeem Khan are the latest designers to jump on the non-runway-show Fashion Week bandwagon. Cause who wants to be the insensitive designer throwing a show in these times? We all know an uber-select show in a small room is the way to fix the economy! [WSJ]
• First Lady Carla Bruni, at least, will be at Paris Fashion Week. [WWD]
• So, if you beat Stuart Weitzman in ping pong (which you won't, because he does "finger aerobics" and keeps his custom paddle in a silver case) you win a bunch of his shoes. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Talk about rags to riches! Model Daniela Cott, "who stands 5ft 10ins tall and has emerald green eyes, was spotted two years ago as she sifted through rubbish on the streets of Buenos Aires." Yes, she was fashionably gaunt! [Telegraph]
• Miss Vermont, Ashley Ruth Wheeler, will be wearing a green gown to the Miss America Pageant. The earth-friendly eco-frock will be made from hemp, organic cotton and silk, and lace and beads made from organic materials. No word yet on the swimsuit. [UPI]
• A new bra, designed for older and disabled women, has replaced tricky hooks with magnets. A boon for their suitors, too! [Science Daily]
• Diddy is king of his castle: "I need some advance notice because when I'm at home I'm really likely just to hang totally loose. I really like to just walk around in my underwear...I get a little embarrassed when people drop by; I'm not really prepared."[VogueUK]
• Stephanie Seymour for Valentino - part of the much ballyhooed 'year of the classic supermodel' —looks pretty amazing. [Fashion Week Daily]
• At least they can't be accused of false advertising: a new counterfeit shopping mall in China sells only knock-offs. [Mirror]
• This grotesque Roberto Cavalli snakeskin-print MasterCard was "created for those who thrive upon excellence, elegance and quality." [The Life Files]
• Los Angeles' 7 Showroom was robbed of $300,000 worth of merchandise on New Year’s Day. [WWD]
• Toni Chorley, a promising young model dubbed "the new Twiggy" when she came on the scene, has died of Hodgkin's Lymphoma at just 23. [Daily Mail]
• In a welcome piece of good retail news, fast fashion chain New Look reports that their numbers are up. [FT]
• Skechers launches (presumably fug) clothing line for kids. Sorry, that was uncalled-for. [WWD]
• Alfred Shaheen, credited as the inventor of the Hawaiian shirt that swept the mid-century nation, has passed away at 86. Aloha! [Reason]
• Now they say the first American TopShop is opening in March. Whatever. Fool us twice...[New York]
• Peaches Geldof has chopped her hair. It must be said: looks good. [ElleUK]

• A stupid psychic has made some predictions for 2009: Michelle Williams will wed Neil Patrick Harris, Jen and Angelina will co-star in a movie and Tina Fey will fight Sarah Silverman. [Page Six]

• Matt Dillon was arrested in Vermont last night for excessive speeding. He was going 106 m.p.h. on Interstate 91. [WCAX]
• After only six episodes, MTV has decided to pull 50 Cent's bizarre/just plain terrible Apprentice knock-off, The Money and the Power. We never thought we'd say this to anyone but: 50, stop trying to be P. Diddy. [Perez Hilton]
• Speaking of Puff: he's telling British newspapers that he wants to be the US's first black James Bond and that he thought he was dreaming when Obama was elected POTUS. [Times UK]
• The BBC decided to pull Paul McCartney's squeaking, "trans-racial" impersonation of Michael Jackson during a recent interview because it might been seen as offensive. [Telegraph]
• OMG: Mariah Carey is currently in talks to make a Broadway musical about her life. She has been considering Vanessa Hudgens, Eva Longoria and Leona Lewis to play her in the sure-to-be-amazing production. [Telegraph]
• JLo and Marc Anthony fought divorce rumors by jetting off to Puerto Rico for a few days of snuggling. [E! Online]
• Earl "DMX" Simmons plead guilty to three different cases (including one count of cruelty to animals and various drug charges) in Maricopa County whilst wearing classic prison stripes. He will receive a minimum of 90 days in prison and he will not be allowed to own pets during his probation. [TMZ]
• Trading Spaces interior designer Doug Wilson was arrested on Tuesday in Illinois for a DUI. [UPI]
• William Balfour was in a Chicago court yesterday for his involvement in the Hudson family murder case. [E! Online]
• Mercury-tainted actor, Jeremy Piven, has apparently found love with a model-cum-waitress whom he met at Britney Spears' birthday bash. [NYDN]
• Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are reportedly expecting another baby! [Star]
• Here's a video of Lil' Wayne hilariously falling during a recent concert. [Perez Hilton]
• For some reason, the Associated Press is reporting on Gary Coleman and how he has some run-ins with the law in Santaquin, Utah, where he has moved to "escape the paparazzi and autograph seekers." [AP]
• One of the boats that was used in the filming of On Golden Pond has been put up on eBay. The current high offer is $35,910. [UPI]
• Michael Flatley, the Irish-American dancer of "Riverdance" fame, is back on stage after suffering from a "mystery virus" for years. [Reuters]
• A woman who may have been unwillingly used as a decoy for Jamie Lynn Spears at LAX is pissed off and has filed a claim for money with the city. [TMZ]
• Charles Barkley was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Arizona but he was quickly released. [TMZ]
• Jennifer Garner was seen grabbing coffee with sex therapist Dr. Holly Hein in Brentwood, CA. Uh, interesting?[JustJared]
• Hey! My hometown is in the news! For, uh, booking a Miley Cyrus NYE concert at a local high school? But it's for a gal who has worked hard for breast cancer awareness, so that's nice. [E! Online]
• Justin Bobby and Audrina Patridge enjoy what are probably the last few minutes of their 15 minutes of fame by awkwardly couch-dancing at an "eco-friendly hot spot" in LA. [People]
• Lezebels of 2008, Sam Ronson and Lindsay Lohan, basked in their new titles in South Beach. Sam is doing "much better" after her brief hospital visit. [People]
• Jessica Simpson rushed to the side of her injured beau, Tony Romo, after he collapsed in the shower of his team's locker room after the game on Sunday. [People]
• Ticket sales are down for Elton John's televised NYE bash. Looks like Elton can't back an arena like he used to. [The Sun]
• The title of this video: "Cloris Leachman, Raw and Unclothed." [Extra]
• Dane Cook's brother was arrested by Massachusetts State Police for allegedly stealing millions from his "comedian" brother. Ugh, Dane Cook is the worst, but it sucks when you can't even trust your family anymore. [TMZ]
• Robert Plant was honored by Queen Elizabeth on Wednesday. [Reuters]
• Ho ho ho: Amy Winehouse was spotted frolicking with her hotel's Santa Claus in the Caribbean. [The Sun]
• Try to hold back your disappointment, ladies: Criss Angel and Holly Madison have been spotted looking at engagement rings in Las Vegas. [E! Online]
• Rita Cosby, who alleges that Anna Nicole Smith's former lovers Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern had a homosexual tryst, responds to defamation lawsuit filed by Stern by saying there isn't anything defamatory about calling some dude gay. [TMZ]
• The indie band Dead Man's Bones, of which actor Ryan Gosling is a member, have released a MP3 on their MySpace. [JustJared]

• Diddy likens himself to Obama. Speaking of his new fragrance, "I Am King," he declares, "When you see Barack Obama, you see a strong, elegant black man and when people see my ad, it's almost like that's the trend." [WSJ]
• "Mr. Obama sometimes wears jeans, as he did for a rally on Oct. 28, but his jeans are the loose, jingle-the-change-in-your-pocket type. He belts them at the waist, and when he wears them with white sneakers and a windbreaker, one could almost say he had stolen the look from Jerry Seinfeld’s character on the television series." — Cathy Horyn. [NY Times]
• Meanwhile, Donna Karan is rarin' to dress Michelle. “It’s not about her clothes, it’s really about who she is, and her passion for children, culture and wellness. I’m hoping to get to work with them — it would be my dream. They are so committed to ideals that are much in alignment with mine.” [WWD]

• Rumor has it that Pamela Anderson will be in a Vivienne Westwood campaign! But before she gets too excited: it's set in a trailer park. [New York Magazine]
• The Crocs bubble has officially burst. [Reuters]
• Gwyneth breaks it down: "Personally, I like to stick to the classics in both my everyday life and in the evening. Whether I am going to meet friends for dinner, a cocktail party or a bigger event, the most classic of classics, the little black dress, never fails me. I have found a few great ones in all different price ranges and each has amazing versatility. It could be Zara, it could be Balenciaga, but a well-cut, well-proportioned black dress has gotten me through many a fashion crisis." She pairs them with my betes noires, booties and gladiator boots. [Goop]
• We're reserving judgment on the new Diane Von Furstenberg blog: "The blog will be updated daily and will include news, shots of new items, horoscopes, cultural advice, and personal photos and posts by the Diane herself." [Fashionista]
• Ed Westwick's K-Swiss ads further remind us that he is no Chuck Bass. [Just Jared]
• Tartan is back. Why? Because apparently "plaid equals happiness." The Times suggests "a plaid scarf over a checked shirt and a plaid sport coat, topped with a tweed driving cap." [New York Times]
• Comme des Garcons for H&M is here. Shop at your own risk. [Sassybella]
• Wall Street Journal guy discovers there is no warranty on running shoes. [WSJ]
• Teens are apparently unembarrassed to dress exactly like Gossip Girl characters. [Portfolio]
• Ew. Is Vuitton bringing back the Stephen Sprouse graffiti bag? [Fashionista]
• They're refusing to confirm that Madonna's their new spokestar. [WWD]
• Stuart Weitzman plays a lot of ping pong. [Fashion Informer]
• (designer) Sienna Miller, for her part, enjoys Monopoly. [WWD]
• Dior Homme goes all porn-y for their new campaign. [NY Magazine]
• Uniqlo sells the new bra top through profiling: "20- to 40-year-olds were filmed answering a range of questions, from their favorite food to what they liked about Uniqlo products, and the answers were then played on a microsite for like-minded women. Filtering criteria allowed visitors to find women of a similar height, weight and shape and see how they answered the questions." [AdAge]
• Simon Doonan gets Tom Brokaw to unveil the Barney's Christmas windows. "I wanted someone with a little bit of gravitas to cut the ribbon," quoth he. [Style.com]
• Perry Ellis is pessimistic. [WSJ]
• Urban Outfitters, at least, is up! [WSJ]
• Marc Jacobs: "I've had boyfriends who were media whores, and, God bless them, they were great people." [New York Post]

• Ellen DeGeneres has come out against Proposition 8 on her blog. She says: "It’s called, 'The California Marriage Protection Act' — but don’t let the name fool you. It’s not protecting anyone’s marriage. Not yours. Not mine." She continues: "Please VOTE NO on Proposition 8. And now that you’re informed, spread the word. I’m begging you. I can’t return the wedding gifts — I love my new toaster." [People]
• Steven Spielberg and wife Kate Capshaw have matched Brad Pitt's $100,000 donation to fight Proposition 8. [The Campaign Silo]
• Trouble in paradise for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt? Apparently she was peeved that he took a bunch of trips after she gave birth to the twins, so she threatened to leave him. Everything is probably fine, but what if they did break up? So sad. And what a freakin mess. [The Sun]
• Yes, Clay Aiken is gay. Also! The sky is blue. [Page Six]
• Did Kate Moss break up with Jamie Hince because he didn't want to father a child for her? Seems like she wants another kid and he's afraid to commit to that, since he's always touring with his band. Anyway: Looks like they might be patching things up. [The Sun]

• Even though Travis Barker is mourning the death of two close friends and suffering from severe burns, a friend says he is "trying to stay upbeat." [People]
• We've heard this before but: Britney is selling her house. [UPI]
• The latest exchange between Lindsay and Michael Lohan: She says, "My father obviously needs to be on medication to control his moods. He is out of line and his words show how much anger he has, and it's dangerous and scary as it reminds me of how he treated my mother and I my whole childhood. He needs to be stopped. This is yet another reason why we aren't speaking." [Page Six]
• This is great: "If you don't want to get photographed topless wearing a mermaid costume, don't go to P. Diddy's star-studded White Party topless wearing a mermaid costume." The chick in the starfish pasties actually tried to sue Diddy after her picture was printed in Vibe magazine with the caption "Mermaids Gone Wild." [NY Post]
• Shannen Doherty is speaking out about the skinny stars on 90210: "I see those girls and they eat on the set, so I'm pretty sure they're not starving themselves," she claims. "I don't really think it's some magazine's obligation to put these girls on the cover and point fingers at them. Either way, they need to leave them alone." [Yahoo News]
• Nicole Kidman says the water in the outback while filming Australia got her pregnant. "Seven babies were conceived out of this film and only one was a boy. There is something up there in the Kununurra water because we all went swimming in the waterfalls, so we can call it the fertility waters now." [News.com.au]
• Ronnie Dunn from Brooks & Dunn says Nicole and Keith will find living in Nashville "peaceful." [People]
• Kirsten Dunst and Justin "I'm A Mac" Long: Splitsville. [Perez Hilton]
• More trouble for Anne Hathaway's ex-boyfriend: Raffaello Follieri has been accused by a Roman Catholic priest of bamboozling him out of $110,000. Holy crap. [E!]
• Ugly Betty's Ana Ortiz was in a romantic relationship that turned physically abusive when she was in her 20s. But! She uses her pain to play Betty's sister Hilda. [USA Today]
• How times have changed: Back in 2005, the ladies of Desperate Housewives had a tense, catty photo shoot for the cover of Vanity Fair. Now, the actresses are on the new issue of TV Guide. Not only did the shoot go smoothly, but the show approached the magazine for publicity, instead of the other way around. [MSNBC]
• Jude Law was spotted among the protesters gathered near the United Nations earlier this week. Research for a film? Or was he trying to get a glimpse of Sarah Palin? [MSNBC]
• Christian Slater spills all to GQ: He talks about getting drunk at 9 years old and the infamous 1989 incident in which he led police on an alcohol-induced car chase through West Hollywood, eventually crashing into a telephone pole and kicking the cops who came to arrest him. The charges included assault with a deadly weapon—his cowboy boots. [News.com.au]
• Diane Lane: Quitting acting? She says: "I can't do anything official. My agents won't let me. Between you and me, I don't have anything else coming out, and I'm just gonna be taking my kids to driving school and making sure they don't cause any trainwrecks with their texting." [Daily Express]
• The Oasis comeback show is canceled; Noel Gallagher needs more time to recover from broken ribs received when a "nutter" attacked him on stage in Canada. [The Sun]
• Socialite Olivia Palermo will be on Whitney Port's new show, The City. Thank Zeus someone who actually knows New York is involved. [Page Six]
• Megan Fox gave an interview to GQ in which she talked about being in a same-sex relationship with a stripper named Nikita. Her mom says: "I love my daughter dearly. But Megan is, well, Megan. I know she has a good sense of humor, and I take this interview in that context." [Perez Hilton]
• Size doesn't matter: Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer has a new girlfriend, a model named Dominique. [Perez Hilton]
• Michael Jackson wants his new album to be amazing, so he's hired Ne-Yo to write some songs. Ne-Yo's written for Beyoncé and Rihanna and says: "Michael is very nervous as he knows he's the underdog and people want him to fail." Not fail! But not scare us with pure creepiness. [Mirror]
• Uh-oh. Quincy Jones is not involved with Michael Jackson's new album. Big mistake. [Fox 411]
• Kanye West and 50 Cent are releasing albums in December — only a week apart. Last year, they both dropped CDs on the same day and Kanye sold more. Who will emerge victorious this time? [Mirror]
• Boy George to George Michael: "Get away from your drug problems and get yourself clean." In other words, do you really want to hurt me you? [Mirror]
• Tim Burton's ex, Lisa Marie, won't be getting more of Tim Burton's money. [Breitbart]
• Rapper DMX missed a court date because he was hospitalized. And he might have been in the hospital due to "fear of stroke." No, really. [Reuters]
• More rumors that Hugh Hefner's "girlfriends" are hooking up with other people. [Page Six]
• "Whenever the Jonas Brothers come on TV, I freak out, because they're so cute." — Jennie Garth on GlamourTV. [Page Six]
• "It's a very screwed-up family. If you want to be emotionally healthy and strong, you've got to get out. It's a truly sad situation." — Griffin O'Neal, Ryan O'Neal's son (not the one who got arrested recently.) Griffin has Melorheostosis, a rare bone disease which may necessitate amputation of his left leg. [People]
• "I want to call our baby Midnight or 411. I really like information, and being a night owl, it's a good fit." — Will Arnett on his upcoming kid with Amy Poehler. [Rush & Molloy]

[New York, September 18. Image via INF]

• "Rumor has it" that Madonna-maybe-estranged-hubby Guy Ritchie is gifting the material 50-year-old with "a specially designed, bespoke diamond necklace from Bulgari worth, £250,000" for her Golden tomorrow. [ElleUK]
• Apparently Diddy's "I Am King" campaign will involve Bond-like shots of him in a dinner jacket hanging with models and getting out of a chopper. Yawn! We were so psyched for crowns and ermine-trimmed robes! [The Life Files]
• Designer Rachel Roy does good. "For Spring 2009, Roy is introducing green designs, which she will continue to selectively incorporate in seasons to come. She will donate 100% of the proceeds to OrphanAid Africa, an organization that aims to help orphans in Ghana to grow up in healthy environments that provide quality care and education." Um, she's also partnering with Grey Goose Vodka for Fashion Week. [Fashion Week Daily]

• The founder of western shirt company Rockmount Ranch Wear has died. Don't be sad, he was 107! Jack Weil "was the first to design Western shirts with snap buttons and also created pockets with jagged, sawtooth-pattern flaps. The snaps are often topped with real or synthetic mother of pearl. Weil's shirts have been worn in movies by Elvis Presley, Clark Gable and Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)." Most recently, Rockmount designed shirts for Colorado's House delegation for the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month. The company is still family-run; until his death, Weil was still CEO, now his grandson ihas taken over. [Houston Chronicle]
• Nanette Lepore is presenting one of her signature retro shapes, the 'Unfaithful Shift," in red to support cancer charity Gilda's Club International. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Model Erin O'Connor's auctioning 30 items from her wardrobe, including a bag that was a gift from Kaiser Karl himself and gowns by Mouret and Galliano. She's selling the garments to benefit the British Fashion Council, which "provides support for up-and-coming designers" and, incidentally, because they don't fit anymore. Which I'm guessing means they won't fit anyone else, either. [BlackBook]
• If we'd thought about it, we'd frankly have thought that Lilly Pulitzer already made the fragrance equivalent of her frumpy Palm Beach WASP togs, but apparently not: the pink and green doyenne is launching three scents, Beachy, Squeeze and Wink. Why hasn't she launched a perfume before? "“They all stunk!” she said with a laugh during an interview at her Palm Beach, Fla., home, Casa Loca." [WWD]
• Back to School doesn't seem to be helping Abercrombie and Fitch: "Teen clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co (ANF.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a lower quarterly profit on Friday and forecast full-year earnings below analysts' estimates, as the weak U.S. economy leads consumers to cut back on buying clothes." [Reuters]
• The return of Haltson! The ultimate 70s brand is back: check em out at Barneys or, more realistically, Net-a-Porter. [Fashionista]
• Brit label Sinha-Stanic gets backing from Cotton (the Fabric of Our Lives.) [VogueUK]
• Venerable British retailer Marks and Soencer courts teachers' wrath by trying to make kids like them. via latest school uniforms. 'The "Blazer for iPod", which is part of the shop's 2008 Back to School collection, has been branded irresponsible" by teacher's organizations, which are "concerned the new jacket, which has built in controls and hides the ear phone wire in the lapels, will encourage youngsters to flout school rules by listening to music in class." Gosh, in our day all they had to worry about was guys wearing caps in the classroom! [Telegraph]
• Penney's profits plummet. [WWD]
• "Wardrobe malfunction" has been added to the Chambers Dictionary. Under "anachronism" we hope. [Fashionista]
• Been dreaming of a custom Goyard trunk? Yeah, us neither, but if you're extremely rich, you can do this at Barneys for a limited time next month. [Fashion Week Daily]

[New York, September 11. Image via Splash]