• A handbag will co-star with Christina Ricci in a "Donna Karan-friendly" film directed by Sting's son, Jake Sumner. So that's what we're calling "advertising that aspires to go viral" these days? [WWD]

• Antonio Berardi says he was "seriously misquoted" in comments that cast aspersions on Lady Gaga and her music. The designer had been quoted as calling her music "meaningless" and stating that he had rejected an offer to work with the Lady on a clothing collection. The tone of these comments was considered a little odd, not least because Lady Gaga has worn Berardi's clothing on several occasions, including in her video for "Poker Face." Berardi now says: "Whilst musically I am more of a Black Angels man, I have a huge amount of respect for Lady Gaga and everything she has achieved." And the only reason they aren't doing a clothing line is that their schedules conflict. [Grazia]
• Lisa Loeb is finally getting an eyewear deal! This should please my friend who dressed up as her for Halloween. [Racked]
• Hublot and Depeche Mode are collaborating on a line of 12 watches. [WWD]
• Rihanna rocks some fierce "couture military" looks in these stills from her upcoming video for "Hard." [Nitrolicious]
• Michael Jackson's hat and loafers from a 2001 concert sold for £22,800 at auction yesterday, nearly double the estimated price. [Mirror]
• As rumored, Jeffrey Monteiro will in fact be taking the design reigns at the much-revived, much-abandoned, house of Bill Blass. [NYTimes]
• Puma is officially denying that it is courting Elin Nordegren for an endorsement deal. [AdAge]
• Or perhaps she's hammering out a deal with the Swedish company Tretorn. [WWD]
• Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Daisy Lowe are two of the models featured in Esprit's American relaunch campaign. [Refinery29]
• Fashion Bomb Daily rounded up Arlenis Sosa, Jourdan Dunn, Chanel Iman, and Sessilee Lopez's editorial work for the year, and calls them the new fashion dream team. It's an impressive collection: magazine covers, that bewitching Harlem Renaissance editorial for Harper's Bazaar, and plenty of jumping for Vogue. Let's hope fashion really has decided for good to finally make room for more than one black model at a time. [FashionBombDaily]
• "I teach at three different colleges, and I am amazed how dressed up some of the students are. Girls still come in their hoodies and pajamas, but boys come in their suits," says eternal trend-piece quote-giver Marshal Cohen. Pray tell, what colleges are these that their men flout the walked-on-hem jeans and ballcap rule? [NYTimes]
• Adriana Lima picked up a nice Miami beach house for a song: $9 million. [WSJ]
• eLuxury is relaunching itself next year as a web magazine called Nowness. [Independent]
• Wow. Someone made an Anna Wintour mouse. [The Cut]
• Smythson, the luxury house that employs Samantha Cameron, wife of David Cameron, is now Italian-owned. [ToL]
• New Balance and Louis Vuitton have settled their intellectual property lawsuit out of court; the terms are confidential. In September, New Balance accused the luxury company of making a $590 knockoff of one of its classic sneakers. [WWD]
• Target sells footie pajamas in adult sizes. Could this be the ultimate proof of our cultural arrested development/fetishization of childhood? [FMMH]

• Yes, this outfit is available! [OC via Racked]
• Kanye's so-last-week jackassery has spawned a tee shirt. We say: stop trying to make "I'ma let you finish" happen! [InventorSpot]
• Miuccia Prada has a "passion for knickers," believes deeply in no-pants. [Telegraph]

• Burlington Coat Factory has accused a NYC pants manufacturer of bribery. The manufacturer is accusing BCF of tarnishing their reputation. [NYP]
• I think we can all agree that what we need is more celebrity fragrances: in order to boost sales, this holiday season will see more boldface B.O. than ever before. Is our dream of "Joyce Carol Oates: Enigma" about to come true?! [WWD]
• Aspiring fashionistas, NB: Proenza Schouler's looking for design, production, and sales interns. [Fashionista]
• Vanity Fair Italia is throwing its weight around: "It's bigger than any international Vogue," says Jonathan Newhouse of the ever-expanding glossy. [WWD]
• Uniqlo brings its budget cashmere to a Paris flagship: will France dig it? [NYT]
• Model Sessilee Lopez has broken with Twitter. "Sorry twitter but this is my very last tweet ... we had some good times and bad but now our relationship is over ... " Was it something @ said? [New York]
• Frankly, we'd kind of forgotten about Enrique Iglesias, but Azzaro hadn't! He's the face of new fragrance Azzaro Pour Homme. [People]
• Karl Lagerfeld toys are practically a cottage industry: now the Kaiser's a 10" Manga-inspired Tokidoki figurine. Now he can have his own, cryptic Toy Story! [WWD]
• Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon is for some reason no longer, repeat no longer, suing her mother. [Daily Mail]
• Paul Smith's iconic signature logo is, in fact, faux: "It was very practical to call it Paul Smith. Then I tried my signature and you couldn't read it, it was sort of ‘Gug Giz' and it didn't quite work! Pauline [Paul's wife] and I asked lots of friends to write it and one just wrote that signature. But I can do it now!" Hold up: Paul and Pauline? Okay, carry on. [Daily Express]
• Nobody's worn spider silk - "a textile stronger than steel and made from the silk of the golden orb spider, native to Madagascar" - for hundreds of years. But socialite Tinsley Mortimer donned a spider silk shawl at a Museum of Natural History exhibit dedicated to the wonder fabric. [Observer]
• WWD.com has "tweaked" its site - again - to make it more user-friendly. Yes, most everything is still subscription. [MediaBistro]
• French Connection has launched a baby's line, thankfully named "fc:baby" rather than "little fcuk." [Telegraph]
• We knew moving Project Runway to L.A. was a mistake! Here's Nina on why she and Michael Kors have been tragically MIA: "When it was in L.A. and in that time period that we filmed, it was very difficult to be there the entire time. He has another job, he's a designer and work on his collection, and I had to fly to Paris to see the fashion shows for the fall. It was impossible to be there for an entire month." [LAT]
• Although here's someone who's probably in favor of the move: Lauren Conrad! "I think that for the Kohl's line we wanted a very California brand...We were able to make the California-look very accessible everywhere." [People]
• Thanks to Ann Taylor's aggressive re-branding efforts, the stock is up 90% and analysts are lowering their rating. [Crains]
• From their scores of suitors, Zappos has selected Interpublic Group of Cos.' Mullen as its creative agency. Let's cross our fingers. [AdAge]
• Alber Elbaz spoke at "Creativity, innovation and excellence: from crafts to the design and fashion industry" at UNESCO's First Forum on Cultural Industries, in Italy. He was apparently charming, and presumably was more succinct than Gaddafi. [WWD]
• Vogue UK is having a "Miss Marple moment." We're guessing they interpret this less literally than we do. [VogueUK]
• Roberto Cavalli is opening an online shop, and the first 500 customers will receive a free bag "in Cavalli's signature prints." Threat or promise - you decide! [Sassybella]
• Perhaps inspired by Tim Gunn's Marvel turn (we wish) the Women Paris model agency's show package used a Sin City aesthetic, which sends a sinister message, but whatever. [The Fash Pack]
• We've heard of strange bedfellows, but Swatch and Tiffany? Says Swatch's prez, "It will be the perfect gift, to a well-educated, beautiful woman, a perfect gift. So man, back to your wallet." [Guardian]
• Out magazine feted itself at Original Penguin's NYC pop-up shop yesterday. Reports Racked: "Guests guzzled Blue Moons and were entertained by roving models, live mannequins, a soundtrack of diet dance pop, and slightly terrifying larger-than-life prints of October Out covergirl Donatella Versace." [Racked]

Actress Lynn Collins would like us to know that she is a fan of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures. I'm skeptical.


I guess the 5-year-old in Heather Tom couldn't resist these shoes.


Kelly Bensimon's outfit is only acceptable for the beach. And with a bathing suit underneath.


Blake Lively can pull off just about anything, but this layered bandage is not the most flattering thing in her capacious closet.


Emma Stone does classic Anna Sui punk-babydoll. Can't beat it.


Michelle Trachtenberg's getup is objectively cute, but there's something about it I'm not loving...and no, it's not the purple, I swear!


June Ambrose has a lot going on - but pulls it off with sheer attitude.


I know Jessica Szohr is the resident hipster, and I know early 90's is the thing, but on a visceral, not intellectual level, I'm not loving.


Like I said, Sessilee Lopez: can we get this early-90s nostalgia over with fast?


Is Monet Mazur channeling a whole lotta Grey Gardens? Yes. But who said that was a bad thing?


My question to Sarah Bradford: is this dress from the collection? Cause it sorta looks like it is. I don't mean that as an insult. I don't think.


I love Joanna Garcia, and I can even get behind this shark tooth-confetti situation. But the dainty shoes take it over the edge into peculiar.


Taylor Momsen: we get it. You're "edgy." You probably curl your lip at Lynn Collins' Joy Division shirt. That was so last year for you.


Anna Sui does Anna Sui.

[Images via Getty]

• Kate Moss's latest fashion contribution: tights that look like you took a drunken prat fall on a gravel driveway. [The Sun]
• The surprise guest of honor at Macy's Glamorama in Chicago: Miss Piggy. [WWD]

• Cindy Crawford: "I have cellulite. I admit it. But sometimes I just say, 'Screw it, I am going to wear a bikini." [Redbook]
• Real Housewife Kelly Bensimon is still talking "exclusively" to gullible (or merely cynical of their readers' attention spans?) publications about her Navajo-inspired jewelry line. "My mother looked like Pocahontas and was obsessed with jewelry, so I really learned at young age how accessories can change your look in an inexpensive way," explains the ex-model. At least she didn't say she was going to take Pocahontas out of the canoe and put her in the disco? [People]
• A French graffiti artist/media prankster tagged a dripping Chanel logo on the side of a Giorgio Armani store in Hong Kong. He was arrested. [ChicReport]
• As one of Fashion's Night Out's eleventy-billion events, André Leon Talley is hosting a life-sized board game tournament. You could play in it. [The Cut]
• And here's a ...deal? If you spend $2,500 on Dior merchandise at Fashion's Night Out, you can have your picture taken with Charlize Theron. [WWD]
• i-D has become the first — and so far only — major fashion magazine to feature women of color on its front cover for the September issue. Earlier this year, Sessilee Lopez and Chanel Iman tweeted separately on the same day about doing "a major surprise cover," which led fashion watchers to assume the two models would be featured together. It turns out that cover was i-D, and models Jourdan Dunn and Arlenis Sosa are also pictured. [Fashionologie]
• There is now a rumor going around about the rumor that Haider Ackerman is replacing the (rumored retired) designer Martin Margiela, which would have it — on rumor, you understand — that Margiela's rumored retirement is all one big hoax from the rumored identity-playful Belgian designer. Allegedly. [Hintmag]
• There are yet more pictures of a gorgeous Isabeli Fontana in +J, Jil Sander's hotly-awaited new line for Uniqlo. [Uniqlo]
• PETA is planning shareholder action at Talbots' shareholder meeting next year over the company's use of Australian wool; PETA holds that Australian sheep farmers' use of mulesing is inhumane. [Dealbook]
• After losing their sales commission, a majority of the employees at three New York Cole Haan stores have voted to unionize. [Crain's]
• Time is calling Abercrombie & Fitch, which has experienced ten straight months of double-digit sales declines, the worst recession brand in the world. [Time
• Also in the red: Esprit, down 26%. [WWD]
• If director RJ Cutler had to compare The September Issue to the Clinton campaign what would he say? "The similarity I would focus on is one of leadership-people who are passionate about what they do and are doing it under high stake circumstances. It's a good way of describing Anna Wintour. It's a good way of describing James Carville. And George Stephanopolous. And Grace Coddington. Though they certainly dress differently." (We'd have gone with, "NA.") [Fashionista]
• Speaking of Vogue: The Australian iteration's putting out a book that's "as much about trends of the time as it is about fashion." [News.co.au]
• Oh yeah, here's the way to pull in the kids: on Friday, the Gap "dressed 1,200 New York Stock Exchange traders in its new 1969 Premium Jeans." [New York]
• Gucci's put out a limited edition watch, sales of which go towards Mary J. Blige's "Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now." WWD describes "The Gucci for FFAWN Twirl watch" as "a sleek black PVD bracelet decorated with the signature double-G motif and a monochrome dial, and its rotating case has black diamonds. The $1,895 watch turns on itself to switch from a bracelet to a timepiece and is engraved with the words 'Gucci for FFAWN.'" It looks like a snap bracelet! But presumably won't be recalled for safety reasons! [WWD]
• American Apparel takes to the web cam. Don't worry: it's just tutorials on how to do different (sartorial!) stuff with bits of jersey and string. [AdRants]
• Speaking of new media, Henri Bendel's defeated the purpose of it entirely by sticking a model in their window for hours at a time, pretending to net-surf. You can friend her. [Observer]

• A rare, left-handed Michael Jackson glove — the one the star wore when he unveiled his moonwalk at Motown's 25th anniversary in 1983 — is to be auctioned in November at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square. [CTV]

• Pictures of the +J women's collection are starting to trickle out. Isabeli Fontana stars in the campaign, and my god are we excited for Jil Sander's return to form. Not least because the godmother of minimalism is re-materializing after her long absence at Uniqlo's sensible price point; the full range will cost between $21 and $155. [WWD]
• Diane Kruger, on Karl Lagerfeld: "Karl is like a dad. I've known him since I was 16 – I would do a lot for Karl. I was once on his plane flying to China. He wouldn't stop talking. After a while, I said to him, ‘I have to sleep now Karl.' When I woke up 10 hours later he was still talking to some poor assistant!" [SassyBella]
• Designer Tory Burch and Marchesa co-founder Georgina Chapman are both making cameos on Gossip Girl's next season. [WWD]
• Mad Men's Alison Brie, on the wardrobe: "You wear girdles and tight clothes you can't really breathe in that make you sit up straight. That alone is kind of oppressive and really makes you feel how these women were feeling at the time." [TVGuide]
• From the horse's mouth: Kanye West isn't interning at the Gap. Quoth designer Patrick Robinson, on the occasion of the launch of the Gap's new 1969 Premium Jeans Collection, "He's a friend of mine, and he just likes to see what we do. I tell him, if he wants people to take him seriously in fashion, they have to see blood first! They have to see the blood and the sweat, to see that he really wants it — but he definitely has the capability." [FWD]
• Harlem resident Sessilee Lopez cooks to unwind. "I just made a pepper steak, rice and beans for Wendell the other night. I grew up watching my grandmother cook and she can make anything taste good. So I try to apply what she does. I'm also getting into baking, but I think that might be dangerous for my career." On role models: "Definitely Tyra [Banks]; I would love to benchmark myself after her. She went from being a pretty face to a mogul. It would be great to follow in her footsteps." [W]
• Justin Timberlake's Givenchy perfume ad has a behind-the-scenes video — the behind-the-scenes video now being de rigueur — so you can double up on your Justin pleasure. [People]
• Oscar de la Renta, on not dressing women with double-digit dress sizes: "Well, you cannot be a jack-of-all-trades. You must do what you do best." [VF]
• Robert Geller has a men's capsule collection with Levi's that hits stores next month. [WWD]
• The body of a man was found on the roof of Opening Ceremony, the downtown Manhattan boutique. Signs indicate the death may have been accidental, and the man a vagrant, but police investigated the scene for seven hours yesterday. [Gawker]
• London police have made one arrest in connection with the Graff jewelry heist that netted $65 million worth of jewels last week. A 50-year-old man, who is not believed to have been one of the two robbers who held up the store, was arrested and bailed. [WWD]
• Jewelry designers Arielle de Pinto and Pamela Love are each doing standalone presentations at New York Fashion Week this September, and Bliss Lau — whose original necklace was shamelessly re-cast and copied by Erin Wasson for the supermodel's jewelry line — Philip Crangi, and Eddie Borg are all working on collaborations with unnamed designers for September. [Style.com]
• Anna Wintour has confirmed she will be attending London Fashion Week in September. Although Wintour normally skips the London shows, this year, a special effort by British designers to show on their home turf has resulted in a glut of bold-faced names on the schedule — Burberry, Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Gareth Pugh, Matthew Williamson — that Wintour simply can't ignore. [Grazia]
• Helena Christensen is naked and gorgeous on the cover of Citizen K. [Sun]
• Ralph Lauren is being sued over shirts he made that say "Lifeguard" on them. The Lifeguard Licensing Corp. says it registered that trademark in 1937. [NYPost]
• Artist Hugh Hayden: "I do dinner parties. The most famous one, in college, was called "Smooth." I wanted people to focus on the taste of food but make everything else a constant. We puréed all the food, had the guests wear all white and arranged them in chairs, facing the wall, around the perimeter of the room. We tied their hands behind their back and fed them through this device, which looked like a snorkel with a funnel attached. So you focus on the taste of what you're eating." Label Hayden-Harnett hired this guy to give their NoLiTa boutique a sporty temporary makeover, and to work with them on the Spring 2010 presentation next month. We're kind of scared, because that dinner party sounds like it would have a long and troubling afterlife in one's subconscious. [W]
• One thing we actually do not want to wear or even see is a "sneaker/boat shoe hybrid," but thanks anyway, Lacoste. [WWD]
• JC Penney's has a line called Twelfth of Eleven that comprises mainly t-shirts, and they won't reveal who designs it. Racked.com thinks it might be Rachel Roy, who designs a line of similar t-shirts (at higher prices) for Macy's. [Racked]
• Wal-Mart's second-quarter results were positive; the world's biggest retailer's profits rose 1.4%, to $3.45 billion. Urban Outfitters' income declined by 14%, to $49 million, but sales rose 1%. [WWD]
• Kohl's second-quarter profit fell just 3%, to $229 million, and sales actually rose slightly, by 2%. [AP]
• Same-store sales at Macy's this quarter fell by 9.5%, but the retailer clung to profitability by cutting costs, and turned in a better-than-expected result of a $7 million profit. [Reuters]

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

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

You've noticed: Lindy, Christy, Claudia, Naomi, Cindy, et. al., are back and booking up all the glossy paper stock available. And there's been a renewed focus in the online and print media on identifying the current crop of models as individuals. Even if sometimes that noble sentiment backfires.

Maybe it's a reaction to the anonymized sameishness of much of the fashion imagery of the early oughts; maybe it's an inevitable response to the tedium of featureless plasticine airbrushing. Whatever the reason, it's hard not to notice the interest: the Met Costume Institute gala this year is themed "The Model As Muse," privileging an unusually model-centric understanding of fashion's workings. There was Sara Ziff's documentary, Picture Me. A little more light-hearted is Modelinia, a recent web start-up dedicated to the idea that people want to read (and Maybelline advertising can be sold around) content about models — everyday models who aren't bold-faced names, models who book the Dior makeup test, not the Dior show — and that those readers care enough to wonder what we do in our off hours and if we have any tips on where to buy good vintage clothes. (Eating, drinking, and reading, and the Hell's Kitchen Salvation Army, as though that's any great secret, thanks for asking.) And then there's ModelFeed, a group-blogging platform out of Australia that boasts a bevvy of (predominantly) Aussie model contributors; who knows how that site plans to monetize itself, but for now, its only too happy to lend its bandwidth to former band geek Sarah Stephens' old school photos, and Kieta van Ewyk's many practical uses for rain boots on the family farm.

If those last two of the above betray, at least in theory, allegiance to the idea that models merit acknowledgment as agents, and not just as subjects — that the young women who are seen and not heard deserve a shot at a voice, and the Internet is the perfect venue to provide it — then they also, unfortunately, have a whiff of artificiality about them. We don't actually know anything more about Stephens for having seen her band picture or for knowing that she gets lonely sometimes in Paris; despite the tagline "Not Made Up", this is some mediated content. (The girls' agencies are in on the ModelFeed action.) Modelinia occasionally veers into night-time Tyra territory. (If cinema truth at 24 frames a second, what is web video? Inanity at broadband speed?) There's something a little corporate, a little astroturf-y, about it all.

Not so models' independent, personal blogs, of which there are too many to list. Quality does vary; some of my tribe are simply out-and-out crazypants, and plenty are very keen on making the gig-to-gig life lived in tiny apartments split five ways sound extraordinarily glamorous indeed. (It is not.) More frequently, especially with bigger-name models, personal blogs wither to little more than vehicles for self-promotion. (It's hard to take too much of Sessilee Lopez's oddly flat blog, which might as well be titled, The Various High Heights Of My Fabulous Career Being Fabulous, So Far.) But for every Shannon Stewart ("The Lord Jesus just allowed me to get an agency in Miami, Paris, Munich (Germany), and I am in the process of getting one in Hambourg [sic] !!! Praise the LORD!! haha") there's an Elyse Sewell, making her mark behind the scenes with wit and verve. Below, my picks of five of the "model blogs" that are actually worth taking a look at.

Elyse Sewell

Photo of Elyse Sewell from her blog

Actually, there's no better place to start when considering model blogs and model bloggers than Sewell. Probably the most successful contestant to ever survive the Tyra Banks modeling school, this New Mexico native and one-time would-be medical student has been regaling a dedicated crowd of LiveJournalers with her travels throughout (mainly) Asia since 2004. Her creative neologisms ("streetmeatsketeer", "'conversatation': a conversation destined for eventual incomprehension by virtue of one or both parties' incomplete grasp of the language in use") sparkle, and her vivid descriptions — a bulimic roommate's mess is "a giant speech bubble of drying emesis" — make her blog a must-read. Sewell does a terrific job of writing in such a way that she acknowledges her audience without seeming to pander or overly adjust her content. It's as close to an unvarnished look at the Asian modeling market as one could hope for.

Cameron Russell

Photo of Cameron Russell from her blog

American Cameron Russell — who recently revealed her agency told her to sleep with a photographer when she was 16 — keeps things lively at her blog, Funny and Interesting. Although she generally only obliquely references her work (for clients including French Vogue, Yves Saint Laurent, and Calvin Klein), Russell, a Columbia undergraduate studying economics who does things like run the Boston marathon in her spare time, writes compellingly about everything from pareildolia to grifter nuns on the Acela. There's also sprinklings of fiction and interviews with people working on unusual projects.

Sophie Ward

Photo of Sophie Ward from her blog

If Russell's blog, while unmistakably animated by her personality, is outwardly focused, Sophie Ward's is at the other end of the scale: obviously personal, and esoteric to the point of self-involvement. Yet, due in no small part to her writing skill, it often holds interest. Ward, the older sister of fellow model Gemma (yes, that Gemma), has a sideline career as a writer and editor for the small imprint Paper Castle Press, and maintains her blog, Big Long Open Gash on its site. Ward, who is, like her better-known sister, represented internationally by the powerhouse IMG agency, has shot with Italian Vogue and walked for Armani Privé couture. Ward posts excerpts of what she's reading — about Buddhism, Dadaism, Pablo Neruda — and, although I can't bear to read when she puts up things like edited love letters, feeling too much the voyeuristic creep, I keep coming back in hope of spying acerbic observations like "I have many friends in the fashion industry (oh god, did I just write that?) and they are all lovely acquaintances when you get them for 3 seconds or less, or on a day when they have been eating." (Ward tweaks her posts like a maniac, and perhaps thought better of that particular gem. But I think she's at her best when she's mean, so thank goodness for Google's cache and my Apple Shift 4.)

Coco Rocha

Photo of Coco Rocha playing soccer from her blog

For something completely different: Coco Rocha. The Canadian supermodel — who last year dyed her hair red at the request of none other than Steven Meisel — maintains a blog at the corner of professional and cheery. It shouldn't be interesting, but Rocha is humble and the for-the-fans-ness of the enterprise somehow doesn't taint it. And occasionally she uploads a really funny video, maybe with her equally awesome friend Behati Prinsloo. I think what people object to, or at least what I object to, in a personal blog that feels impersonal, is the betrayal of the author's promise: it seems ungenerous to offer a glimpse behind the curtains, and then to deliver instead triple-exclamation-pointed Seinfeldian platitudes about shoes or tiny airplane seats. Rocha, although extremely measured in what she shares of herself, manages to remain highly likable.



Daul Kim

Photo of Daul Kim from her blog

Probably the weirdest model blog of all — and, just maybe, my favorite — is Daul Kim's. The Koren supermodel's I Like To Fork Myself is an ongoing notation of her working, social, and intellectual life, all delivered in conversational run-ons that clamber down the page, piling one weird and striking observation on top of the next. It's a style that, intentionally or not, perhaps most perfectly mimics the actual whorl of life as a busy working model. This week, at home in Korea, Kim shot for Numéro for two days straight, with wrap times of 4 a.m. and midnight, had her wisdom teeth pulled on the third day, and then worked again until the afternoon. Then she went to London, worked, and DJ'd a party. Now she is, apparently, en route to Paris and Berlin for more work. That she finds the time to make Absolutely Fabulous jokes and share her impressions of Milan Kundera ("im reading his books now days/and i like him alot./and ppl were like 'REALLY? U LIKE MILAN KUNDERA?'/like as if its EW... is it????/i dont get it/i love his style of writing, very analytical and psychological/very reasonable, erotic, interesting, kind of grotesque, kind of stereotyping.../but very very... true/i really like studying human behavior and how certain people's mind work/it is kind of like.. little things when you see how someone behaves/very slight things/where u can tell/'oh he/she has unresolved issues with his mother'/'oh that person , sexual deviant!'/'oh that person probably goes home and revises their conversation/e.g. im going to say this when i introduce myself at dinner today'") at all is impressive; all the more so that the unfolding record of her frazzled mind is so consistently interesting. Girl is whip-smart and funny.

Elyse Sewell's LiveJournal
Funny And Interesting (Cameron Russell's blog)
Big Long Open Gash (Sophie Ward's blog)
Oh So Coco (Coco Rocha's blog)
I Like To Fork Myself (Daul Kim's blog)

It can be hard, because it's your heritage and you want to be appreciated for it, but it's just modeling, so I don't let it get to me." — Sessilee Lopez. [Latina]

There were 116 labels that held shows at the recently ended New York fashion week; that's 3,697 spots in runway and presentation lineups. Of those, 668 were given to models of color — which, at just over 18%, is 6% better than one year ago. (And certainly better than in the fall of 2007, when WWD reported that one-third of the New York shows used no models of color at all.)

The 668 spots that went to models of color were divided as follows:

Legend
Yellow = Black models
Red = Asian models
Blue = Latina models
Green= Other ethnicities

Last February, the biggest slice of runway spots for models of color — 41% — went to Asian girls, and only 38% of the models of color used were black.

I also noted when opening and closing spots in runway shows were given to models of color, since opening or closing a show is considered such a coup. Designers choose opening and closing models who will set the tone for their vision of the season, and being picked for the position is a big deal within the fashion industry. Because of the economy, there were an unusually high number of static presentations this season since they are cheaper to mount than runway shows, and tableaux vivants of models do not have opening or closing positions. Unfortunately I didn't keep track of exactly how many presentations there were vs. actual shows, so you'll have to take my best estimate that there were around 160 opening and closing spots up for grabs in New York this season. Of those, Latina models opened or closed 5 times, Asian models opened or closed 3 times, and black models opened or closed 10 times.

The fact that black models became not only the largest single ethnic group on the runways — save for whites — and the non-white ethnic group who closed and opened the most shows definitely demonstrates that the diversity message people like Bethann Hardison and Diane von Furstenberg have been propounding for years now is at last getting through.

The news is not, however, all positive. There were 7 shows that had no models of color at all. Those designers were: Altuzarra, Davidelfin, Jenni Kayne, Julian Louie, Koi Suwannagate, Temperley London, Vera Wang Lavender Label.

And there were 19 shows that had some models of color, but no black models. They were: Alexandre Herchcovitz, Behnaz Sarafpour, Costello Tagliapietra, Erin Fetherston, Halston, Marchesa, Max Azria, Milly, Miss Sixty, Monique Lhuillier, Nicole Miller, Philosophy, Reem Acra, Tibi, TSE, United Bamboo, Vena Cava, VPL, Vivienne Tam.

The 116 designer shows I looked at break down in terms of diversity as follows:

Legend:

Blue = Shows with 0 models of color

Red = Shows whose casts included 1-9% models of color (this slice includes the designers BCBG Max Azria, Calvin Klein, Cynthia Rowley, Donna Karan, Erin Fetherston, Hervé Leger by Max Azria, Jill Stuart, Marchesa, Matthew Williamson, Max Azria, Miss Sixty, Monique Lhuillier, Narciso Rodriguez, Phi, Philosophy, Proenza Schouler, Reem Acra, Rodarte, Tuleh, Vivienne Tam)

Yellow = Shows whose casts included 10-19% models of color (this slice includes the designers Alexander Wang, Anna Sui, Behnaz Sarafpour, Carolina Herrera, Derek Lam, DKNY, Doo.Ri, Jonathan Saunders, L'Wren Scott, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Nicole Miller, Rebecca Taylor, Richard Chai, Thakoon, Tommy Hilfiger, Zac Posen)

Green = Shows whose casts included 20-29% models of color (this slice includes the designers 3.1 Philip Lim, Betsey Johnson, Diesel Black Gold, Isaac Mizrahi, Jason Wu, Lacoste, Malandrino, Nanette Lepore, Ohne Titel, Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang)

Purple = Shows whose casts included 30-39% models of color (this slice includes the designers Badgley Mishka, Diane von Furstenberg, Tory Burch, Yigal Azrouël)

Orange = Shows whose casts included 40-49% models of color (this slice includes the designer Oscar de la Renta)

Brown = Shows whose casts included 50-59% models of color (this slice includes the designers Ports 1961, Rachel Roy, Victoria Beckham)

Gray = Shows whose casts included 60% or more models of color (this slice comprises the designers Sophie Theallet and Tracy Reese)

For purposes of comparison, the U.S. Census reported in 2006 that this country is just under 74% white — so an 18% non-white runway population is still well below what might be considered truly representative. But New York fashion week this season was also closer to representative of overall U.S. diversity than it has ever been since this sort of data started being kept.

Here are the raw data for 25 of the top shows:

3.1 Philip Lim
9 runway spots to models of color / 41 total runway spots
21% of runway spots to models of color
Wanessa Milhomem (Latina)
Tao Okamoto (Asian, O)
Emma Pei (Asian)
Hyoni Kang (Asian)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Han Jin (Asian)
Du Juan (Asian)
Gracie Carvalho (Black)
Georgie Badiel (Black)

Alexander Wang
4/40
10%
Liu Wen (Asian)
Lakshmi Menon (Asian)
Tao Okamoto (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

Anna Sui
6/50
12%
Liu Wen (Asian, 2 looks)
Du Juan (Asian, 2 looks)
Jourdan Dunn (Black, 2 looks)

Badgley Mishka
11/33
33%
Flavia de Oliveira (Latina, 2 looks)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina, 2 looks)
Lakshmi Menon (Asian, 3 looks)
Hyoni Kang (Asian, 2 looks)
Sessilee Lopez (Black, 2 looks, C)

Calvin Klein
1/35
3%
Lyndsey Scott (Black)

Carolina Herrera
5/34
14%
Lakshmi Menon (Asian)
Du Juan (Asian)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)
Gracie Carvalho (Black)

Diane von Furstenberg
12/39
31%
Caroline Ribeiro (Latina)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina)
Flavia de Oliveira (Latina)
Du Juan (Asian)
Emma Pei (Asian)
Han Jin (Asian)
Lakshmi Menon (Asian)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Chanel Iman (Black)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)
Gracie Carvalho (Black)
Georgie Badiel (Black)

Donna Karan
3/45
7%
Jourdan Dunn (Black, 2 looks)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)

Isaac Mizrahi
9/40
23%
Tao Okamoto (Asian)
Aminata Niaria (Black, 2 looks)
Arlenis Sosa (Black, 2 looks)
Georgie Badiel (Black, 2 looks)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

Jason Wu
10/35
29%
Lakshmi Menon (Asian, 2 looks)
Liu Wen (Asian, 2 looks)
Du Juan (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black, 2 looks, O)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Chanel Iman (Black)

Malandrino
12/47
26%
Joan Smalls (Latina)
Eugenia Mandzhieva (Asian, 3 looks)
Emma Pei (Asian, 2 looks)
Georgie Badiel (Black)
Aminata Niaria (Black)
Rahma Mohamed (Black)
Sessilee Lopez (Black, 3 looks)

Marc Jacobs
10/60
17%
Daiane Conterato (Latina)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina)
Hye Park (Asian)
Han Jin (Asian)
Du Juan (Asian)
Tao Okamoto (Asian)
Chanel Iman (Black)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Georgie Badiel (Black)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

Michael Kors
7/55
12%
Caroline Ribeiro (Latina)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Han Jin (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)
Chanel Iman (Black)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)

Monique Lhuillier
1/12
8%
Cecilia Mendez (Latina)

Narciso Rodriguez
3/39
8%
Liu Wen (Asian)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)

Oscar de la Renta
25/51
49%
Daiane Conterato (Latina, 3 looks)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina, 2 looks)
Cecilia Mendez (Latina, 2 looks)
Marilia Dutra (Latina, 2 looks)
Joan Smalls (Latina)
Hye Park (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black, 3 looks, O, C)
Ubah Hassan (Black, 3 looks)
Sessilee Lopez (Black, 2 looks)
Georgie Badiel (Black, 2 looks)
Aminata Niaria (Black, 2 looks)
Arlenis Sosa (Black, 2 looks)
Tara Gill (Other — Native American)

Philosophy
2/24
8%
Daiane Conterato (Latina)
Selina Khan (Asian)

Proenza Schouler
3/38
8%
Daiane Conterato (Latina)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

Ralph Lauren
16/55
29%
Cecilia Mendez (Latina, 3 looks, O)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina, 3 looks)
Tao Okamoto (Asian, 2 looks)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Shu Pei Qin (Asian)
Selina Khan (Asian)
Ubah Hassan (Black, 3 looks)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)
Gracie Carvalho (Black)

Rodarte
3/35
9%
Daul Kim (Asian)
Emma Pei (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

Thakoon
5/35
14%
Daiane Conterato (Latina, 2 looks)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina)
Jourdan Dunn (Black, 2 looks, C)

Tommy Hilfiger
5/29
13%
Du Juan (Asian)
Eugenia Mandzhieva (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)

Vera Wang
8/30
27%
Bruna Tenorio (Latina)
Daiane Conterato (Latina)
Wanessa Milhomem (Latina)
Shu Pei Qin (Asian)
Tao Okamoto (Asian)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Gracie Carvalho (Black)
Aminata Niaria (Black)

Yigal Azrouël
11/28
39%
Bruna Tenorio (Latina, 2 looks)
Daiane Conterato (Latina, 2 looks)
Lais Oliveira (Latina, 2 looks)
Tao Okamoto (Asian, 2 looks)
Hye Park (Asian)
Kinée Diouf (Black, 2 looks)

Zac Posen
5/43
12%
Du Juan (Asian)
Alek Wek (Black, 2 looks)
Chanel Iman (Black)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

About These Numbers

There's a certain undeniable level of weirdness to looking through runway slideshows on Style.com (and I did only consider presentations and shows by designers big enough to attract Style.com's attention) and counting the models of color. It's hard to put individuals of mixed backgrounds into neat little categories, especially when ethnic labels still carry so much weight within society. It seems thoroughly antique and not a little distasteful.

So, why count models? The fact remains that the fashion industry plays a huge role in promulgating ideas of beauty within Western culture, and how the people in charge of casting for the runways — plus the magazines, and the billboards, and the TV spots and the banner ads — choose to represent beauty has a huge impact on, well, pretty much everyone. It's also naive to think that casting happens anything but deliberately: models of color are still booked as Models Of Color, so noticing when they work and for whom is, in a way, natural.

That's not to say it was easy, or that I'm standing behind these classifications as the be-all and end-all. Take Sessilee Lopez. She may be a Spanish-speaking Latina magazine covergirl:

But in many ways, her career was made when she was chosen as one of the cover models for Vogue Italia's groundbreaking all-black issue last July:

So, I had to pick, and I chose to count Sessilee as black. Gracie Carvalho, a Brazilian of African heritage, and Chanel Iman, who is famously of mixed African-American and Korean background, are two examples of other models I chose to classify as black who could have potentially ended up in other categories.

Latina models were the hardest to count. Sometimes, dark-eyed and dark-haired Spaniards, like Clara Alonso and Sheila Marquez, jumped out at me in runway lineups — but I didn't count them as Latina, because they're both European. I classified the Puerto Rican model Joan Smalls as Latina, even though I just noticed Dodai counted her as black a year ago. But I also put the brown-eyed, fair-skinned Brazilian Daiane Conterato in the Latina camp, even though sometimes when I saw her on the runway, I would take her for white. Nationality isn't much guide to a person's ethnicity. South American models like Pilar Solchaga, Flo Gennaro, and Isabeli Fontana, who have European heritage, I chose not to count as Latina. Them's the breaks.

Now, my Google history is full of fascinating trips to Wikipedia to learn about the Kalmyk people (Eugenia Mandzhieva, a Russian national I counted as Asian, is Kalmyk) and my room-mate heard me chanting "Natasha Poly Natasa Vojnovic Vlada Roslyakova Roza Gough Georgie Badiel Bruna Tenorio Tao Okamoto Olga Scherer Selina Khan Katie Fogarty Fatima Siad Shanina Shaik Sharan Bala Behati Prinsloo Hye Park Ubah Hassan..." softly in my sleep last night. But the good news is, the runways of New York are becoming a more accurate reflection of who we are as a country. And while fashion still has some distance to go, that's worth cheering.

Granted, to piece that together, I could have just looked at the banner for the New York shows on Style.com. From left, I think I can recognize Iris Strubegger, Sessilee Lopez backstage at Marc Jacobs, an Asian model I think is Han Jin, and then, to the right of the "Fall 2009" text, there's Tao Okamoto, a white model I can't place, and a tiny image of Jourdan Dunn. That's four models of color and two white models, happily sharing the same space, picked as emblems of the season to come. For now, the banner announcing the New York shows is actually more diverse than the shows were. But if this trend continues — and remember, WWD found one-third of shows in September of '07 had no models of color at all — soon that might not be the case.

Related: Has The 'Obama Effect' Come To Runway Castings? [NY Times]
Talk To The Newsroom: Cathy Horyn [NY Times]
New York City Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear [Style.com]

Earlier: Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash

• Agyness Deyn might try hypnotism to quit smoking. She "obviously" wants to stop so she can "settle down and have babies," says a friend of her boyfriend's. Obviously that's any woman's only consideration. [Daily Mail]

• Zac Posen will see your economic negativity and raise you an ounce of creativity. "I started my business in another trying time, right after 9/11. Everyone was saying ‘don't go into business, there's no place, there's no retail world out there.' Nobody wanted to hear about a new brand. But you create your own excitement, and you create the industry, and you create the customer, and that's what is going to get this country out of this difficult time." Yes we can wear beautiful dresses! [The Cut]
• Meanwhile a rag-tag group of former i-bankers has a crazy dream to make ugly shoes from recycled trash. Which is a kind of creativity that, environment aside, I'm not sure we need. [The Street]
• Lynn Yaeger goes to fashion week on the subway. Just. Like. I. Do. [The Cut]
• "Vivica Fox came out in this full sequined gown and she had the longest hair weave of her life. It was a shock, it was inspiring to women." If you've ever wanted to enter the mind of Christian Siriano, one good way of doing so would be to read an entire column by him. Fashion week is literally amazing, guys! [Time]
• Coco Rocha, in between attending fashion shows and walking in them, is also hosting an hour-long documentary about the lives of models during the week of weeks for E! Busy girl. [Elle]
• Kelly Cutrone had a hand in getting Ashley Alexandra Dupré to Yigal Azrouël on Friday. Yigal fired her. [NYDN]
• But Cutrone still wins for sheer audacity of media tricksterhood: she introduced Dupré to an editor at an avant-garde fashion magazine who wants to shoot the ex-callgirl, like, yesterday already. So this is how you get into Dazed and Confused. [The Cut]
• Are runways this season more diverse than last? It's looking like yes. The New York Times talks to some models from Harlem and the Bronx who are glad to see the "No ethnic models" signs retired. (The story also reminded me of how I know three models who all went to the same high school somewhere in deepest Queens. Once I told one of them I was thinking of moving to Queens and she gave me this withering look and said, "By 'Queens', you probably mean, like, Astoria, or Long Island City, don't you?" I did. But at least I know where Queens is, unlike a nameless designer in Eric Wilson's piece.) [NY Times]
• Model Sessilee Lopez eats egg McMuffins and asks to take home clothes from fashion shows. [NYDN]
• Peter Som has a fall collection, even if he didn't have a show. [Fashionista]
• An angel investor in Patrick Cox's struggling handmade shoe house was caught trying to license the Patrick Cox name and trademark for profit. [Telegraph]
• Somewhere, someone built an algorithm to analyze all the acres of type churned out in fashion week coverage, and that someone is here to tell us that this season's buzz words are "chiconomics" and "Michelle Obama." And "recessionista." [UPI]
• Anna Wintour is still talking about that sequined mini-dress The Recession made her not put in Vogue. Only now, in her mind it only cost $25,000, not $50,000. Times are hard. Anybody got any idea whose dress this might be? [WSJ]
• The May cover of Wintour's magazine might actually feature some models on it, in honor of the costume institute gala at the Met, which is model-themed this year. Online speculation points to Raquel Zimmerman, Natasha Poly, Liya Kebede, Isabeli Fontana, and Natalia Vodianova as among the final choices. [Fashionologie]
• British retailers are going to change their sizing for children's clothes because of the obesity epidemic. [Telegraph]
• Which will play right into noted obesity educator Karl "No Fat Chicks" Lagerfeld's talking points. The Kaiser also has reservations about online shopping, although this one time his assistant showed him how to order books and music on Amazon.com and it wasn't so bad, he supposes. [Portfolio]
• Nastia Liukin's line of denim isn't faring well. But her leotards, sold to other gymnasts, should keep her from the poor house. [The Cut]
• Wal-Mart isn't concerned about the souring fortunes of celeb-backed labels; it's launching a new Russell Simmons line. [WWD]
• Zooey Deschanel is also getting in on the action, with a limited-edition pair of $415 Oliver Peoples sunglasses she personally designed. My snark for this project is lessened in direct proportion to the share of the profits that will go towards victims of domestic violence. [LA Times]
• Posh's dress line has slightly lowered its prices from last season. But she's not sure if it's inspired by Mad Max or Mad Men. Either way there's a gray one with a butt ruffle. [Daily Mail]
• H&M's same-store sales beat analysts' expectations by only declining 1% on last January. This is good news. [WSJ]
• Whoa. A man in Osaka threatened 11 Uniqlo employees with a knife, tied them up with packing tape, and stole 2.5 million Yen. He was arrested as he tried to escape. [Breitbart]

• Did Ellen DeGeneres try to trick Mariah Carey into admitting she's pregnant? Mariah was a guest on Ellen's show, and after Ellen asked and got a vague response, she busted out the champagne, saying, "You don't have to answer that. Let's just toast with champagne." Mariah got flustered and said, "I can't believe you did this to me, Ellen," and pretended to sip the bubbly. Knocked up? [Yahoo News via E!]
• Someone's not pregnant: Sarah Jessica Parker in the Sex And The City sequel. Carrie won't be having a kid. "It doesn't seem as if that's going to be a choice she'll make… Michael (Patrick King, director) and I never talk about it. That doesn't mean that won't be part of the story. We just haven't figured it out. It feels a little bit manipulative to toss that into the mix, because she seems so pointed in a different direction." [Daily Express]
• Kanye West and hot hot model Sessilee Lopez: Is it on? [The Sun]
• Madonna has hired a specialist to help her "exorcise the memories" of her ex-husband, Guy Ritchie, from her home. The technique seems to involve throwing shit away. [Mirror]
• Madonna and A-Rod are in Miami together right now, having just landed in a private jet. [TMZ]

• What's this? Even though his ex, Cynthia, claimed Rodriguez would be spending Thanksgiving with Madonna, a source says A-Rod "has been in Florida for days" and "always had every intention of spending the holiday" there with his ex-wife and daughters? [People]
• In other news, Madonna's brother is going to direct a "teen thriller" called Twist. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Britney Spears wants to go back on the road again. She and her conservators have asked the court to allow her to go on a U.S. tour next year: She'd need to make deals with backup singers, roadies, venues, ticket brokers, etc., but legally can't make any of the deals herself. [TMZ]
• Britney will be in New York next week — her album drops Tuesday, so she's hitting Good Morning America, but it's also her 27th birthday. So she'll also have a "very private circus-themed" birthday party that night. Waiting for our invitation! [Page Six]
• The chick from The Rules is offering dating advice to Jennifer Aniston. Says Sherrie Schneider, who co-wrote the infamous dating manual with Ellen Fein: "Never mention Brad's or John Mayer's name in public. Also, don't say anything bad about John, like when you said he was missing a sensitivity chip. Never talk about Angelina or call her 'uncool', even if she was uncool. She does not exist in your world. You are going to be 40 soon. You have no time to waste if you want kids." What's that eyeroll emoticon again? [Sydney Morning Herald]
• Lily Allen and Agyness Deyn got strip searched when they went to Dubai. Lily says: "I knew I didn’t have anything on me so I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t paranoid, just terrified." Agyness agrees: "It was really traumatic. It wasn’t the best experience in the world, but it is their culture and you just have to respect it." [The Sun]
• Ivanka Trump sure is fueling those rumors she might get engaged to boyfriend Jared Kushner — she's guest blogging for Brides.com the first week of December, writing about her style and her jewelry line. [WWD]
• Model Jessica Stam is dating Austin Cregg, the son of '80s pop music icon Huey Lewis. He's facing jail time for marijuana possession and scrawling graffiti. [Page Six]
• An upcoming Law & Order episode will have a young male "supermodel" die in a way that is eerily similar to the way Heath Ledger did. [Page Six]
• Ricki Lake is on Match.com. Go Ricki! [Janet Charlton's Hollywood]
• Oh no, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem might be on the rocks: They'd agreed to take a break from movies for a year, then he took a part in a film. She wanted to adopt a baby from India because she "admires Angelina Jolie." [ONTD]
• Pete Wentz freaked out when his wife, Ashlee was about to give birth: "Right before she went into labor, I was like, 'Oh, my god, I think I'm having a heart attack,'" he says. "My heart started beating real fast. You see your wife is in all this pain. And I don't know what's happening right now. She took care of me and made sure I was okay and then went into labor. That's why she's a saint." [People]
• For the second day in a row, a story about how Reese Witherspoon totally got along with Vince Vaughn while shooting Four Christmases. "Vince is the funniest person I've ever worked with. It was a challenge for me to stay there and keep up with him." The lady doth protest too much? [Yahoo News]
• Natalie Portman doesn't understand celibacy. [Page Six]
• Roger Friedman on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: "Innovative, creative, technologically advanced… [Brad Pitt] is Gollum from Lord of the Rings meeting Robert Redford, with a better wardrobe." [Fox 411]
• Rachael Ray's Christmas will be a silent night: "I'm having voice surgery on Dec. 16, so we're going to celebrate very quietly," she says. [People]
• Are Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal's parents broke? [Page Six]
• Audrina Patridge on Heidi and Spencer's elopement: "I am surprised and not surprised at the same time." Haha, because you know that they're contractually obligated to make headlines for Us magazine? She also says: "I do think it's very romantic that they eloped." [People]
• Uh-oh, director John Waters is being sued for adding "Santa Claus is a Black Man" to his Christmas album without permission. [Daily Express]
• Tragic: You know how Kanye West's mom died after plastic surgery? Her nephew, a registered nurse, was supervising her post-surgery care and may have left her bedside to attend a baby shower — he's being investigated. [People]
• Village Voice reporter Michael Musto hit the Milk premiere party, where Marc Jacobs told him he cried and shook his leg emotionally through the whole movie. "I'm for anything gay," the designer said. "The world would be a better place if everyone was gay." "Look, around," Musto urged. "They are!" Meanwhile, Carson Kressley said: "I'm lactose-intolerant, but I loved Milk." [Village Voice]
• TMZ the TV show: Renewed. [Yahoo News]
• File under news you can't use: Katie "Jordan" Price and Peter Andre sunbathe naked; Peter has a "brown willy." [Perez Hilton]
• Carson Daly has a girlfriend? And she's pregnant? [ONTD]
• U2, Jay-Z, Coldplay and R.E.M. are among the bands contributing music to (RED)WIRE, a new download service aligned with Bono’s (PRODUCT)RED campaign. [Rolling Stone]
• Don't know much about country singer Chuck Wicks, but he is "very much in love" with Dancing With The Stars' Julianne Hough, so that's nice. [People]
• Mel Gibson, what hast thou done? A Superior Court Judge wants you to explain why a screenwriter claims he was screwed out of $10 million from the 2004 megahit The Passion Of The Christ [Yahoo News via E!]
• TV chef Gordon Ramsay has made a "groveling apology" to his wife after admitting to meeting his mistress four times. [Daily Mail]
• "There's always someone telling you not to make a movie. When I did Born on the Fourth of July, they said, 'This is going to ruin your career. What are you doing?' Suicide? I’ve committed it. There were people who didn’t want me to make Top Gun. [My character], Stauffenberg, went from saying, 'Someone should shoot that bastard' to realizing, I’m the only one who can do it. You can’t really know until you're under that kind of pressure. I'm not saying this in some chest-pounding way, but I do feel I'd have that kind of courage." — Tom Cruise, defending his Nazi movie, Valkyrie, in Details. [MSNBC Scoop]
• "We came up with the idea Bronx. We've been throwing [ideas] back and forth a while. It's kind of cool to just leave the narrative what it is. People are stoked or pissed or whatever. And you're like, you know what: I don't think anyone really has the real story." — Pete Wentz on why he named his kid Bronx Mowgli. [People]