Eric Wilson of the New York Times says: Yes. "The allure is still there, as confounding as the inability to resist a pair of $1,600 Prada knee-high boots," he writes. But! Most of us can resist Prada boots. (Most of us do!) Still, Joe Zee, the creative director of Elle who plays a nastier version of himself on the ABC series Ugly Betty agrees: "This is one industry that remains very intriguing and mysterious," he says. "Magazines are about making beauty, and how that happens is fascinating to a whole group of people." People who aren't already sick of all the "OMG fashion is actually hard work" shows and movies which already exist, presumably.

But: Where Elle's Stylista was shot on a set, (the real offices were "too dowdy"), Running In Heels promises to be much more realistic. Writes Wilson:

Running in Heels, which is produced by Left/Right Productions, the team behind This American Life, the television version of Ira Glass's quirky public radio program, strives to be a more authentic representation of what happens at a fashion magazine than its predecessors… Nevertheless, following a similar conceit to its predecessors, the drama unfolds mostly through the actions of the three sacrificial interns, Ashley, Talita and Samantha, who were cast, it would seem, because of their sense of aggression, entitlement or insecurity, respectively.

Will viewers tune in for the Devil Wears Prada moments (one intern is left bleeding and hobbled by running errands in heels)? To see Project Runway's Nina Garcia at her real job? Or to find out what happens to the wide-eyed interns? Well, spoiler alert: None of them got hired. According to WWD, editor in chief Joanna Coles says the show was never meant to be a competition: "In this economy? No. We weren't raffling off a job." Perhaps the last word here should go to Glamour's editor in chief, Cindi Leive, who says: "Even a job in a glamorous industry involves sitting around in a lot of windowless conference rooms talking about budgets."

Messy Reality Behind Stylish Jobs [NY Times]
Tracking 'Running In Heels' [WWD]

According to the New York Observer, the eight episode fashion reality show will feature "special access" to Marie Claire editorial meetings, celebrity photo shoots, runway shows, and the private lives of editor-in-chief Joanna Coles, senior fashion editor Zanna Roberts, and shopping editor Zoe Glassner.

It also follows three lowly interns, Ashley Gosik, Samantha Dezur, and Talita Silva, who are described thusly in a Style network press release:

Ashley is a self-proclaimed over-achiever from Washington D.C. who is determined to prove that she can out perform the other interns. Talita, a “fashionista” from Los Angeles, considers herself very street smart but drops the ball on her first assignment. And Samantha is the small-town girl from Wisconsin, who has never set foot in NYC and is new to the fashion world, but wants real-world experience working for a major media outlet.

The first episode will focus on the interns moving into their New York apartment together and starting their first day of work as the rest of the staff plans a welcome party for newly-hired fashion director Nina Garcia.

As you'll recall, Nina Garcia was hired by Marie Claire last spring after being let go from Elle, at around the same time that Project Runway was being sold to Lifetime. Both Lifetime and Marie Claire are owned by Hearst, prompting rumors that Marie Claire would take over Elle's role on the show for season six, and Garcia would be able to continue "auf"ing designers with Heidi Klum and Michael Kors.

Of course, we have yet to see season six of Project Runway because the show is still at the center of a complex legal battle, but that hasn't stopped Marie Claire from following in Elle's footsteps. Running in Heels will premiere less than six months after Elle's reality show Stylista on the CW network. Also, Marie Claire announced this week that on January 15 it will be unveiling a new look for its website in the third redesign since 2007. According to Folio, traffic to MarieClaire.com already increased more than eight-fold since the last revamp. The new site is designed to be easier to navigate and features clips of Running In Heels in hopes of increasing the number of visitors (and advertisers) even more.

Marie Claire has good reason to follow Elle's example. Elle's participation in Project Runway increased the mag's newsstand sales and ad pages, going from the number 6 to the number 2 fashion magazine, after Vogue. Especially in light of yesterday's report in Women's Wear Daily that Marie Claire, along with several other major magazines, had double-digit declines in single copy sales for the first half of 2008, it makes sense for the magazine to follow the formula of one of the few fashion magazines that successfully translated its brand into other media.

Running in Heels Premiere To Include Over-Styled Editors, Three Frightened Interns, And A Newly Arrived Nina Garcia [The New York Observer]
Marie Claire To Roll Out Another Web Redesign [Folio]
Memo Pad [WWD]

Corrie Loftin, AKA "Bikini Cory." She's known as "Bikini Cory" because she earned it.


John Edwards. Fake, phony, fraud. Whose wife had cancer.


Dimitri the Lover, Canada's Greatest Lover and Seducer. We wouldn't have thought it possible, but this ludicrous personage makes Mystery look like a catch.


Speidi: took aggressive mediocrity, flesh-colored beards and general asshattery to breath-stealing new heights.


Bernie Madoff. Made some questionable ethical decisions, like bilking charities, the world for decades, billions.


Megan Johnson. This Stylista took us all back to high school, an automatic fail.


Josef Fritzl. Father of the year - and not in the good way.

Vanity Fair’s Hall of Infamy, 2008 [Vanity Fair]

Stylista underdog, and the focus of much of Megan's mean girl-ness, Kate Gallagher, also emailed us, upset about Megan's allegation that Kate slung homophobic epithets behind the scenes.

Look, I've never contacted a press source before, but this time I just couldn't help myself. Megan is preaching to the United States that she's some sweet innocent girl and this whole show was a big fraud, and I can't stomach it for one more second.

She agreed to an interview about this mess.

So what are the root of these "homophobe" allegations?
Right after my elimination I wrote another blog entry on ELLE.com. I was extremely fragile at that time, and emotionally very unstable. The behavior on that show was just an awful fashion version of Lord of the Flies. On the first episode where I wore a corset dress [and] I was nicknamed "BOOBS," but that never really ended. The sexual harassment and bullying continued for weeks. The nice people in the loft were eliminated so early on, that by the time William left I just broke down and cried everyday. I knew what I was left with. I called Dyshaun a gay slur at the end of our fight [in which he called her "Chlamydia"]. I was yelling and hysterically crying saying that if he didn't leave then I was going to. It was edited out. It should have been. After weeks of filming around, and with, a lot of gay men, I'm pretty certain the producers were confident that I wasn't a homophobe, but rather I was just being pushed too damn far. Megan and Johanna reported that I had been taunting him because he was gay and that was the reason for the comments he made to me. It takes the viewer into another area that is completely out of context. I do not advocate the use of the word, in any situation, but that group incited the behavior which makes my comment entirely void of falling under any category of hate speech.

How has it affected you?
It was painful to deal with the media backlash of her all caps letter. I called [Stylista contestant] William and read it and he said in his accent, "It's like call up those people or whateva and simply tell them that's not true, can you do that? I mean really." It made me smile but it didn't change what damage was already done. I live in San Francisco and I grew up in Palm Springs. I've been a gay rights activist since college. So to take a hit like that on a community I love so much was hard. You don't want to ever offend anyone or make them believe that you have any hate inside of you toward a sexual orientation.

Was there a period, after taping ended, that you and Megan ever made peace? Have you spoken since then, aside from communication on the internet?
Yes, for about a minute at the very beginning of the season we decided to be civil. Then I watched the show. I heard all of her interview answers. I had the most airtime and articles and comments throughout the show so that seemed to upset [her].

What do you make of the assertions that editing manipulated situations, storylines, and people's personalities?
Victims of editing! If they were victims of editing and their behavior was inaccurate then I was a participant in one of the biggest frauds of all time, because my [elimination] was a direct result of my emotional response to their acting. Should I be getting SAG rates for being hustled so badly or is someone just lying? I would feel a lot better if they said, "Yeah, we did act exactly like that on the show, but in real life we are nice." Then it would make more sense.

How did you feel about the way that you, personally, were edited?
I was edited exactly the way I behaved. We all were. I was a talented wreck. I think the only hard thing was the "BIMBO" reference. I'm a really smart girl. Being around people that didn't smile ever was really scary for me. I was experiencing a serious culture shock. I'm also not as wealthy as some of the other kids, so instead of just being considered a normal 22-year-old with college loans to payoff, I was branded the girl with no style. I mean you put me next to someone in a $900 dress what do you expect?

Do you think that your elimination speech affected the outcome of the competition, since your recommendations were pretty much taken?
Absolutely. Johanna was best of the three. She has the academic credentials and her age and work ethic made for a good choice. However, I don't think it's fair that anyone without a BA was even let in the final three. I don't care if you know every damn designer that ever lived walked or breathed, too many people, myself included worked too hard for their degrees to not take a little offense to that.

Are you done with trying to break into the fashion industry now?
I don't think the fashion industry needs a Katie. Besides, if that is what the fashion industry is about, then one word: YUCK.

Read more about Kate on her blog, StylistaKate.

So we took her up on that!

It was difficult finding info on 22-year-old Megan Johnson without also adding Stylista to the search. However, after finding out the name of the boutique she once owned, Addict, we did find a little piece about her store from Teen Vogue. As we know from watching the show — and her interview with Elle editor in chief Robbie Myers — Megan went to Fordham for one year before she dropped out to open the high-end clothing store Addict in the fancy part of the East Village with her business partner Ashley Thompson. She then supposedly sold the store because she "was bored." Ashley now owns another store in the same location called Owl Lab.

Megan was also all up in the comments of Elle's blog, talking smack about Stylista, and about her rival Kate, who she alleges is a homophobe.

The best find, perhaps, is Megan's own blog that she posts on several times a day. She talks about how she had a tumor on her neck during the taping of the show, which has since been surgically removed. She also posts frequently about fashion, but a good deal of the blog seems to be a window into how affected she was by being a reality TV subject, how she felt manipulated by editing, and how she's let negative internet comments get to her. As unlikeable as she appears, we hope that, for her sake, she'll soon realize that internet message boards — much like the fashion industry — is rife with people who channel their insecurities by talking out of their asses.

With only four contestants left in the competition — all of them boring — this was the highlight of the show. The way Zac spoke about the team's magazine layouts ("This magical title!") was apropos for the industry and its denizens, who feel the need to "explain" the meaning and importance of fashion in a way that actually leaves us even more confused than when we were just looking at pictures of impractical garments. Anyway, in her introduction, Anne said that Zac was discovered by a magazine editor, and then added, "Which would be me." Now, she may have been joking, or it may have been creative editing, but Zac was a very well-connected young man in Manhattan when he got his start — which came from the help of former Interview EIC Ingrid Sischy.

Full disclosure: I'm a total hat-sporter. And, um, some of my best friends are milliners. Tams, cloches, cocktail hats, even the occasional oversized fedora. But then, I am a well-known ass. And even when I'm wearing an especially good one, I know it's never something one can take for granted - you're always aware that you're wearing a little bit of a costume, and while this has its charms, it's by no means always desirable. One simply cannot pretend a be-plumed tilter provides much warmth; and it's not as if it's a societal necessity. If we stick to the maxim that the further something strays from its intended purpose, the closer it approaches decadence, then hats are the very definition of luxury.

Within this, of course, there are different school of hat-wearers. As Jessica put it, "If I see a church lady wearing a bold hat, I'm like yeah, that's not affected; but when I see a hipster wearing a bowler it pains my soul." No one objects to someone wearing a hat as a holdover from another time or as a cultural mandate; the issue is more when, as in all such things, people take a little bit of this for their own ends, strip it of significance, and look silly. Take Kenley's retro chapeaux on the Project runway : they may have worked for her, but they were anything but effortless. Isabella Blow didn't sport her Philip Treacys to blend in. Says a milliner in the Times, “You almost have to have a relationship with it, but not in a precious way. You have to wear it with a certain carelessness." Well, easier said than done.

The piece raves about "theatrical Alpine hats" and a "rugged Western hat" that "assumes a kind of elegance with an antiqued ribbon wrapped around the crown" and, I'm sorry, but however cool these might be as works of art, most people wearing them are obviously going to look goofy. The thing about these optimistic trends is that it seems like they're founded in a subconscious wish for the strictures of a time when sartorial rules prevailed. As such, they're always going to be essentially inauthentic. Wear them, sure, but know it's out of a deliberate sense of fantasy — and don't expect the trend to take off any time soon. That said, there's something cool about the idea of a new presidency bringing the hat back after JFK killed it — but that, again, is my being nostalgic.

The Way You Wear Your Hat [New York Times]

• Britney Spears's comeback includes a stop at NBC’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 3. Will she perform? Will she push the button and light the tree? Will she ice skate? So many questions. [MSNBC]
• Wait a minute: In this report, Britney says her new life sucks! "There’s no excitement, there’s no passion. I have really good days, and then I have bad days. Even when you go to jail you know there’s the time when you’re gonna get out. But in this situation, it’s never ending. It’s just like Groundhog Day every day. […] I think it’s too in control. If I wasn’t under the restraints I’m under, I’d feel so liberated. When I tell them the way I feel, it’s like they hear but they’re really not listening." B-but- you're doing so well! [The Sun]
• Brit's new CD leaked all over the internet yesterday, probably deliberately. Fans dig it. [The Sun]
• Barack Obama's barber in Chicago says the President-Elect doesn't mind having gray hair. "It's not like he has a head full of gray hair," says Zariff, who only goes by one name. "It's just a few gray hairs, so it's nothing to get excited about." Oh! And Zariff might visit DC! "I said, 'I'm going with you' [if you win]," Zariff told Obama. His reply? "Absolutely. I'm not changing barbers, man." [Us]
• Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer had a romantic candlelight dinner. It's so on. [People]

• Have you seen Rihanna's new video, the one with Justin Timberlake? She slithers on the hood of a car, he's dripping wet in a wife beater. They embrace. It's HOT. [Concrete Loop]
• Jessica Simpson says her sister Ashlee may induce labor. What is she doing?
  "Different foot massages and stuff," Jessica told Ellen DeGeneres on her show (which airs Wednesday). "I don't know. I think she's really just jumping around trying everything right now." [People]
• Angelina Jolie was on BBC radio last night, talking about Changeling. There's video, so if you want to see her ignoring the camera, being incredibly reserved and looking down and being quiet, by all means, watch. [Perez Hilton]
• Angelina got super emotional while talking about her mom at a press conference in London. Tears! [Perez Hilton]
• When asked if the public could expect her to add to her enormous family with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie replied: "Sure you can." [Mirror]
• By the by, Angelina's dad Jon Voight says he has one wish before he dies and it's "to work with my son [James Haven] and Angie again, in a movie. The three of us together. That would be nice." [MSNBC]
• Get psyched: Miley Cyrus will perform on the finale of Dancing With The Stars, just two days after her 16th birthday. Her song is called "Fly On The Wall," maybe you want to get the lyrics and sing along? [People, UPI]
• Jennifer Lopez loves motherhood and wants more babies. Cashmere onesies for everyone! [MSNBC]
• Tim Robbins has written an open letter to Gregory C. Soumas of the New York City Board of Elections. It begins: "I would like to publicly apologize for being such a dim-witted dilettante on Election Day. I was under the naïve assumption that I could vote where I voted in the last two elections." And it ends: "I was thinking of returning that favor by publishing your home address in this letter but then I thought that maybe one of the thousands of New Yorkers that were taken off the voter rolls in the last two months might not understand what a patriotic upstanding man you are and might show up at your doorstep with the misguided assumption that you are a petty vindictive corrupt scumbag." [Huffington Post]
• Christian Siriano: Engaged! He also might appear on Gossip Girl and says his next collection is "a little bit inspired by Egypt." Oh, and he saw the Victoria's Secret fashion show and declares: "Tranny Klum is fabulous." That's Heidi to you and me. [E!]
• William from Stylista has written a goodbye letter, in which he says: "I want Ashlie to win! Hands down! Team Ashlie all the way! She is, quite possibly, the only sane person (minus the hysterics) left on the show. Now, that's not to say that I don't like a little crazy, but honestly, I could sing Ashlie's praises all day." [Elle]
• Authorities found "multiple prescription bottles" by the body of Paula Goodspeed after she allegedly overdosed near Paula Abdul's house last week. [TMZ]
• An extra in a courtroom scene on NBC's Medium was so disruptive, he was kicked out of the jury box. Turns out he was Sasha Baron Cohen, dressed as Bruno. Guess Patricia Aquette didn't see that one coming. [EW]
• Lipstick Jungle: Not canceled. Yet. [NY Mag, NY Times]
• Jennifer Love Hewitt's trailer on the set of Ghost Whisperer was burgled. [TMZ]
• Michael Jackson will not go to London, despite being sued by former pal Prince Abdullah of Bahrain. The cash was an advance, in exchange for two albums, a musical, and an autobiography. None of which Jackson has delivered. The trial started yesterday and continues today, without Jackson's presence; his lawyer says he is to ill to travel. [Fox 411]
• Courtney Love went on some kind of blogathon on Sunday, posting 60 times. Now she writes: "I didnt know that style.com would put all those links together, i dont ingest alchohol and to even make the merest suggestion of a Cr__k P–e is insane and mean.and a lie, wichyou know perfectly well." She also says: "i am not suicidal, occasionally very occasioanly like all of us i get depressed, and that was over a year ago and i had a mini little depression attack well big one, and the Lanvin show made me happier, i dont know quite why it happened but i find that mediciation is not the answer to this, working out and doing daimoku ( chanting) is as is yoga and eating correctly and i want somemore Kombucha tea i think that stuff is miraculous for glow and health. those things work far better than this chemical culture of numbing our rage and numbing our pains and demons." There's a [sic] on all of that, obvs. [Perez Hilton]
• Simon Cowell and Terri Seymour wer on Extra. They were asked why they broke up. Simon said: "Because Terri decided to dump me. You sent me a text." Terri replied: "I didn't dump you. It was just time. We had a great six years, and we're the best of friends." Simon denied that Terri got a £5 million "golden goodbye." He laughed: "If anything I should be getting the money." [Daily Mail]
• Russell Brand's girlfriend, Sydney Jo Jackson, is cute and curly-haired, but this paper says she is "equally barmy in the barnet department." [The Sun]
• Lenny Kravitz is having trouble selling is sexy penthouse, a "moody orgy palace" priced at $18 million. It's been on the market for six years; dreadlocked rockstar not included. [NY Mag via Curbed]
• What's in Julianne Moore's makeup bag? Kiehl's Original Musk, Tarte Cheek Stain in Blushing Bride, Olay Complete Defense Daily UV Moisturizer. And more. [Marie Claire]
• Jessica Lange has a book of photography and it is gorgeous. Click to see some black and white shots. [NY Mag]
• Brandon Walters, a 6 year old aboriginal boy who stars with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in Australia, is suddenly famous, but Nicole says: "I feel very protective of him. If the film does really well he is going to need a lot of protection." His mom says: "If it does become a problem for him we'll just go out bush, get away from it all. Now he's at school, he's happy and never stops talking. The film made him confident. He's no longer shy." [Reuters]
• Seth Rogan wants to make a porno-based comedy for Showtime. It would be a series about three twentysomethings who learn about life and love while running a pornography shop, and it's in development. [Variety]
• Rashida Jones: Back on NBC! She'll star in Amy Poehler's new show. [Page Six]
• Beef between Damon Dash and Jay-Z: Kanye West is involved, as are diamond chains. [Rush & Molloy]
• Speaking of Kanye, 50 Cent says Mr. West's new album is "interesting" and that the public "won't forgive him for it" and that it's actually "T-Pain's album." Ouch. [The.Life Files]
• Celine Dion has been forced to postpone several tour dates due to a respiratory virus. Her people say: "Her physician has instructed her to refrain from singing in order to completely recover." [Perez Hilton]
• Heather Locklear: Formally charged with DUI after that incident when she was arrested in September. She's been charged with one count of driving under the influence of prescription drugs. [Extra, TMZ]
• Actress Heather Matarazzo was supposed to marry girlfriend Caroline Murphy in California, but now that Prop 8 has passed, she jokes, "We're breaking up. I'm going to get together with [MSNBC's] Keith Olbermann. We'll have babies, lots of babies!" [Rush & Molloy]
• Spotted: Natalie Imbruglia snogging Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas. [Mirror]
• Meg Ryan has won a German lifetime achievement award for best international actress and will pick up the statuette at a gala ceremony November 27. They're calling her the "queen of romantic comedy" and seem to think it is still 1989. [Yahoo News]
• Stan Lee and Olivia de Havilland both received the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal at the White House yesterday. [Washington Post]
• The Daily Mail apologizes for its "inaccurate" article about David Duchovny and his tennis coach. [People]
• "So how did Steve Martin and Maureen McCormick end up on a date? Florence Henderson knew Chevy Chase, who knew Steve Martin, who wanted Maureen's phone number. They had dinner and made out and the kissing was good, but Maureen was out of it. It would be their only date." [Huffington Post]
• This story, called "Producers' fury at George Takei for boldly going where he shouldn't have" is about how Takei urinated in the camp in the middle of the night on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. Producers are pissed! [Daily Mail]
• So far, George Takei is the favorite to win the show! [Mirror]
• Katie "Jordan" Price and husband Peter Andre are not on the rocks; here is a picture of her wearing a giant "P" necklace to prove it. [The Sun]
• Mindy McCready, who was released from jail two weeks ago, says she isn't proud of an affair she had with baseball great Roger Clemens. She met Clemens when she was 16 but didn't have sex with him until several years later. "Roger Clemens is one of the most wonderful men I've ever known. He treated me like a princess." But! She says she now has "nothing but remorse and nothing but sympathy for what [his wife Debbie] had to go through with this situation, and she has my utmost apology." [UPI]
• Coming to Broadway: Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the musical! [UPI]
• Mary Delgado , a former NFL cheerleader and winner of The Bachelor in 2004, is out of jail after being arrested in a southwest border-town bar for unruly behavior. Drama! [AP]
• Cheech and Chong: Gonna get roasted. Not baked, roasted! [UPI]
• A poem handwritten by Sir Paul McCartney for his friend Spike Milligan is to be sold at auction next week. It's called "The Poet Of Dumbswoman Lane." [Telegraph]
• Five year old Beatrice McCartney is on her dad's new track, a Sir Paul ditty called "Two Magpies." [Mirror]
• Bogota, Colombia hearts Duran Duran. [Guardian]
• "'Climb every Mountain' is a beautiful statement of philosophy. Critics may think The Sound of Music is saccharine, but I think it's profound." — Jon Voight. [MSNBC]
• "I've gotten more stylish since I've been with my husband. I was always making fun of him because he has so many leather coats, jackets and shoes. But he looks hot. I want to look good for him. So I kind of stepped it up a bit." — Heidi Klum in In Style. [People]
• "There's no smoking. The lights never go out, 24/7. You can't cover anything. You can't even put your head under a blanket. All the cells have cameras in them. I was told, you know, 'You'll have your own cell.' But I didn't for the first two or three weeks; I had a cell mate. He got out – but not for long. He came back in pretty quick." — Keifer Sutherland on his stint in jail, in Men's Vogue. [People]
• "Pete and I laugh about it. We can’t win. If we’re smiling for the cameras they say we’re setting it up to gloss over the cracks. If we’re not together they think we’ve split up." — Katie "Jordan" Price on the breakup rumors about her and husband Peter Andre. [Daily Mail]
• "Yes, I have solar panels and all that sort of stuff. However, the more I learn about the subject matter, I also realise that people find it patronizing. They feel like they're being told what to do when somebody like me talks about the fact I have solar panels. Not everybody can get solar panels and not everyone can drive a hybrid car. It's not about blame or telling people how to live, it's just about saying, 'Let's all be aware of these issues.'" — Leonardo DiCaprio. [Daily Express]
• "In terms of my future as an actor and stuff, I don't know. I am in a place in my life where... I've had some great opportunities and I may just choose to have some more children. I've no idea what is in my future but I am very at peace with where I want to be. There are many things I want to do besides act." — Nicole Kidman. [Reuters]
• "Sometimes I lie in bed and I'm like, 'Oh my god, there's Seal lying next to me. What's he doing there?' I get a smile on my face immediately. Our honeymoon period is definitely not over." — Heidi Klum in In Style. [People]
• "We feed the chickens and the pigs — I have two pigs, and boy are they really pigs. They just get down in that mud and roll around. I like getting down in there and working in the garden. Oh, I want someone to build me a good chicken coop… like a man who can just get down there and build it…ooh." — Reese Witherspoon, on taking her kids to her farm outside of L.A. [USA Today]

At The Stylista Premiere, Anne Slowey Charms; Joe Zee: 'We Weren't Mean To Be Mean' [Observer]

Slate:

The show feels approachably lo-fi (wardrobe by H&M, cinematography by no one interested in the beguiling gold of them thar Hills), and the references to aesthetics are just arch enough to convey that it's in the know as a work of trash about mechanical reproduction. The contestants, being somewhat more literate than your usual reality-TV cretins, say dumb things in an interesting way. (Poor, poor, unfortunate Arnaldo: "I think in the box, out of the box, and sometimes take the box and turn it into a triangle.") Stylista is not a guilty pleasure; the guilt is the pleasure, and never more so than when Kate, freshly savaged by Megan, whimpers with terror at her newfound capacity for contempt: "I've learned what it feels like to hate other people." Chin up, honey. You are only on the precipice of adulthood. With practice, hating people is as fun and easy as an afternoon of backgammon or an hour of bad TV.

Variety:

Given that the show comes from the "Top Model" team, the slick accessories and production style shouldn't be completely surprising; still, this genre is so overcrowded right now (Bravo's "Runway" knockoffs alone are practically stumbling over each other) that the prospects seem inherently limited.

Throw a bouquet, then, strictly to the casting folks for the assortment of types they've assembled. Beyond that, "Stylista" qualifies as fierce, to borrow producer Tyra Banks' phraseology, only in its steadfast commitment to copying the same old models.

Los Angeles Times:

At times Slowey comes off like a Mean Girl writ large, but some of this at least appears to be put on — a put-on. (She barely resembles the Slowey who appears on the Elle website, leading a video tour of her own closet.) At other times, with Creative Director Joe Zee by her side, judging the contestants' self-makeovers or their mock magazine pages, she can seem like a reasonable person.

The New York Times:

Are there any bosses anywhere as demanding as Ms. Slowey pretends to be? Not really, and maybe on some level we miss them. Part of the appeal of a show like “Stylista” is that it resurrects a long-vanished way of office life, one filled with rules and regulations, distinct hierarchies and dress codes and nothing as fuzzy as flex time. As Ms. Slowey succinctly explains to the contestants at the outset: “To be in my world you either get it or you don’t.” No one has to spend a lot of time figuring out a manager like this.

Washington Post:

Resemblances to the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" are obvious; the job that the competitors are vying for is essentially the position that Anne Hathaway had in the movie, and "Stylista" has a very bossy boss in Anne Slowey, Elle magazine's fashion news director. She's not the fire-breathing shrew played so merrily by Meryl Streep, but she's obviously a toughie. She reviews the appearances of the contestants soon after they arrive, telling one of them: "Your cleavage is busting out. It's in my face."

The wisdom imparted by Slowey and by Joe Zee, Elle's creative director, hardly sounds like hot insider poop, however: "First impressions are important" is among the priceless gems. "If you're going to live in my world, you either get it or you don't," lectures Slowey before reviewing the contestants' first assignment: buying her a takeout breakfast from a local deli.

Newsday:

Imagine Slowey's horror to think that someone with my style sense is judging her show. Why, if I were to accidentally drift into her rarefied orbit, she'd faint dead away - then call the fashion police, who'd faint dead away, too. But I do know something about TV shows, and this one works best when she is on camera (which is not nearly enough) and the program focuses on clothing - that great, exasperating, endlessly complicated art form known as "fashion." Really, does anyone care that Anne only eats almonds that have been soaked overnight (amusing, but ...) or how to lay out a page? Of course not. Fashion queens like Slowey promise the keys to the kingdom; landing a gofer gig at Elle would hardly seem to be that.

'Stylista' premieres tonight on CW at 9 p.m.

• In case Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle blog, Goop, wasn't quite irritating enough, now she brings us a breakdown of how to get her look. Apparently Roger Vivier bangles help. And don't think that one Uniqlo skirt fools anyone, Gwynnie; we've been wise to those tricks since Lucky hit newsstands! [Racked]
• Fashionologie claims it's "always a treat" to hear Kate Moss talk. We respectfully disagree. Draw yout own conclusions from this video of her "designing." [Fashionologie]
• Here are La Moss's "10 Style Rules": one of them's "Make It Look Effortless." Another is, "When In Doubt, Buy Diamonds." Oh, okay! Maybe this is Gwyneth's secret? [The Guardian]
• Karl Lagerfeld is now a proper noun in Le Petit Larousse Illustré. He also designed the cover. [WWD]

• Anya Hindmarch for Target sells out in 2 minutes! [VogueUK]
• PR's Jerrell comes off as a class act. "Who wants drama? That's not what we're there for. This isn't I Love New York; we're not sitting in a hot tub getting drunk. We're here to show the world what we do." [EW]
• Elle teams with Stardoll to make a tween/teen virtual mag. Kids can dress avatars in "high end virtual couture (such as apparel from DKNY). Users can also play virtual dress up with celebrity avatars such as Paris Hilton or Katie Holmes." I'm still holding out for a virtual thrift store! [Media Week]
• Recessions make strange bedfellows: Ann Taylor teams up with Proctor and Gamble to promote cleaning products that cut down on dry-cleaning. [NY Times]
• Zara succeeds by making fashion faster — and paying workers better. [Business Week]
• Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor launches a fashion web site. [UPI]
• We can't really improve upon Mollygood's description of Stylista, the new Devil Wears Prada reality ripoff: "Incompetent people who have no business being involved in the fashion industry? Check. Frightening dictator (fashion news director Anne Slowey)? Check. Inane tasks that have seemingly nothing to do with fashion? Check. The difference: We wanted Anne Hathaway to succeed in the movie; in the reality TV version, we kind of hope everyone fails miserably." [Mollygood]
• Mary McFadden: "When people look back at this period in our civilization, they'll say: This was the beginning of functional clothes ... I'm sorry, in a way people's lifestyles have become very utilitarian." Well, that explains sparkly leggings! [BlackBook]
• Not shockingly, discounters keeping their heads above retailers'. Does anyone else think those TJ Maxx ads where they explain how they keep their prices so low are completely genius? [NY Times]
• And, yes, LVMH is finally feeling the pinch. [WSJ]
• Louis Vuitton keeping them afloat. [WWD]
• That said, Armani is still really confident about opening shop in India. [Hindustan Times]
• Liz Hurley's Versace safety-pin dress has been named "The Greatest Red Carpet Gown of All Time." "Greatest" is apparently open to interpretation. [Mirror]
• Pixie Geldof takes on human trafficking. Via a tee shirt, obvs! [ElleUK]
• Ethical knitwear label Izzy Lane has won the RSPCA Good Business Award for its sheep-friendly practices. [Guardian]
• Leona Lewis snubs Harrods because of their continuing sales of fur. [Peta2]
• Someone's plastering Rachel Zoe's face all over New York. [Fashionista]
• Taylor Momsen's first modeling shots! Based on our newfound Top Model expertise, we'd say Little J is still looking for her signature pose. [Fabsugar]
• Balenciaga launches new frangrance, hopes to "renew Balenciaga's image as a serious fragrance contender." [ElleUK]

If this trailer indicative of the entirety of Stylista, than the show's message is clear: in order to work behind the scenes of the fashion industry, you need to fit the limited vision of its glossy exterior.

The saddest part is that some of the most revered arbiters of fashion, the late, great Isabella Blow and the still fantastic Suzy Menkes are far from the fashion world "ideal," and obviously, the runway world would be much bleaker without their contributions. Looks like poor Danielle will be put on the Anne Slowey diet or given her marching papers.

Sneak Peek: Stylista Looks Sinfully Good [E! Online]
The Fashion Week Food Diary: Anne Slowey [NY Mag]

Earlier: The Last Days Of Mademoiselle: Cocaine, Cigarettes & Calorie Counts