• Olivier Theyskens is holding true to the fundamentals. “When the economy changes, it’s not like you want to start eating bad-tasting chocolate,” he said, after showing his pre-fall collection for Nina Ricci. [WWD]

• Serial rapist Anand Jon, the former celebrity designer, is scheduled to be sentenced today. The penalty for his 16 counts of sexual abuse against models, including 7 counts of forcible rape of women aged 14-21 is a mandatory life sentence, with earliest parole eligibility in 2075. Regardless, his mother was apparently overheard approaching wealthy guests at a hotel in Chennai, India, asking for money for an appeal. Jon's website greeting page opens with a quote from Gandhi: "Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is still the truth." [NY Post]
• Nixonite dirty trickster Roger Stone — subject of an excellent Jeffrey Toobin profile last year — apparently thinks himself a fashion maven. Taking up the mantle of the deceased Mr. Blackwell, Stone inaugurated a new annual feature on his website, a worst- and best-dressed list. Though occasionally wacky ("Lobbyists are the only elegant men left in America"), his advice isn't all off the mark: Obama and Carla Bruni tops the men's and women's lists, respectively, and he says Tom Wolfe "looks like he's a cross-dressing character in a lesser Dickens novel." [The Stone Zone]
• Designer Vivienne Tam held a fashion show in Beijing to raise money to save the panda habitat destroyed in last year's Sichuan earthquake. The five one-off outfits she auctioned featured panda motifs. Adorable. [Reuters]
• As part of his prize for winning the 2008 CDFA/Vogue Fashion Fund award, Alexander Wang gets one year of professional mentoring from none other than Diane von Furstenberg. Runners-up Vena Cava and Albertus Swanepoel are to be mentored by Patrick Robinson and Andrew Rosen, and Andy and Kate Spade, respectively. [WWD]
• Ellen Tracy has inked a licensing deal for intimate apparel. Expect to see "sleepwear, at-homewear, robes, foundations, shapewear and lingerie" everywhere Ellen Tracy is sold as soon as this fall. [WWD]
• WWD has a good round-up of the status of designers' venue preparations for New York Fashion Week, just one month away. IMG is not introducing a fourth, off-site presentation venue this season, as had been floated, meaning rental at the Bryant Park Tents proper will cost $28,000-$48,000. Many designers are opting for cheaper locales. Calvin Klein is moving its show to the ground floor of the company headquarters, Vera Wang is holding hers in her new SoHo store, smaller labels are banding together for shared shows, and others, like Thakoon and Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti, are showing in Chelsea gallery spaces. Meanwhile, Tommy Hilfiger is back to the tents after a multi-season absence. Marc Jacobs, as usual, intends to use the Lexington Avenue Armory. [WWD]
• Sass & Bide are down for the count entirely. Although they intended to return to fashion week this season, co-founder Sarah Jane Clark's third pregnancy means the Australian duo will stay home. What a happy event to spur such a sad occurrence. [Fashionista]
• High dudgeon at a retail bigwig confab: J. Crew's chief executive Mickey Drexler reportedly took Neiman Marcus' chief executive Burt Tansky to task over luxury markups. Drexler told Tansky the days of the $800 high heel are over. “Wall Street is over,” he continued, and “more wealth has been created on non-productive [financial] transactions” than ever before. When the market comes back, Drexler said, consumers will not be tricked into paying department store margins again. “There’s a whole reset button that has been pushed," he said. Tansky responded by saying “It’s premature to start denigrating what the affluent customer will want.” This fight sounds like it was awesome and very, very awkward. [WSJ]
• The man behind the "Save Anna" t-shirt has a new thing for you to wear: A Rachel Zoe "bananas" shirt with a Warhol-esque screenprint of the stylist-approved fruit and the phrase "I die. Bananas." underneath. Eating disorder, tanning club card, and giant hippie dress optional. [The Cut]
• NY Mag has a sweet video of Marc Jacobs in bed talking about the Stephen Sprouse graffiti collection, which was recently relaunched. "I have a lot of Stephen's clothes and the thing is every time I look at them, they never feel old-fashioned to me, they never look out-of-date. I don't originate or create anything, I'm just here putting things together or re-putting things together, and I like it that way," says Jacobs. [The Cut]
• Wait, what? Stephen Alan for Uniqlo? Please let this not be like that time Amy Winehouse said she was doing a clothing line. [The Cut]
• Dolce & Gabbana's new campaign, shot by Steven Klein, is being proudly trumpeted as a potential source of controversy. Inspired by the Visconti film The Leopard, about a Sicilian aristocratic family at the time of Italian unification, the ads will feature images of male models praying. "For sure they will say we are offending religion," sighed either Domenico or Stefano, reports Reuters. "Instead it could be read as a return to values. And there is a need for that at this time." Yes. For "values," and, presumably, for valuable clothes. [Reuters]
• Remember how Domenico Vacca and John Varvatos both claimed to have dressed Jeremy Piven for the Golden Globes? Turns out it was a tie. The actor's publicist says he wore a Domenico Vacca jacket and John Varvatos pants. Which might be true, or it might be her trying to stay on both companies' good sides after pledging separately to each to wear its clothes and screwing that up royally. How much you want to bet pissed reps for both labels are poring over photos trying to tell their lapel notches from the competitor's as we speak? [WSJ]
• Nonetheless, expect more of the same as award season wears on through the grim retail market. The thin consumer dollar means designers are even more eager to get their gears on a red carpet. Katie Holmes' Golden Globes stylist even received personal phone calls from several solicitous designers. "That never happened before," said the stylist, "usually I just hear from their publicists." And cows walk upright and eat manburgers in this strange opposite world! [WSJ]

• Nicole Richie's cheap, chunky jewelry line is actually pretty get-behind-able. [FabSugar]
• PETA protesters continue the conversation by appearing at an Olsen Twins book signing with the placard: "Trollsens: UR Hags From Hell." [New York Magazine]
• Kate Moss is going to co-chair the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute Gala, to which we are already not invited. [Telegraph]
• Apparently the theme is "the model as muse." Feeling better about being left out! [WWD]
• Candie's anti-teen sex ad stirs controversy; we're just wondering when a brand that featured Jenny McCarthy on a toilet became a moral authority. [AdRants]

• Tom Ford's Isherwood adaptation, A Single Man, is cast! "(Colin) Firth is the gay man, an Englishman and professor who feels like an outsider in Los Angeles. (Matthew) Goode is the boyfriend who dies in a car accident and appears in flashbacks. (Julianne) Moore plays a friend of the professor." [Yahoo]
• The Columbia Journalism Review is sick of talking about Michelle Obama's wardrobe. [CJR]
• Tell that to J.Crew! They're cashing in on Michelle Obama's endorsement. [Politico]
• And to all the random European designers inspired by the campaign! [Telegraph]
• Meanwhile, J. Crew's brought on a new head of menswear, who says that men "don't appreciate or want change. They're set in their ways." [Men.Style]
• Perk of being an It Brand? Hanging with whoever you want. Here, the Rodarte girls chill with Kim Gordon, say "I think music, film and art influence Laura and me more than anything else. We grew up near Santa Cruz and I can remember being so intrigued by skaters and psychedelic ’80s hippies who listened to Peter Gabriel. My environment was a huge inspiration." [BlackBook]
• Zac Efron wears Calvins, apparently. [New York Magazine]
• Things are getting really ugly in the Project Runway legal battle, with accusations of "sabotage" from both Bravo and the Weinsteins. [E]
• Speaking of PR, are you an exhibitionist with an itch to stitch? Bravo's new knockoff, Fashion House, is casting! [Fashionista]
• The DVF woman: "She walks where she wants her life to go...firmly on the heels of her of her wooden wedges…she moves like a whisper commanding a goddess gown as easily as a patterned T." [WWD]
• Indian moddle Kangana Dutta is getting some serious designer play. [Style.com]
• CNA calculates all the stuff the average American could buy with Palin;s wardrobe budget. Play along! [The Nation]
• British factory-worker-turned-next-big-model has a Flashdance-worthy story of triumph! Can I admit I kind of choked up? [The Sun]
• Want to see some plastic shoes dance a ballet? Be our guest! [Melissa Plastic Dreams via AdRants]
• Burberry adds this enormous sign to the NYC skyline. [NY Times]
• Vivienne Tam unveils "laptop for women." Seriously. It's "small, lightweight and colorful. Its red and pink peony injected plastic print exterior matches Tam’s spring clothing, and it will be sold at the Vivienne Tam store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood in the spring." Thank. God. [WWD]

• Poor L.C. Influential L.A. boutique Kitson (the same one rumored to be cooling on Posh, but wasn't) is actually dropping Lauren Conrad's line due to "lackluster sales." [NY Mag]
• Candie's knows how to net the classy demographic: along with current pitch girl Hayden Panettiere, the company is taking over Perezhilton.com today to launch its new ad campaign. Hayden, who's releasing an album, will be singing in the ads. Quoth she: "I'm someone that has a lot of different personalities, so what I wear depends on the mood I'm in. I think the clothes worked well for the video. They gave me a lot of options to pick from." [WWD]
• Better late than never? British retailer Blues Clothing launches the "Marilyn Monroe collection," a "trendy, fashionable, and girly" line for young adults. Cause those are the first things that come to mind when you think of Norma Jean. [BlackBook]

• Obviously John McCain hasn't kept up with the new arch-unfriendly flip-flop research. His campaign's been handing them out. It's doubtless intended as a cutting pun. [Los Angeles Times]
• Halston creative director OUT! [WWD]
• Tim! No need to entice; you had us at "tonight at 10/9 central. Watch what happens." “[Fans] are going to get mad — early! There are some big surprises: Favorites won’t be there anymore, and I can only imagine how the blogs are going to explode over some of the challenge winners. We say that each season has a different DNA and boy, is that true.” [People]
• Ooh, I love these: Project Runway: "Where are they now?" Spoiler: mostly "in fashion." [People]
• Well, at least we know where Christian Siriano is! Critiquing street fashion! As you might expect, his comments are largely incomprehensible ("All I have to say is that is so Williamsburg I can't even handle it. She doesn't even care. Whatever. Love her.", "I'm over him.") and the words 'fierce' and 'tranny' are thrown around like it's '07. [Daily News]
• Burberry reports sales up in first quarter. [New York Times]
• Playboy on Olympians: '"Women's Olympic swimmers are beautiful," says Playboy.com's vice president of content, John Thomas. "Olympic swimmers are known for their bodies, and they look good in their suits."' For some reason, this translates into Playmates modeling Speedos. [WWD]
• More good news: Kimora Lee Simmons' teen line is surprisingly age-appropriate! [New York Magazine]
• CFDA/Vogue have announced the 10 finalists for their Fashion Fund competition. [WWD]
• Speaking of Project Runway, I don't think we've discussed it nearly enough. Did you know, for instance, that they're trying to get Mariah Carey to guest-judge the final episode? [Fashion Week Daily]
• Or that Nina Garcia is really "saddened" by the show's move to L.A.? [New York Magazine]
• French model Laetitia Casta nets a film role. It's set at Versailles. [Variety]
• You saw it here: How to tie a head scarf. [Telegraph]
• Reebok enters the battle for Beijing Olympics supremacy. [BlackBook]
• All the scenesters in Charlotte Ronson's fall '08 vid make us really not want to buy her clothes. [Style.com]
• Meanwhile, Guess takes inspiration from a wholesome, healthy Amy Winehouse. [fashionista]
• Prada introduces custom bag option. "Customers will be able to choose from a wide variety of decadent materials (suede, leather, crocodile, python, alligator, snakeskin…), rich colors, hardware and detailing so that their bag can be a reflection of their personal tastes and style." Prices available upon request. I'm sure it's totally affordable. [The Fashion Spot]
• Our equivalent? Botkier for Target. Unfortunately it's kinda meh. [Fabsugar]
• So, we all know PETA can be your worst enemy. Does that mean they'd make a good best friend? I'm going to go with, "more like the humorless radical down the hall who you kind of had a crush on your freshman year even though you knew in your heart you were too frivolous for him." Their latest target? Fur enthusiast Vivienne Tam. [PETA]
• London It Girl Alert!!!! Flavour of the week is Sting and Trudie's kid, Coco Sumner. "At only 17, she’s already modelled for Burberry, had a role in Stardust alongside Sienna Miller and Claire Danes and has just signed to Island Records to record a reggae album in Jamaica, no less. She's already showing more talent than most of her London peers and with great style too – partially shaved hair, tartan scarf, Breton shirt, denim shorts and ankle socks." [ElleUK]
• Teflon Kate gets Vogue cover. [BryanBoy]

<</p>

The Good: I'm not gonna lie: Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) is on my 'Good' list simply because I'm obsessed with her music. Wearing horizontal nautical stripes, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman hopes to distract from the girth of her husband Harvey Weinstein. She fails. Norah Jones looks like she's on her way to a middle-school dance.

The Bad: Susan Sarandon looks like she's chaperoning that dance. Will someone please tell Zoe Kravitz that she's not in middle school? The holes in her tights do not make her look cool or edgy. It's a sad day indeed when Agyness is the best-dressed person on the 'Bad' list. Enough already, Erin Fetherston. Kelly Bensimon looks like a bad throwback to the early '90s. Those boots! That dress! That belt! Clearly this is the reason she is no longer married to ELLE's Gilles Bensimon or editing ELLE Accessories. Dear Ziyi Zhang: "No" to the sequined beret.

The Ugly: Thanks a lot, Irina Pantaeva, for triggering my vertigo this early in the day.

[Images via Getty.]

• Dita von Teese is collaborating with Wonderbra on a lingerie collection to be called — so original! — Wonderbra by Dita von Teese. Um, what would Dita von Teese know about needing a Wonderbra? [Vogue UK]
  
• BBC reporter Jeremy Paxman, no stranger to calling attention to the pressing news stories of our time, is currently shifting the focus to the problem of...men's underwear. A letter he wrote to Marks & Spencer CEO Stuart Rose was printed in today's Times of London: "Like very large numbers of men in this country I have always bought my socks and pants [that's Britspeak for underwear, FYI] at Marks & Sparks...I have noticed that something very troubling has happened. There's no other way to put this. Their pants no longer provide adequate support." [Vogue UK]
  
• Scary: Designer Vivienne Tam has designed Mickey and Minnie Mouse new costumes for the Chinese New Year celebration at Disney China. Scarier: Replicas of the outfits are on sale in Tam's retail stores. [AP]

• Katie Couric's style tips for how to not look old: "Number one, shorten your skirt. Right where the knee melts into the lower leg is the perfect length; if it's too long, it's very mumsy. Number two, change from a dark burgundy lipstick to a pink. It's the easiest thing you can do. And number three, have great skin. The better the skin, the less make-up you need, and there's no need to pile on the foundation." Um, have great skin. What a great beauty tip! Up there with "avoid being born to someone with bad genes." [Fashion Week Daily]
• Ooooh: our favorite accessories brand we can't afford, Loeffler Randall, is debuting a swimwear line. Good thing we do not wear bathing suits! [WWD]
• Are women rejecting cheap shoes? [Independent]
• Nahhh, probably not. [LATimes]
• Where's the best place for a designer to open up a flagship boutique in Amsterdam? The red light district, of course. [Reuters]
• All this "feed the malnourished models" outrage and Erin O'Connor still thinks she is fat. [Independent]
• We think granny panties are actually sort of sexy, so fuck you. [Sassybella]
• "Little girls hear 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T' and don't know that it isn't an 'American Idol' song." Sigh. [LA Times]

• Designer Vivienne Westwood is switching party allegiances from the (liberal) Labour to the (conservative) Tory, and will even be the keynote speaker at her new political party's Christmas party. Warns Westwood: "I'm going to take the opportunity to put them right on a few things. They're not going to get what they bargained for." [Vogue UK]
  
• "Russians have started to learn that less bling is better, that more sophistication is in. The women here learn this slower than the rest of world, but they're learning for sure." Donatella Versace, folks. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Heidi Montag of The Hills is designing clothing line for the label Anchor Blue. See, it happened in one of those brainstorming sessions where an Anchor Blue executive was like, "Who can we get that would actually be less qualified to design a clothing line than L.C. from The Hills?" [Sassybella]
  
• Cory Kennedy is the new face of Urban Decay. Which is kind of cute, because she's the age we were when we thought Urban Decay — the nail polish, the societal phenomenon, etc.— were cool. [Fashionista]

• B.U.M. Equipment is back. And starting a line called B.U.M. Organics. Way to beat the old, played-out, trendhumping image that killed your clothing line in the eighties and stay true to your authentic brand identity, guys! [WWD, sub req'd]
• OMG: Elle Macpherson and Bryan Adams are dating! Dude, we can't even remember the last time we heard about Bryan Adams. [Daily Mail UK]
• Model Erin O'Connor is all totally swoony for Antonio Banderas. [Daily Express]
• First New York, then the Blue States! After TopShop opens in Manhattan in September, the company plans to open additional locations on both coasts. [MediaPost]
• Model Hana Soukupova on when she "first felt beautiful": "I guess when I went into fashion. You know, I'm from a small town in Czech Republic, and I never thought I could do this, you know?" Profound. [BellaSugar]
• Hillary Clinton: Likes hats! [WWD, 2nd item]
• Badgley Mischka: Dressing the Alvin Ailey company's principal dancers! [WWD, 3rd item]
• Would you like a Vivienne Tam-designed MP3 player? [Fashion Week Daily]