• "I've thought about clothing and jewelry lines," says Usher. "But fragrance stays on when everything else comes off." [People]
• Bottom of the barrel? For $8, American Apparel will sell you a bag of fabric scraps. [BF]

• Elle Creative Director Joe Zee dined with R.J. Cutler, the director of The September Issue. Which obviously means that he's going to spend two more years making a movie about Elle now! [FWD]
• Says lost soul Ashley Olsen, in fashion, "everyone is just really looking out for themselves. I don't know if I'll be designing this collection forever. A couple of years from now, I'm sure I'll want to do something else, and I'm not going to shy away from that. What if I just want to be an artist, or if I want to go back to acting? Which is not in the cards, but what if I wanted to do that?" [Daily Express]
• An Hermès representative says the rumors that creative director Jean Paul Gaultier is going to leave the company are false. Gaultier has been in his position for six years, and Hermès has experienced continued strong sales from its luxury categories since the start of the recession. [FashionMag]
• Christian Blanckaert, Hermès' director of international affairs, is leaving the company in early September. Blanckaert will become the non-executive chairman of the French children's clothing line Petit Bateau, and is expected to pursue a more international strategy for the brand. [WWD]
• Meanwhile, some anonymous sources in the finance industry are saying that Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy may spin off DKNY, the Donna Karan diffusion label it has owned since 2001. Or that it may sell Moët Hennessy itself, where revenues fell 17% in the first half of 2009. The reason the luxury conglomerate supposedly wants to free up some cash? To make a bid for Hermès, which is trading well below its usual share price. [Fashionista]
  
• Conservative party supporter Anya Hindmarch: "I started my business when I was 18, and I realized the difference it made having Thatcher in power. It was the start of privatization-there was a feeling of ‘Get out there, get going, be an entrepreneur.' I've seen what politics can do to make a difference. It really inspires me and that's why I've been passionate about it." [VF]
• Lara Stone is set to curate the choices available at Not Just A Label's online shop, a home for avant-garde and emerging designers. Lara's choices go on sale on September 2. [UK Elle]
• Uniqlo has a licensing deal with Disney that'll allow it to roll out Disney-themed apparel starting next month. Which should mean the mouse products will hit stores around the same time as Jil Sander's long-awaited first collection for the retailer. [WWD]
• Jean-Charles de Castelbajac is launching a diffusion line called JC/DC. The line will be presented in London and again in Paris at the upcoming shows, and the company wants real-life hepcats to model its wares — anyone who wants to apply for a spot in the runway lineup can do so via the websites of Dazed & Confused or Jalouse magazine, respectively. [WWD]
• Someone named Bronson van Wyck is obsessed with "The Penguin Sparkling Water Maker from Williams-Sonoma. The penguin makes the water fizzy. You can adjust from superfizzy like Perrier to moderate like S. Pellegrino to milder like Hendon." Socials! They're not like us at all. [WWD]
• Vogue Brasil mis-spelled photographer Guy Bourdin's name as "Guy Bourdain" in huge font on its cover. [MadeinBrazil]
• Rosemary Port, the writer behind the infamous "Skanks In NYC" hate-blog against model Liskula Cohen, says that she will continue her $15 million lawsuit against Google for disclosing her e-mail address and IP to Cohen. Even though Google only disclosed those details after losing its long legal battle and being ordered to so by a Manhattan supreme court judge! Port feels her right to privacy has been violated, and alleges of Cohen, "By going to the press, she defamed herself." Her lawyer had this to say: "I'm ready to take this all the way to the Supreme Court. Our Founding Fathers wrote 'The Federalist Papers' under pseudonyms. Inherent in the First Amendment is the right to speak anonymously. Shouldn't that right extend to the new public square of the Internet?" Which, if you think about it, is an airtight argument. Doesn't anyone else remember reading that long footnote in the Federalist Papers where James Madison goes on and on about how Brutus is, like, such a ho? And then of course next month Robert Yates was all like, Nuh uh, you're a big fat skank, Publius, and everyone knows it! Whatever, Rosemary Port. Defamation isn't traditionally considered protected speech. [NYDN]
• Louis Vuitton has won a $400,000 judgment against Bonini Handbags for trademark infringement. [WWD]
• Derek Blasberg watched The Rachel Zoe Project in Los Angeles, with Rachel Zoe. "Watching the actual show and having an alternate show happening in front of me was surreal. And kind of confusing. There was Brad on TV wearing a Missoni sequined shift dress impersonating his boss, and then there, in the flesh, was Brad trying on a Louis Vuitton tennis skirt and booties impersonating his boss. Taylor was on TV moaning, and there she was in person moaning." [StyleFile]
• Casual Male, a U.S. maker of men's plus-size clothing, has seen its quarterly profits increase by 92.1% on last year, even as sales fell 13.4%. [WWD]

The "American Farmstead cheese collection" includes Marieke Gouda, Vermont Ayr, La Fleurie and Capriole O'Banon. Whatever that means. Looks delicious. Also not bad? The sheep. And the dude.

Hmm, a new Thanksgiving tradition? Mini empanadas seem like a great idea, all of a sudden. So do bacon-wrapped dates. And phyllo-wrapped spinach triagles. And tamales. Yum.

There's something about pot pie on a cold day. So warm, so creamy, so filling. This one is lobster, but chicken is great, too. Also seen here: smoked salmon trio (scotch-cured, Maine sea spice and lemon-and-dill) and maple-smoked salmon fillet.

Beef. It's what's for dinner. Will you have filet mignon? Strip steaks? Rib roast? Or some dry-aged beef? Everything looks juicy and divine.

Some families always have turkey; my people are prone to ham. We like it soaked in bourbon and smothered in pecans, but both of these look okay. Let's just skip to dessert.

The "bûche de Nöel" is a cake that looks like a log. This one is chocolate genoise cake "rolled with a light, fluffy layer of chocolate ganache and rerobed in chocolate truffle buttercream cleverly sculpted to replicate bark." And those mushrooms are made of meringue. Some people love tiramisu; I think I'd opt for the peppermint gelato truffles down below. They're described as "silky-smooth," and now my mouth is watering.

Peppermint bark! It's official, the holidays have begun.

You can't actually buy this adorable igloo cake — Williams-Sonoma just sells the mold — but it's so cute!

Even better: Red velvet cake. Or cupcakes. Get your own.

Then there's 12-layer chocolate cake, coconut lemon layer cake and five layer mousse cake. Ever feel like you want to live inside of a cake?

You can try and live inside of this gingerbread manor, if you like. A recession bargain at $250. Oh, but here's a tip for the folks at Williams-Sonoma: Why not call your gingerbread cookies "kids" instead of "boys"? Especially when one is named Samantha?

Anyway, if the manor is a little high-end for your taste, downsize to a little gingerbread shack.

Williams-Sonoma [Official Site]

Earlier: The Naked Chef: Pfaelzer Brothers Peddle Hot Food Porn

Harry & David: First of all, pears. Duh. (The Giant Royal Rivieras, $49.95) Then, some Moose Munch in a Party Drum ($39.95). The Pumpkin Spice Log ($39.95) looks like it would probably be nasty (too much cream-cheese icing) but I'd still try it. Same goes for these Christmas Tree Cheesecakes ($32.95). And oh shit, these Cinnamon Swirls ($26.95)? Yeah, I'd hit that. On a healthier note, the Super Fruit Buffet ($37.95) looks delectable. Tasty Shit: $227.70

Williams-Sonoma:
I'm not as into the filled-pancake pan ($35.00) as the spiced apple-filled pancakes themselves. And Halloween caramel apples? Yum. ($16.50) Although aren't caramel apples usually a lot prettier to look at than to eat? No matter, I'll settle for the adorable, $15.00 Halloween truffles (owls! a ghost!) and mini iced cookies ($19.50). Tasty Shit: $86

Sur La Table: If I had a yard, lots of money (and knew how to, uh, cook), I'd consider this outdoor terra cotta oven ($2,000). But I'd settle for these adorable terra cotta chimenea votives...on sale! ($14.99). Yum, Italian lemonade? But I'd use this Italian lemonade jar ($69.95, plus $16.95 for metal stand) as a terrarium. Or these glass cloches ($64.85 for one of each size). Cute shopping totes! And last but not least, something for Halloween: A pumpkin cake, although the catalog doesn't sell it ready-made, only the pans ($27.95). Tasty Shit: $2,194.69

Sunnyland Farms: If you aren't getting this catalog, sign up right now. In addition to offering up the most amazing pecans ever to touch my tongue, the nut farm's print edition is the direct-mail highlight of fall: Owner Jane Willson sprinkles her pages with updates on her family, loyal employees, far-flung travels (the woman is in her 70s or even 80s and, this year alone, visited Africa and Tibet), and a fascinating step-by-step of how pecans are "made". She's a neat-sounding lady. Anyway here's what's on offer: Mammoth Pecan Halves (toasted and salted) in a 3lb. home box. ($38.15). Then, a 3-lb. box of Sugar 'N Spice Candied Pecan Halves ($39.85). A tin of half dark, half milk-chocolate pecan pralines ($28.40). Tasty Shit: $106.50

Total Tasty Shit: $2,614.89
Total Pounds Gained: Incalculable

(As always, click any image to enlarge).

We don't actually love this item. In fact, we wonder what sort of person would spend $2000 on an ironing machine. Or have space for one? Probably the same type of person who could afford to hire a damn maid.

We did, however, like this Ecopod recycling center ($328), which crushes and stores plastic and aluminum containers and holds other items like newspapers and glass bottles.

We'd never heard of the Grandinroad catalog until, well, today, but we just had to throw in this "Cat Fun Tunnel". For starters, we think it's charming, in a we're-embarrassed-to-admit-it kind of way. Also, and possibly more importantly, we misread the US Weekly-inspired, handwritten call-out as "A Barrel Of Pussy", not "A Barrel of Purrs". Same difference, we suppose.

Next (and last): Patagonia & J. Jill