>> People are already talking about it... this Aquascutum coat will be flying off the racks... (or maybe it won't even make it to the racks).
>> I feel a trend coming on... and it's cute, in a nerdy way. Kind of like the button that Diana Eng sells on the top of her website. It's been termed "librarian chic" -- librarian for the requisite big eyeglasses, the pulled-back hair... and chic for the...well, these are runway clothes we're talking about, after all. Max Azria and Paul Smith have tried their hand at the look so far for Fall 2006, but it's Riccardo Tisci who masters the librarian for Givenchy Haute Couture -- and it is beautiful.
>> During couture week, Ms. Suzy Menkes described a collection:
Martin Margiela has taken his penchant for recycling upscale. Although his collection was named "artisanal" rather than "couture," it added up to one-off clothes - although not the kind you would find in a traditional Paris salon. The Belgian designer had used bead necklaces, weighted and measured to give them perfect balance as they veiled a corset. Sandals straps were remade into an openwork leather top; and butterfly-sleeve spangled blouses from the 1980s were reconstructed as party dresses.
Intrigued, I set myself to tracking down some pictures. Well, eureka, I've found them -- the presentation is tres cool. And while the flower top may be a bit gimmicky, the leather top is definitely worthy "artisanal" pieces. **source: firstview
>> Who knew that Vogue and Glamour used to have word wars? From a 1960 magazine article by Gay Talese, "Vogueland": **source: dress a day
But it is usually quite simple to tell the two staffs [of Vogue and Glamour, in the same office building] apart because the jeunes filles at Glamour, in addition to possessing a high quota of noses that Vogue might dismiss as “eager, retroussé,” are also given to wearing shirtdresses, college-girl circle pins, smiling in the elevator, and saying, “Hi.” A Vogue lady once described the Glamour staff as “those peppy, Hi people.”
One day a few years ago a wide-eyed, newly hired Vogue secretary went bouncing into an editor’s office with a package, and said “Hi” — at which the editor is supposed to have cringed, and finally snapped, “We don’t say that around here!”
… Vogue has to be careful. The upcomer might use the word cute instead of panache; she might talk about giving a party instead of a dinner; or describe a suede coat ‘for weekending with the station-wagon set’ rather than ‘for your country home.’ Or talk of going to a jewelry store instead of a bijouterie. Most maladroit of all, she might talk in terms of a best buy rather than an investment, or a coup. Or refer to a ballgown as — one shudders to think of it — a formal.
>> Literally. First, Paris Hilton walks down Julien MacDonald's runway as a confetti cannon explodes. Then, later, both Paris and Julien were pelted with flour bombs by those good-natured people from PETA. The common factor in both explosive incidents? Paris Hilton. Boy, that kid is trouble... **sources: jj, ontd
Before and After:
>> Let me introduce you to Lara Bohinc's shoe collection. That is what I want my shoe collection to look like by the end of this year. Lofty ambition, I know. We'll see how it actually goes. But I love wearing a dark outfit -- all navy blues, blacks, and grays -- and then wearing an 
idiosyncratic pair of bright purple or blue shoes for a punch of color. The newest DKNY collection and this Yohji Yamamoto picture are also good inspiration for the surprising-flourish-of-color look.
>> He mastered every aspect of haute couture. He handpicked and fostered design assistants like Dior, Givenchy, and Balmain. He pioneered the idea of luxury ready-to-wear clothing. Vogue calls him the "forefather of today's fashion industry titans." So why don't more of us know about him?
The man has left a legacy, not only in Parisian fashion, but in international fashion. Finally, this legacy is being recognized, with an exhibition opening on February 28 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York -- "Modern Master: Lucien Lelong, Couturier (1918 -- 1948)." On display will be suits and dresses for daywear, a sequin-embroidered silk evening dress and capelet, and a peignoir fashioned of silk crepe chiffon, satin, and lace. So if you're in NYC between the 28th and April 15, get your tush over to FIT -- it'll be worth your while.
>> Watch out, world, Mary Kate and Ashley are taking over! Forget school, they will school you... in the art of being 5'1" (approximately), and still getting modeling gigs. That's right, MKA are featured in the new Badgley Mischka ad campaign, shot at the St. Regis Hotel in NYC. If you ask me, they need to lay off on the makeup a bit in the first picture, but the second picture looks pretty good.
EDIT #2: Okay, this will be the last time I change my mind. I finally found the original source -- and it's people.com. So they are legit... I was really fooled by the first one -- their heads don't look right for their bodies...
