>> There's that old adage about beauty is pain; for Anna Dello Russo, fashion is pain. She admits that the custom Pucci gown and Gareth Pugh headpiece she wore to Vogue Paris's 90th Anniversary masquerade ball were a bit impossible: "A headpiece; a huge train; high wedges. When I came back after the Vogue ball I had a headache because the outfit was so heavy on my head." Garance Dore wrote of Dello Russo at the party: "She is amazing… But she can’t really move. So we make a circle of friendship around her. We bring her something to drink and make conversation…." When asked how she got around, Dello Russo replied, "In the car, leaning in the back seat. Someone helped me — my driver!" And for Halloween, she says she's wearing "something good, but I want to dance this time, and I want to enjoy myself a little bit more with my friends, so it will be a little bit easier." [Nowness]

>> Donna Karan recently admitted that getting a bad review from Cathy Horyn "still hurts"; add Vera Wang to the list of designers who don't enjoy seeing their collection reviewed.

In a recent interview with the AP: "Reviews can be hard to read, [Wang] says, because the reviewers are ignoring the bravery it takes on a designer's part to churn out collection after collection — on a strict schedule — to an often fickle audience. A filmmaker, for example, often can reshoot something or extend a deadline when something isn't working. A designer doesn't have that luxury."

And despite being so established, Wang still feels the need to fight for her brand to continue succeeding: "If you hang back, even just one season or one awards show, someone else is waiting to take your place, she says."

In fact, she wouldn't be a designer today if she hadn't always been about fighting to improve, Wang explains: "I had to learn to dust myself off and try again. That's my real story. I went to Vogue and I was not getting the big jobs and then I went to Ralph Lauren. I didn't feel like there was much more I could do at the time there — and I think that's given me the opportunity to struggle. You have to struggle to appreciate the successes in your life. It's not real otherwise."

>> The Isabella Blow film Philip Treacy keeps hinting at is starting to take shape. Swedish filmmaker Anders Palm, who is producing the film, recently optioned Lauren Goldstein Crowe’s upcoming book, Isabella Blow: A Life in Fashion — out Nov. 9. The book will provide more background to the screenplay already written by Max Newsom and Nicola Brighton, according to Goldstein Crowe, who has also been hired as a consultant on the film. Interesting that the book co-written by Blow's widower, Detmar Blow, which comes out around the same time as Goldstein Crowe's, will not be as heavily consulted. Detmar had previously suggested Rachel Weisz play Blow in the film. [WWD]

>> Now that Style.com has moved out from under Conde Nast Digital and likewise goes for the Conde magazines' websites — including Vogue.com and WMagazine.com — which are now fully under their publishers' control, there are a few more staffing changes happening over at Conde Nast.

Vogue senior market editor Meredith Melling Burke will now be straddling both print and online responsibilities — in addition to her current role at the magazine, she has been promoted to fashion market editor at Vogue.com, where she will increase the website's fashion content. And former Elle SVP and chief brand officer Carol Smith, who surprised many when she left after eight years to join Conde Nast as VP and publishing director of Bon Appetit and Gourmet in April, has left the company. “The opportunity turned out not to be what either Conde Nast or I expected,” she said in a statement released by Conde Nast. Tom Florio, who hired Smith, left the company in June.

>> Before he officially settled at Theory earlier this week, Olivier Theyskens's name was batted around for numerous top design jobs. He'll have complete creative control over both his Theyskens' Theory line and the Theory mainline. The difference — he explains: "In Theyskens’ Theory, there is a large possibility for bringing ideas and new designs, and probably it is more like a laboratory. But in the main Theory collection you are working more on what people wear every day." But what if Chanel comes calling? "This is the question that I hear for 10 years. The important thing that I believe very strongly is that there is a right thing at the right time and the right place. The ‘if’ is not something that I really consider. I am putting myself fully into the development of Theory, and I have always been like that. As a designer, I am known for more of a creativity point of view. But for Theyskens’ Theory, I was so pleased to see the orders that balanced the sharply cut jackets with the T-shirts and the jeans. In addition to creativity, simplicity has always been very important to me and in my work, so I feel the position here is right for what I want to do." [On the Runway]

>> There have been rumors circulating that Catherine McNeil had changed up her hair in a big way, and now her agency Next has released the first photos of McNeil's new black bob (a couple more here), adding that it was cut and colored by "a friend." Frockwriter thinks that statement might be code for it having been done on a recent yet-to-be-released job; it's not rare for a model to have her hair changed for a shoot: Abbey Lee Kershaw's was cut to shoulder-length by Chanel for the Fall 2010 ad campaign.

That exact thing also happened to Ajak Deng, who recently went blond after encouragement from Jimmy Paul and Edward Enninful. “They dyed my hair for Italian Vogue, but everyone seems to like it, so I think I’m going to keep it like this for a while! It was a little shocking,” she told Modelinia. “I was crying, but now I’m trying to rock my new hair!”

>> Zac Posen's mother and longtime business partner Susan Posen left his company last week, and this week, Narciso Rodriguez is experiencing a similar shakeup: his longtime business partner, Kathy Kalesti, is leaving the company on Friday. Kalesti, who joined the company in 1997, said: “Working with Narciso has been a great experience.” And Rodriguez added: “I’m grateful for all of her efforts on behalf of the company and support her decision to pursue other interests.” Kalesti will be replaced, but in the meantime, Robert Wichser, former principal at Ron Burkle's The Yucaipa Cos. (which owns Posen and Scoop NYC) and president and CEO of Sean John, has been consulting with Rodriguez for several months and will continue in that capacity until a successor is named. [WWD]