Show: Rodarte

Model of the moment Karlie Klass rocked it in this gorgeous gown by Rodarte, designed by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy. A show that transitioned from nude looks to these bold grecian gowns and accessorized with chains, leather strapped bodices and edgy bomber jackets made for the most unique of the week. Elijah Wood and Natalie Portman spotted in the front row.

Party: Marc Jacobs

The Marc Jacobs Park Avenue Armory show and Greenwich Hotel after party were as much about the celebrities as they were about the clothes. Channeling looks from 1930's and 40's Americana, wide legged pants, high waisted skirts, and flattened boater hats filled the runway. Marc muse Posh Spice led the all-star pack to the after party dinner, which included the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Richie, Kanye West, Helena Christensen, Anne Hathaway, Winona Ryder, Jessica Simpson, director Joel Shumacher, Elijah Wood, Kim Raver from Lipstick Jungle, and Rachel Zoe. It wouldn't have been a signature MJ event if everyone could gain access, and a valiant effort by the hard working KCD PR girls explaining that the fire marshall was stopping anyone from coming in, completely failed as onlookers hung around for the entire party.

Tod's Dok Bag

Derek Lam takes his third time around as the Creative Director at Tod's to revive the classic doctor's bag for the Fall. The updated shape, brass details, and butter soft nappa leather makes a perfect new staple for the luxe crowd. 3 sizes and choice of crocodile skin, pony hair, or leather means that there is one for everyone, and its nostalgic silhouette confirms that it will last a lifetime.

Show: William Rast

The Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan could have easily been confused with Memphis, Tennessee as it was decked out with wooden seats, buckets of beer, a wood porch, and a blanket of leaves on the ground. In Justin Timberlake style, when how he felt about his first showing his response was "I'm pheklempt. We're excited. I feel like we're absolutely ready for it and just want to introduce ourselves". Witty and modest, gotta love this guy. Fittingly, there were a lot of denim pieces and delicious southern delicacies from Timberlake's Upper East Side bar, Southern Comfort.

Show: Charlotte Ronson

Charlotte Ronson showed in the Bryant Park Tents on Saturday, bringing a large collection of famous preppy hipsters in from the rain. Her collection of relaxed, wearable clothes consisted of mini knit dresses and ruffly chiffon pieces, which were highlighted by the musical talents of her DJ spinning brother Mark Ronson. Also in attendance were leggy model Jessica Stam with what looked like a fashionista-in-training Jessica Szhor, from Gossip Girl. Watching the whole time were happy couple Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson and, making sure the family was well represented, Charlotte's sister Annabelle walked in the show as mother/party-woman Anne Dexter Jones cheered on from the front row.

Fashion Week SS'09

Attention New Yorkers: FASHION WEEK is here! Stay posted for loads of reviews, parties, and best of all: finding out what you will be dying for next season. Festivities start tomorrow and last all through next week.

Spring Color Choices

Color giant Pantone released their list of the top ten colors NY Fashion Designer's used for their spring 2009 collections.  Interestingly enough on the list were Palace Blue and Lavendar, continuations from Blue Iris and Royal Magic, colors that were equally as popular last season.  What does this mean?  Keep your cool blues and calm purples from this season and last, because they aren't going anywhere.  

Chanel Tennis Racquet

Not the sporty type? For the girliest of fashionistas, this will change your mind. Chanel now offers a hot pink tennis racquet and matching logo tennis balls for the sport of the moment (Another black version runs for $255). Although not the most subtle choice, it could be a good conversation piece when you run into dreamy Roger at the US Open this week.

Clothing Drive: Men's Wearhouse

Men's Wearhouse has announced their first National Suit Drive campaign, dedicated to empowering unemployed men by providing them with professional work attire.  From September 1 - October 31, people are encouraged to donate gently used suits, sports coats, slacks, dress shirts, ties, and belts to help unemployed men re-enter the workplace and take a proactive stance in their lives. Dig through your closets gentlemen, and help a fellow in need. 

Nastia

Olympic all-around gymnastics gold medalist Nastia Liukin is about to become a household name.  This fall, she will appear in Cover Girl ads, and Vanilla Star Jeans is launching Nastia Liukin Gold jeans and tops for the holiday season.  She has a stake in beaconstreetgirls.com, a tween web site that sells fashion and beauty products, home decorations, and books.  She's endorsing Wheaties, she plans to design activewear wit GK, and (what I'm stoked about) she has an appearance sometime this season on Gossip Girl.  Maria Sharapova invited her to NY Fashion Week where she will attend Peter Som (no worries, my full stalking details will be updated later) and best of all, she's humble.  "You work so hard for this, and you're getting so many opportunities, and now is the time to take those things because they don't last forever... People are beginning to notice me everywhere, I don't think I'll ever get used to that".  With only a handful of athletes  that have successfully crossed the sport-to-fashion boundary, be sure to keep your eyes peeled on what happens with Nastia.  

Harajuku Lovers Performance

Attention New Yorkers:  12:30 today at Bloomingdale's Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers will be performing from inside the windows.  If you miss that show, they will be making another appearance on Friday from 12-2 and at the Bloomie's SoHo location from 3-4:30.  Gwen is resting up at home with her new baby Zuma, but I'm sure her backup singers will still deliver a good show. 

 

Style Politics: Tim Gunn on Cindy McCain

Usually I'm against making any political statements, however when it comes to stylish First Wives elect, exceptions are enabled. Tim Gunn told Time he loves Michelle Obama's style but is far less enthused with Cindy McCain's. (His exact words were, "Cindy McCain looks like someone has twisted her ponytail into a knot and tried to give her a face-lift.") When later asked by New York editors, he reassured his previous statement by saying "There is no contest!! I mean, Michelle really epitomizes American style, and she's not afraid to show her shape, she's not afraid to show her sexiness without being the least bit inappropriate. And Cindy with her suits and she's all buttoned up, she's just soooo — she just looks like she's duct-taped! There is just something about her, and in a way it's a metaphor about who she is!" An observant and mostly true takeaway, hopefully he takes a little more into consideration before filling out his ballot.

Mark Ronson Spinning Sis' Fashion Show

The Charlotte Ronson show starts Fashion Week of with a bang this Saturday, with the help of her easy-on-the-eyes, music producing brother Mark Ronson on the turntables. Twin sister (more likely known as Lindsay Lohan's love interest) Samantha has set the mood for the crowd for the past 3 seasons, so I'll be sure to update you on how big brother does it.

Kate Moss in Solid Gold

Artist Marc Quinn unveils his latest work at the British Museum, Siren, a 50kg, $3 Million gold statue of Kate Moss. Not unfamiliar to sculpting the model, his 2006 work Sphinx showed the beauty in a provocative yoga pose. The new statue however, can boast that it is the largest gold statue to be made in the world since the time of Ancient Egypt. And why Miss Moss for the record setting feat? "I thought the next thing to do would be to make a sculpture of the person who's the ideal beauty of the moment," Quinn says of his supermodel subject. Moss' statue joins works by Damien Hirst and Anthony Gormley as part of the British Museum's Statuephilia exhibition, which runs from October 4 to January 25.

Most Influential Person in Fashion: Anna Wintour

The 50 most influential people in fashion 2008 list is out and who ranks supreme in the $47 billion industry? The Devil in Prada herself, Anna Wintour, editor in chief of American Vogue. She sits at the top of this year's list, perfect bob and all. Click here for the rest of the group.

Dylan's Candy Bar's Bar

Dylan Candy Bar is straying from the typical youth-focused candy store concept by opening an actual bar on the third floor of their store.  At "Sweet Hour" (6:30) customers will be able to pull up a peppermint bar stool and sip sweet Gummy Bear Martinis and Rock Candy Cosmopolitans.  In true train 'em young Manhattan style, wide-eyed youth will learn about grown-up libations a little earlier than most.  

Madewell Make Your Own Jeans

J. Crew's hipster-ish offspin, Madewell is getting artsy with their denim.  Starting in their SoHo store on October 1, every Saturday afternoon a new artist will teach shoppers how to uniquely customize their Madewell jeans.  Each artist will teach a different bespoke technique from doodling with acrylics to adding passmenterie with paint pens, giving you the opportunity to tap into your creative side.  When better to get a new pair of personalized weekend jeans but the weekend? 

MisShapes Dance Party Comeback

They're baaack.  The MisShapes, the most fashionable DJ trio around, are back in NYC throwing impromptu dance parties all night long.  The first one at the hot-spot-of-the-moment Santos' Party House celebrated their new website and e-mag and featured live performances by These New Puritans and Apache-Beat.  

Wine Me

Not really the wine connoisseur you pretend to be at fancy dinner soirees?  No worries, Wine That Loves is a new line of vinos by the Amazing Food Wine Company that solve all your problems.  The line of 5 wines (4 red, 1 white) are each matched to a specific dish plastered onto the label: pizza, roast chicken, steak, salmon, and pasta.  At $13 each, your tastebuds will do all the learning for you.  

Hidden Gem: Hunter's Possibles Bag

This may seem left field, but Dixie Gun Works , the site that offers US historic battle reenactments their costume replicas of artillery, uniforms, and supplies, also provides us with this boho chic Hunter's Possibles Bag. Originally designed hunndreds of years ago to accomodate one's supplies fora day of shooting, today it can hold a girl's shopping ammo. Wherever the find, at least we know that if it can weather a battle, it can definitely handle a heavy duty day on 5th Avenue.

The Hills Payroll

How much could middle-school level drama and an airbrush tan possibly make you in this world? A cool million apparently. It has been reported that The Hills reality starlet Lauren Conrad is expected to cash out $1.4 million for the complete fourth season of The Hills. And for the rest of the not-worth-as-much-as-LC clan?

Heidi Montag: $65,000 per episode ($1.25 million per year)
Spencer Pratt: $65,000 per episode ($1.25 million per year)
Audrina: $35,000 per episode ($665,000 annually)
Whitney: $20,000 per episode ($380,000 per season)
Brody: $10,000 per episode ($190,000 a year)
Lauren “Lo”: $10,000 per episode ($190,00 for The Hills Season 4)
Stephanie: $8,000 per episode ($152,00 for Season 4)
Frankie: $0

Still having a brain after watching above addictive episode: priceless.

Stylish & Conceited, Chuck Bass on Himself

Ed Westwick on his Gossip Girl character Chuck Bass: "Chuck is an iconic character and the clothes are iconic. I think I rock the look well. My style has always been good. Top notch, baby. I like the glamorous indie rock look, like the Libertines. But you know, without the heroin needle sticking out of my arm." And he says he's being modest.

Dressing For Fall

Its the last week of summer and time to start putting together your fall wardrobe. To get everyone in the mood for dressing up this fall, here are a few things my favorite designers had to say about what they want to see this season:

“The sleek polish of Hitchcock heroines merged with the raw edginess of Amy Winehouse sums up the spirit of fall ‘08,” Michael Kors

“precise and sculptural, yet provocative,” Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa

"Structure, shape, and black—with a dose of safety orange and citrine,” Narciso Rodriguez

"The clothes are calm, not too conceptual, but they definitely have a bit of perversity,” Marc Jacobs

“I’m dying for clothes that have ease and grace; I wanted that iconic day-to-night sensuality where fabric speaks to the body with a sexy, languid drama,” Donna Karan

"The fall collection was inspired by the ease and sophistication of the outdoors. The city life left behind!” Carolina Herrera

“For fall, I was thinking outdoor freshness meets urban polish,” Ralph Lauren

Wonder Butt

Padded butt jeans and underwear are soo yesterday. Bubbles Bodywear introduces the Double-O Push Up Thong, which is targeted to women who need more shape in their rear, without the extra volume. Giving you a "license to shake what your mama gave you" the $64 bootylicious wonder bra claims to enhance the lift, shape, and volume of the derriere while also flattening the lower tummy and shaping up the thigh. Talk about the ultimate speed-diet.

Nastia Liukin: Bronze(r) for Life

All Olympic bronze medalists get to walk away from Beijing with more than just their shiny hardware: Cosmetics brand Physicians Formula is sending all bronze winners, including US gymnastics superstar Nastia Liukin, a lifetime supply of bronzer. Who says coming in third didn't have its perks?

CVS Beauty Goes Luxe

The CVS drugstore chain has drafted plans to open upscale beauty emporiums called Beauty 360 filled with department and specialty store brand skin care and cosmetics by the end of the year. The Beauty 360 units will either be housed in an adjacent store, accessible to CVS shoppers via a breezeway, or a separate store within a CVS store. They are even considering adding “express services,” such as manicures and hand massages and are seeking to hire experienced, but not high-pressure, sales associates and licensed aestheticians. Buying affordable beauty just got a whole lot easier.

Brangelina Babies Make A Lot Of Money

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s newborn twins, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline have set a new record, before they can even roll over. Selling a whopping 2.6 million copies of People Magazine, it has been the biggest selling issue in seven years and is the 4th highest newsstand seller in the magazine's 35 year history (First was the Sept. 11 issue at 4.1M, second Princess Diana's death issue at 3M, and third JFK Jr.'s death issue at 2.8M). Apparently People and Hello split the astronomical $14 million price tag for the pictures. Well worth it to them since it crushed People's average sales are 1.5M copies per week and their 8.8M monthly web hits soared to 6M unique visitors within 24 hours!

Pricey: Hermes Baby Gift

What else would you do with $490 besides spend it on this stuffed pony baby gift? That thought had to make sense to someone at Hermes, because this plush pony with a signature orange ribbon bears that price tag.

Gold Medal or Rubber Bracelet ?

In spirit of the Beijing Olympic Games, rubber bracelets sporting the 5 ring colors are being worn as proudly as a gold medal. Given away to the Opening Ceremonies guests, they have become somewhat of collector's items, especially since access to the Opening Ceremonies could cost up to $728 for a ticket. The only questionable part: bizarre Chinese slogans embossed into the bands saying things like "Smile, promise, protect the environment".

Coke: Sustainable TShirt

Coke is encouraging plastic bottle recycling through fashion. At this year's Olympics, the American company launched their sustainable T-shirt line made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and cotton. The white T's bear the slogan "I'm from Earth" on the front and the silhouettes of 5 Coke bottles on the back, the number of bottles recycled to make the shirt. The project so far has saved 200,000 plastic bottles (about 6 tons) from their landfill destiny.

Uniqlo + Tokyo Girls Collection

Japanese fast-retailer Uniqlo has designed a special merino wool hooded minidress for the next edition of celebrity-filled teen-focused fashion show Tokyo Girls Collection. The fashion show revolutionizes the way teenage Japanese girls shop by allowing the girls to place real-time text message orders from their seats at the runway show. Uniqlo will sell the dress in their retail shops come September for $36.

Janet Jackson Lingerie

Janet Jackson is dipping her toes into fashion with her new lingerie line, Pleasure Principle. A collaboration with Australian lingerie designer Bruno Schiavi, the 18-piece satin and lace line is named after her 1986 multiplatinum album "Control". Jackson says she created the line with beauty, comfort (where price points hit all under $40), and affordability in mind. “I hate when you’ve had on a bra all day long and you just can’t wait to take it off — every woman has experienced that,” she said. “A lot of lingerie tends to leave those marks and be uncomfortable. This line is about detail, fit and comfort as well as beauty and making women feel sexy.” Set to hit late this year, I know what I'll be wishing for in my Christmas stocking.

Louis Vuitton Heist

Louis Vuitton's new Damier Graphite men's collection is being revealed in an eye-stopping way at the brand's 5th Avenue store this month. The flagship store features the bag in two museum-like window settings, the first of which has the bag in a glass case surrounded by chrome and metallic security cameras, while the second window shows the same scene with the case broken into, glass shards all over the floor, the bag missing, and security lasers going off. The unique promo was so realistic that last Wednesday police officers entered the boutique to investigate the potential of a robbery!

PYT's: Gossip Girl Style

The premiere party for Gossip Girl Season 2 was hosted by Vitaminwater at the EMM Group Estate in the Hamptons cozy Sag Harbor last week. This made for a perfect setting, since several episodes have been filmed via Hamptons, all topped off with cameos from New York royalty Tinsley Mortimer. Left to right above we have the cast of the stylish twenty-something teen-pretenders: Ed Westwick, Taylor Momsen, Chase Crawford, Leighton Meester, Jessica Szhor, Blake Lively and Penn Badgley.

Perfect Pout: ModelCo Pen

Because the best accessory to a perfectly shaded pout is shimmery white teeth, ModelCo has created the Star Smile teeth whitener/lipstick. The dual-ended pen is tipped one one side with moisturizing lipstick (with the option of 5 shades) and on the other with a mint-flavored whitening pen, keeping your pearly whites pearly. Available online at Sephora.

Rescue Balm

Bliss Spa makes life run a little bit smoother with their 20-in-1 Wonder Balm. Claiming to solve almost every beauty mishap, the Wonder Balm aids in everything from preventing shoe blisters to taming static hair flyaways. It can also be used as lip gloss, soothe sunburns, and works to moisturize any little rough patches. Possibly the most useful thing in your beauty kit, this must have only runs $18 at Bliss or online.

Passmenterie: Summer Vacation

Pack your sunscreen, starting tomorrow Passmenterie will be taking a week long vacation from blogging fashion and style news. Don't worry readers, there will be plenty to discuss when we get back, so be sure to click back on August 18 to get revved up for New York Fashion Week.

Erin Wasson: Model turned Designer

Erin Wasson, my personal favorite model-turned-stylist, has now turned designer with her new line Erin Wasson for Rvca, a line that has been snatched up by hip boutique Opening Ceremony. Dubbed "tomboy chic" the scrawny tanks, destroyed denim, wools minis and pima cotton tanks are made for "strong girls who are really confident" while the line's greys, whites, and blacks channel something you would find in the "men's section in the skate shops". What did the design rookie have to say about her product? "I'm going to get my rocks off seeing girls in California skating around wearing my clothes".

Alexander McQueen + Target

Alexander McQueen is rumored to be the latest addition to Target's Go International designer collaboration program. A capsule collection by McQueen would be one of the most prestigious collaborations to date by the mass retailer, previous designers being Luella Bartley, Alice Temperley, Proenza Schouler, and Richard Chai.

Rumor: Phoebe Philo

Fashion design superstar Phoebe Philo is rumored to be in serious talks with Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton about taking the reins at French fashion house Celine. With talks of her beginning as soon as September, we might see a collection by the former Chloe superstar by March 2009.  Keep your fingers crossed! 

Sweet News: Daily Candy Sold

Comcast Interactive Media bought DailyCandy for $125 Million.  The email blast that has been keeping us in the loop about new products, new events, and new trends since 2000 will keep its content the same, but will now be able to grow in new directions.  Currently there are 13 city-specific editions covering a wide range of topics, so stay tuned to see what new ideas they come up with.    

Viktor & Rolf Eyelashes

Girls, get your flirt on with the new Viktor & Rolf for Shu Uemura eyelashes. Aptly named Swirl, Wing, and Rhombus lashes fit even the most eccentric of personalities. What do the fashion duo say of their creation? "It's something you can play with and transform yourself. The idea of transformation is really important in our work and in our philosophy." For $95 each, its drama drama drama!

Roberto Cavalli + Diet Coke

300,000 lucky Diet Coke bottles will get to wear Roberto Cavalli. Animal prints and stripes signature to the fashion genius will deck out the bottles to be sold in Italy from September to December, appropriately debuting at Milan Fashion Week. Three Cavalli prints will grace the hourglass bottles feminine shapes as Diet Coke fans from around the world can meet up for fashionable drinks.

Band of Outsiders: The Anti-Runway

In anticipation of this coming September Fashion Week, Band of Outsider's designer Scott Sternberg is going against fashion-world norms and finding his own perfect medium: "I'm doing a totally alternative thing because I can't bring myself to do a runway show. I don't make runway clothes. These are clothes you wear on the street, so I'm just super-uncomfortable with it. It puts it in totally the wrong context, I want to do something closer to where the clothes are, and let people actually touch and feel them as opposed to seeing them on a 14-year-old anorexic model."

Givenchy Phenomen'Eyes

Givenchy’s Phenomen’Eyes Mascara buffs up your lashes in a different way. Givenchy Le Makeup’s artistic director, Nicolas Degennes designed the sphere shaped brush to reach every single lash on your lids. The mascara itself is made of elastomer, a combo of water and a polymer that sticks, separates and lengthens, which makes smooth sailing over your lashes. You can get your hands on it at Sephora for $27 starting TODAY!

Bling Out Your iPhone

First, it was having an iPhone that made you the coolest kid in the room.  But now with the iPhone's newer, more accessible price points, it is going to take a lot more than possession to make you stand out of the crowd.  Introducing the De Vere Olympic diamond iPhone.  De Vere will bling out your phone with 88 brilliant white diamonds, in any design you like. And at $6,424, it is sure to bring back those "I'm totally exclusive" iPhone version 1 vibes.  

DKNY Wine

DKNY is toasting its 20th anniversary with their own champagne. In collaboration with Chandon, they are creating "Twenty Year Cuvée", a sparkling wine with 20 year old grapes and a custom DKNY label. Unless you're a lucky guest at the Spring 2009 Runway show where each person will get mini-bottles and a mini cooler, it will cost you $50 or a trip to the Chandon winery in Napa to get your hands on one.

Armani and Solange

First, he tapped Beyonce to be the face of Emporio Armani Diamonds perfume, and now fashion legend Giorgio Armani is borrowing the other sister in the Knowles family.  Soulful little sister Solange Knowles is going to be the new Armani Jeans ambassador.  "Armani Jeans expresses my vision of a young independent, casual lifestyle with a strong and cool, fashion sensibility [and] Solange epitomizes this style perfectly".  So perfectly in fact, that her debut lines up with the release of her next single "I Decided" which during her press tour she will be wearing what else but, Armani Jeans.  

Eastpak, Not Backpack

Remember the 3rd grade My-Eastpak-Is-Cooler-Than-Your-Jansport days?  Well, they're back.  Eastpak recently showed at Berlin Fashion Week, and the looks were anything but elementary.  In an effort to get away from a sporting goods reputation and being more fashion-friendly, they tapped under-the-radar cool designers Eley Kishimoto to design a line for Spring 2009 and Raf Simons who designed the current season.  Let's just hope they don't bring back the mini-backpack.  

Green Dining: Verterra Dishes

Being green, being fashionable, and being fashionably green just so happens to be the most useful trend of our generation. Bring that mentality to your dining room by using Verterra plates. Not only are they chemical free, non toxic, biodegradable, sustainable, renewable, microwave/refrigerator safe, reusable, and compostable... they are cute too. The name means "true to the earth" and the company believes in using pure materials that we borrow—and then return—to the world. It feels good to be green.