Silver Screen Sundays: Rear Window

Grace Kelly was the epitome of high class glam, from "To Catch a Thief" to "High Society", which is why we have certainly written about her before. But our pick this week is the classic 1954 film "Rear Window", co-starring the amazing & charming Jimmy Stewart. The meeting of clotheshorse Grace Kelly and legendary designer Edith Head was sure to produce fashion magic. This Alfred Hitchcock classic established Kelly’s understated elegance, which stood in stark contrast to the florid, oversexed Hollywood designs of the ‘50s. With Kelly perfectly cast as a fashionable socialite, Head was able to create haute couture designs that didn’t seem out of place for everyday wear. From a pale green skirt suit with unfitted jacket to the floral print dress with multiple crinolines, the designs taught working women of that time how to be chic. Kelly’s little square overnight bag even prefigured the “Kelly Bag” that Hermés would eventually name for her.

Fashion: Macy's Sweetest Tweets

Valentine's Day has been taken over by Twitter and the cute idea behind Macy's Sweetest Tweets contest. Send out love-related tweets that are hashtagged #SweetestTweets and each day from February 1-February 13, Macy's will award a diamond pendant to the person who sends the sweetest tweet of the day. But on Feb 14 (ugh) a grand prize recipient will win a three-stone diamond ring worth $8,900! So be sweet, and start to Tweet!

Fashion/Photo: Supermodels of the ’70s and ’80s

A new photo exhibit entitled “Supermodels of the ’70s and ’80s,” contains portraits (including Christie Brinkley, Cheryl Tiegs, Beverly Johnson, Carol Alt, Dayle Haddon, Esme, Karen Bjornson, Kim Alexis, Lisa Taylor, and Nancy Donahu) taken by photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. On display at the Steven Kasher Gallery here in NYC, the limited-edition prints are sold as a portfolio of 10 and come in a handmade Tramontano leather envelope. As Timothy writes "I have always been interested in how we deal with aging in our hopelessly youth oriented society. These beautiful and amazing women, now in their fifties, were once the reigning queens of American beauty and the ultimate icons of world-wide marketing."

Fashion/Photo: Garance Dore + Givenchy

As our obsession grows for Parisian photoblogger extraordinaire Garance Dore, our recent visit to her website produced this little gem, a video of her experience at the Givenchy Haute Couture show. Watch the footage, see her interviewed or visit her blog today!

Fashion: Best of New American Menswear

The six nominees for GQ Magazine's 2010 Best New Menswear Designers in America were announced today, which included include Burkman Bros' Doug and Ben Burkman, Richard Chai, Vincent Flumiani of Caulfied Prepatory, J. Crew's Frank Muytjens, Billy Reid, and from Unis, Eunice Lee. The winner will be announced February 12th after being judged by the likes of CFDA's Steven Kolb and Calvin Klein's Italo Zucchelli, and will receive a $50,000 cash prize and a GQ editor as a mentor. Good luck!

Fashion: Chanel & Gaultier Couture

As promised, we bring you the beautiful Chanel Haute Couture collection, full of pastels and silver trimming, and a few cameos from Tavi, Kanye and Anna Wintour herself. But don't miss the fantastical creations of Jean Paul Gaultier, who was inspired by the Aztecs and also the film Avatar, prompting a Mexican fiesta of a collection. You can view his wild show here.

Photo: Street Style Originals

As we have mentioned before, though the art of capturing street style has become a popular career, only an original few continually hit it out of the park. In fact, they exhibit so much talent that they have become largely influential on designers and are even creating and/or shooting their advertising campaigns. As fashion week takes over major cities everywhere, it may be a good time to revisit or perhaps acquaint yourself with the following photoblogs: Sartorialist, Garance Dore, Facehunter and Tommy Ton. (Photo of Lapo Elkann courtesy of Scott Shuman.)

Fashion: Couture 101 + Dior

Though Haute Couture remains confusing to many, you must think of it as fashion fantasy. Unlike the main ready-to-wear collections, to design couture, to become a couturier, one must be certified by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture and follow these rules: 1. Design made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings. 2. Have an atelier in Paris that employs at least 15 people full-time and 3. Each season present a collection comprised of at least 35 looks for both day and night. So today let's feast our eyes on the gorgeous Dior Haute Couture collection, and tomorrow we'll bring you Chanel!

Fashion/Photo: Vogue's Last Train to Paris

In keeping with our French themed posts this week, we bring you a behind the scenes video from Vogue's latest shoot from Annie Leibovitz, starring Sean "Diddy" Combs and model Natalia Vodianova in "Last Train to Paris." This fashion spread is also a 10 year commemoration of another Annie Leibovitz collaboration with Diddy in Paris with Kate Moss.

Fashion/Photo: Seine Stealers

One of the most fascinating aspects of fashion week, is not necessarily the designer collections from inside the tent, but the street style of the spectators & guests outside. Photoblogger Tommy Ton captures all of the off-catwalk developments in Paris this week, so view his lovely photos on Style.com or visit his own tremendous website, Jak & Jil.

Fashion: Christian Siriano Rocks Payless...Again

If you were a fan of Christian Siriano's first collection for Payless, then get ready for his new version of McQueen's epic platforms. The physics-defying footwear debuted on Siriano's Spring 2010 runway, and Payless may never be the same again. At $80 a shoe, this may be a good investment strictly for the fashion-as-conversation-starter factor!

Fashion: From Paris, With Couture

The Haute Couture shows began in Paris yesterday, and though we are breathless with anticipation for the gorgeous creations from design houses Dior, Chanel, Valentino and Givenchy, there will be the unfortunate absence of Christian Lacroix. This year also adds an extra day of splendor, devoted exclusively to the showing of fine jewelry from vendors such as Boucheron, Cartier, Chanel Joillerie, Cartier, Christian Dior Joaillerie, Chaumet, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Mellario dits Meller. Be sure to check in with Stylegroove for all of your updates on style!

Silver Screen Sundays: Pandora’s Box

Louise Brooks once said, “A well dressed woman, even though her purse is painfully empty, can conquer the world.” That could have been the motto of Lulu, the role that made her a fashion icon for the ages. This is a movie we have actually never seen, but there has been such a resurgence of this look, that it seemed best to address it. Brooks had been wearing her famous Buster Brown haircut and dressing in the height of flapper fashion for years, as had many other actresses, but her sleek hairdo and half-naked beaded gowns were a perfect match for the amoral charmer in Pandora’s Box. In many countries, the severe black bob is still referred to as “the Lulu.”

Fashion/Film: YSL + Bruce Weber

Another day, another designer film. This time it is the much anticipated Bruce Weber for YSL video, “Aint Nothing Like the Real Thing”, which made its debut in Paris yesterday. For the past five seasons, creative director Stefano Pilati has created multidimensional presentations and this time Weber was given the creative freedom to explore the YSL men’s collection from his own point of view, which we think is not necessarily clear here, but then again it's art/fashion! Check out the film here:

Fashion: Sorority Dresscode

Oh dear. It seems that some poor sorority girls are taking themselves way too seriously. Thanks to the Ladies over at Fashionista.com, we had a good laugh at the six pages worth of outrageous dress code requirements for Pi Phi’s Cornell chapter that someone forwarded them. You can actually read the whole thing on Fashionista but here are some of the highlights: "No satin dresses. No one looks good in satin dresses unless it’s from Betsey Johnson or Dolce & Gabbana, you weigh less than 130 pounds, have three pairs of Spanx on and it’s New Years Eve." OR "Bangles need to coordinate. I’m not saying you have to wear a Harry Winston wreath, but I am saying I won’t tolerate any gross plastic shizzzz. I love things on wrists and I demand earrings if your ears are pierced." We think they should be a little less Pi Phi, and a little more Delta House (Animal House, anyone?)

Fashion/Film: Tilda Swinton + Pringle of Scotland

Scottish fashion royalty & Academy Award winning actress Tilda Swinton looks very Tilda-ish for Pringle of Scotland in the Spring Summer 2010 campaign. Watch the short film by photographer Ryan McGinley here, and witness breathtaking images of Scotland.

Fashion/Photo: Steven Meisel

After shooting every cover of the magazine since 1988, Vogue Italia and photographer Steven Meisel have become synonomous. His most recent editorial, "Runway", is 80 page photo essay full of his favorite backstage and runway candids, so be sure to give it a look!

Fashion: More Menswear

As the rest of the menswear collections were unveiled this week in Milan, there was an overwhelming militaristic theme. Maybe it’s the economy, or general global mood, but designers were decidedly inspired to take aspects of traditional uniforms - from aviation to the trenches - and inject them into their fall collections. From Burberry's "hymn to the battlefield" to Armani's “military romanticism”, fashion houses scrambled to streamline old favorites in a year "where fashion has been badly damaged by the economic downturn, established markets like Russia vanished, China and India failed to fulfill their early promise and consumers in the United States, still key clients, continued to clutch their piggy banks." (NY Times) Make sure to catch up on the live streaming fashion shows or view the most recent menswear slideshow.

Fashion/Photo: The lie-down

A humorous article from journalist Eric Wilson ponders the prevalence of spring fashion ads featuring grounded models. Is it about submission? A sign of the economic times? Because they’re lazy? Have they given up trying? He’s asked a few experts about the photo trend in the new 2010 spring fashion advertisements.

Fashion: GQ’s Stylish Men

GQ’s February issue will be devoted to the 25 most stylish men in the world of 2010. Of course, this is no easy task, but they have taken a step in the right direction by putting Johnny Depp on its cover. Visit the website to cast your vote or revisit their fantastic past issue dedicated to GQ's "50 Most Stylish Men of the Past 50 Years."

Fashion/Film: Prada

Prada finally awoke to find themselves behind all the other fashion houses in terms of technology, so the last 72 hours have seen them catch up with a stylish vengeance. Since the Milan livestream of its menswear collection, Prada has continued with its explosion of online presence including higher-res video of the show on the Prada website, the full series of spring/summer 2010 women’s and men’s campaign photos shot by Steven Meisel, an ad campaign takeover of the New York Times homepage, an official Prada YouTube channel and following Dior's lead (also shot in Shanghai), a collaborative short film for Prada by artist Yang Fudong, called "First Spring."

Music Mondays: MLK Day

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States, where we reflect on his life (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) and the lasting legacy of his peaceful civil rights movement, a turning point in human history. The radio has been full of interesting conversations, historical soundbites and powerful music of that period, the latter seeming most fitting, as music has and will always act as a means to carry messages of hope & inspiration. "Jazz speaks for life," King said at a 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival. "The blues tell the story of life's difficulties — and, if you think for a moment, you realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music." Thus NPR's special today, "Songs Of The Civil Rights Movement", revisited everything from Gospel, Soul, Jazz and beyond. May we suggest our favorite voices on that playlist, Sam Cooke and Nina Simone, or take the time to revisit King's inspiring "I have a dream" speech from 1963.

Photo: Dennis Stock

Last week, photographer master Dennis Stock passed away at the age of 81, leaving behind extraordinary intimate and evocative portraits capturing the essence of jazz performance, rock stars that emerged during the Woodstock era, and Hollywood stars, in particular helping shape James Dean’s moody public persona. Mr. Stock was one of those photographers whose names are not widely known but whose work is instantly recognizable. Take some time to revisit his wonderful photos here.

Fashion: Posen & Gaultier Lookbook for Target

Earlier this week we revealed Zac Posen's lookbook for his Target collection, featuring a number of dresses, cardigans, jackets, skirts, shorts, tops, pants and bathing suits. Now comes the first look at Jean Paul Gaultier's collection for the retailer, also including everything from swimwear to leather jacket's. Posen won't become available until April 25th, and Gaultier on March 7th, so for now you can check out Zac's lookbook here, and Jean Paul's here. This looks promising!

Silver Screen Sundays: Golden Globes

Tonight is the 67th annual Golden Globes, hosted by the hilarious Ricky Gervais. The dresses! The movies! The....dresses! Of course, this is just the start of the award season, following the recent independent critic awards and soon The SAG awards and The Oscars. Now is your chance to catch up on the heavy favorites such as Up In The Air, Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds and Avatar, not to mention a host of other movies with stellar performances such as Invictus, An Education, Precious, A Serious Man, Crazy Heart, A Young Victoria & A Single Man, so make sure to check out the nominees and the Eonline slideshow to see all of the red carpet fashion.

Fashion: Kate Moss + Longchamp

Hot from her successful design work for Topshop, Kate Moss is to take on Longchamp. This time Kate will design a line of handbags for the French brand, having been the face of the French house for four years already. The leather collection will include 25 pieces in seven styles, including a stylish weekender, everyday tote and evening clutch. Expect classic Longchamp colors as well as a zebra print that will serve as Kate Moss for Longchamp's signature. The line arrives in Longchamp stores on February 11th and select department stores in March.

Fashion: Milan Menswear Fall/Winter 2010

Here we go! The first round of Fall/Winter 2010 collections have begun to be presented in Milan with the Menswear shows (Womenswear to follow next month again in Milan, New York & Paris). GQ's men.style.com will have all the up to the minute show details, or visit these designer websites for live streaming videos from Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana and even technology shy Prada.

Fashion: Cartier Exhibit

If you could use a little glitz & glamor, and you happen to live in the San Francisco area, get yourself over to the Legion of Honor Museum where an exhibit called "Cartier and America" showcases precious pieces the French jeweler made for America's mega-rich. As frivolous as this seems in this economy, sometimes a girl just needs a little sparkle! See photos or listen to the story here.

Fashion/Film: Cotillard + Dior

As we had mentioned in an earlier post, the rumor was true, David Lynch did indeed direct Marion Cotillard in Dior’s second short film for "Lady Dior" last month in Shanghai, though it will be a few months until its debut. But today, Dior will premiere their first music video, also staring Cotillard as a ‘working woman’ who transforms into a sultry singer every night. The film was shot in New York City and the song she sings, “Lady Rouge,” was written by Franz Ferdinand. Still waiting on the video, which we will update immediately. In the meantime, here are the behind the scenes with photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Fashion: Olympic Designers

The 2010 Winter Olympics are almost upon us, in beautiful Vancouver! With the Canadian teams stylishly clad by the Hudson's Bay Company, and Stephen Colbert getting much attention for taking over the sponsorship (and therefore the gear) of the US speedskating team, it is time to announce some other fashionable Olympic designers. Ralph Lauren has been announced as the official Olympic "parade outfitter" for all the United States athletes, and Vera Wang will be creating the competitive figure skating outfits, which is fitting because at one time, she wore them! Yes, Wang used to be a figure skater back in her youth who tried out for the national championships and earned a spot in the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame thanks to her costumes. Good luck to all of the athletes!

Fashion: SJP + Halston

At first it was just speculation, but today it has been confirmed that SATC's Sarah Jessica Parker will indeed be taking an "active design role" at Halston in regards to their newly-launched (and lower-priced) Heritage collection. Considering her past success with her own affordable fashion, Bitten ("Fashion is Not a Luxury") this may be a good fit, even if she had told WWD that she'd passed on a lot of high-fashion collaborations in the past because she "had no business" even thinking about some of them. "I can’t sketch; I can’t drape." We'll see!

Fashion: Exclusive Online Shopping

With the influx of members-only shopping sites giving exclusive access to designer sales such as Gilt Group, Ideeli and Beyondtherack, one might feel part of a special club. But with growing popularity, and the constant "sold out" banners blaring, this is obviously not the case. Now comes the news of the existence of Gilt Noir, a service only for the top .01 percent of Gilt's shoppers. According to WWD, Gilt Noir is a membership level for its top customers including Celerie Kemble, Marjorie Gubelman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Google vice president Marissa Mayer, who spent at least $10,000 last year through Gilt Groupe. In addition to previewing all sales 15 minutes before they go live, Noir members will have access to special events, such as wine tastings at Christie's, cooking classes with Waverly Inn chef John DeLucie and training sessions with the U.S. ski team in New Zealand. So happy online shopping and keep dreaming!

Fashion: Chanel-mania

We know the infamous Chanel double-C logo is a mark of luxury design, but on a samurai suit and ski equipment? (Karl Lagerfeld must be loving this!) As a tribute to Chanel, artist Tetsuya Noguchi's Chanel emblazoned samurai armor suit is made from "resin, cashew lacquer, cloth and glass, the exquisitely crafted protective suits sport the iconic double-C logo, allowing the wearer to flaunt his superior social status while crushing the enemy on the battlefield.” Additionally, Chanel has come out with its own line of skis and snowboards, complete with winter sport accessories such as goggles and poles. So what will it be - the snowy slopes or the battlefield?

Music Mondays: To Elvis on his 75th

Last week, on January 8th, Elvis Presley would have celebrated his 75th birthday so it seems only fitting that Music Mondays be dedicated to him. Whether or not you are a fan, it would have been nearly impossible for you to have escaped his music or his influence, so you might as well embrace it! Revisit some Elvis tunes by visiting the NPR special for a stream of hits and staff favorites, as well as the National Portrait Gallery that is celebrating his short life as the King of Rock 'n' Roll with Echoes Of Elvis, which will be on display through Aug. 29.

Fashion/Photo: Falling for Vogue Italia

Apparently Vogue Italia has a sense of humor! Photographer Steven Meisel and industry model fave Karlie Kloss teamed up on the cover of Italian Vogue to poke a little fun at those models who took a spill on the runway during the spring 2010 shows. The January issue features the second collage-based Vogue Italia in a row (the Twitpic December cover was first).

Silver Screen Sundays: Rebel Without a Cause

1955 saw James Dean immortalized as the moody, misunderstood rebel in "Rebel without a Cause", a character who many would try to emulate over the years. And though fashion would have been the furthest thing from "Jim Stark’s" (Dean) mind when he donned a t-shirt and red jacket for a night of trouble, the two items became essential fashion. (Co-star Natalie Wood looked pretty great too!) Filming in color, director Nicholas Ray and costumer Moss Mabry decided that a red jacket, not brown, would help the character stand out. Some sources credit Dean with the idea. Regardless of who thought it up, though, the red jacket became, as Variety editor Robert Hofler has described it, the symbol of “a generation’s despair.”

Fashion/Photo: St. John

Goodbye Angelina Jolie, fashion label St. John announced that model Karen Elson will become the new face of the brand for Spring 2010. According to the CEO Glenn McMahon, Jolie "overshadowed the brand" and the company would steer clear of using her (or other actresses) in their ads going forward. “We wanted to make a clean break from actresses and steer away from blondes and cleanse the palette,” he said and that Karen Elson was part of the brand's "evolution".

Fashion/TV: I Get That A Lot

Who knew Heidi Klum was so funny? Recently, she kept us laughing throughout her appearance on "I Get That a lot", the show that features celebrities tricking people in a case of supposed "mistaken identity." Working ordinary jobs, these celebrities confuse customers who can't decide if it's the actual celebrity or a look-alike. Watch Heidi in action.

Fashion/Photo: Lagerfeld goes Big...and Tattooed

Despite his opinions on plus-size models, Karl Lagerfeld still agreed to act as a guest photographer for V magazine’s size issue. Now an exclusive preview of the editorial titled “Coco a Go-Go” has been released on Models.com, starring burlesque dancer Miss Dirty Martini. And in other Lagerfeld related news, "Les Trompe L'Oeil de Chanel" temporary skin art that was so stunningly displayed on their models during the Spring 2010 shows, will be available for a limited time through Chanel.com. The body art will retail for $75, containing 55 distinct designs within each box.

Fashion/TV: Kell on Earth

This is seriously frightening. You want to see the ugly side of fashion PR? Bravo Television presents its new series "Kell on Earth" on February 1st, unleashing New York's Kelly Cutrone onto the world. Kelly is founder of the powerhouse PR firm People’s Revolution, a single mother, author of "If You Have To Cry, Go Outside" and sure to make you thankful you don't work in this part of the business. (Or perhaps you do, and then we certainly tip our hat to you.) Kelly & crew will be bringing you one designer and/or celebrity adventure after another, complete with a flurry of colorful language that usually accompany anyone in preparation for Fashion Week.

Fashion: Jil Sander J+ Uniqlo

Get ready for Jil Sander’s new J+ collection for Uniqlo! The fall product moved briskly despite mixed reviews, so perhaps the critics will be won over by Sander's Spring/Summer collection for the Japanese retailer. For spring, Jil Sander “introduces fresh perspectives on volume, teamed with perfect harmony in fiber, color, optics, and touch. Experimentation is essential, but subtle, leading to new interplays of material and motion.” The collection, which has been displayed in the store’s Oxford Street flagship windows all week, launches in London tomorrow morning, and next week, on January 14th, in the States.

Fashion: Burberry S/S10 Campaign

By now you have no doubt seen the new S/S 2010 Burberry campaign starring Emma Watson alongside her adorable brother, Alex, and model George Craig. Shot by Mario Testino, the photos are definitely fresh but also strangely teenage crush like for a giant like Burberry. Watch the behind the scenes below to hear creative director Christopher Bailey talk about his thoughts on the label, and don't forget to visit their clever Art of the Trench.

Music Mondays: New Year, New Tunes

Yes...we know...our Music Mondays have fallen behind but we will make up for it. New Tunes for a New Year! After listening to a recent NPR broadcast, we got all revved up for more music. Its daily music talk show, Soundcheck, talked about Artists To Hear in 2010, including the new albums from Vampire Weekend and MGMT, arriving January 12th, and the new Arcade Fire, Klaxons, Foals, Hot Chip are not far behind. Of course, don't forget about Stereomood if you feel like experimenting with new bands. Get on it!

Beauty: Celebrity Fragrances Welcome Beyonce

Another celebrity with a fragrance (yawn). Below is the new commercial for Beyonce's "Heat". Everyone has been jumping on this bandwagon due to the sheer volume of product they move and the money that keeps raking in. Case in point: A research group has composed a list of the best selling celebrity fragrances of all time, and the results may surprise you. Elizabeth Taylor's "White Diamonds" is at number one, having made approximately $67.2 million, second is Sean "Diddy" Combs' "Unforgivable" selling about $48.5 million and third is Celine Dion's fragrance. "Lovely" by Sarah Jessica Parker is #4, Derek Jeter "Driven" is #5, "Diavolo" by Antonio Banderas is #6.
Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears round out the bottom of the list. Really?

Fashion/Photo: Versace + Georgia May

England's Model of the year, Miss Georgia May Jagger, took a step up from her campaign with Hudson jeans by being featured in the new Versace Spring 2010 campaign. The ads, which were shot by Mario Testino, have slowly started to surface in the fashion mags and this was one of the first ones off the press.

Silver Screen Sundays: It Happened One Night

A precursor to every romantic comedy that came after, 1934's It Happened One Night starred Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. When Gable had trouble keeping up the pace while removing his undershirt in the famous “Walls of Jericho” scene, director Frank Capra suggested he just remove his shirt to reveal a bare chest. The scene was then considered so sexy, men stopped buying undershirts, leading to a rumor that one underwear manufacturer had tried to sue Columbia Pictures. As if to make up for it, the clothes Gable did wear in the film – Norfolk jacket, V-neck sweater and trench coat – rose in popularity as men around the nation imitated Gable. After the film took off at the box office, Gable decided that trench coats were his good luck charm and wore them in any film he could.

Fashion/Photo: Chanel Spring 2010

The New Chanel Spring/Summer 2010 Campaign is out, shot by none other than Karl Lagerfeld himself and starring some of his favorite models - Baptiste Giabiconi, Freja Beha and Claudia Schiffer. He and his team headed down to Buenos Aires to shoot the campaign, which was a welcome surprise after Chanel's spring fashion show barnyard theme. But the South American chic found in these elegant black and white photographs coupled with the stunning array of Chanel attire prove gorgeous as always.

Fashion/Tech: Designer websites

Fashion houses, despite their creative clout on the runway, have been surprisingly slow to bring the same level of authority and artistic vision to their Web sites. A great article by the NY Times takes a look at who is stylishly succeeding in this venture (Burberry) and who is not (Prada & Balenciaga). The trick is to remain fashionable and innovative which was achieved when Burberry launched artofthetrench.com, that presents street-level views of men and women in their trench coats, mainly taken by The Satorialist himself, Scott Schuman. Later people began submitting their own and so far, there have been 3.7 million picture views. Between this years groundbreaking runway shows streamed on the web (McQueen) and design houses utilizing social networks, 2010 should prove to be the most innovative year yet!

Music: Vogue features Indie

In its latest issue, Vogue has decided to feature eight of the hottest indie-music scene’s bands and put them into fashion by design houses Bottega Veneta, Balmain, and Balenciaga. Check out the article to see the slideshow of photos by Steven Meisel, hear the music and get the profiles of MGMT, Beirut, Adam Green, The Horrors, Vampire Weekend, Mika, Chester French, and the Golden Silvers. Fun!

Fashion/Cause: Hugo Boss' "1 Fragrance, 1 Tree"

Hugo Boss is expanding their philanthropic endeavors by teaming up with the French environmental organization Pur Project to create "One Fragrance, One Tree". The project will plant one tree in Peru's amazonian rainforest for every special-edition bottle of Hugo Element or Hugo Man produced. The massive Peruvian plantation purchased by the Boss/Pur project covers 800 hectares, about three times the size of Central Park. Each bottle of Boss' parfum is packaged with a handy "Tree Code," allowing customers to look up the exact location of the tree their purchase funded.

Fashion: Vogue's best of & Instyle's best dresses

InStyle Magazine has compiled a list of the 100 Best Dresses of the Decade (a seemingly impossible task). Most of these are pretty fabulous, but with so many fashion sources making these lists, there is certainly room to argue (Which we would. Where is the color?). Then there is Vogue's list of Top Best Models Of The Decade (#1 is Gemma Ward), Ten Best Dressed and last, but not least, is their "Most Stylish Women of 2009", with TV presenter Alexa Chung taking top honors. Take a look, talk amongst yourselves and here's to being even better in 2010!

Fashion/Quote: Cathryn Horyn

“Fashion is message. Do I look rich? Do I look available? Do I look like I get it? Fashion is also context. And in the year since the industry placed its absurdly bright hopes on Mrs. Obama and her wardrobe, much has changed and dimmed. Is this how a modern, educated, working woman wants to be viewed in her first historic year — as a maven, an icon? Who’s Barbie now?” Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn always knows how to stir things up, so read the rest of her recent article Wrapped in Their Identities where she explores the politics of fashion.