This winter, the female shoppers of New York will have a hard time finding the traditional bit of wool or cashmere to pull over their heads before venturing into the cold. Why? Because to walk into any retail store nowadays is to observe that the traditional entry point for sweaters no longer exists. Essentially two sleeves and an amorphous jumble of fabric, the sweater du jour circles the waist and ties to itself, or cinches with a belt. Occasionally, it buttons. As often as not, it doesn’t fasten at all, draping instead like a benevolent curtain over a holiday-augmented waistline or held tightly in place by the wearer herself in a sort of modest, self-swaddling posture (lest a gust of wind expose her midriff, perhaps).  read more »

As you may know by now, MTV's third-generation Laguna Beach spinoff The City, starring laconic Hills character Whitney Port, premieres on December 29. The reality show will track Ms. Port's relocation from Los Angeles to New York, where her superior fashion sense and interpersonal skills have landed her a job with Diane von Furstenburg. The producers--perhaps sensing that Ms. Port may not have the show-carrying magnetism of, say, Lauren Conrad--have also recruited long-suffering socialite Olivia Palermo (another DVF "employee"!) to serve as her guide to the mean streets of the meatpacking district. But, un-shockingly, Ms. Port's relationship with Ms. Palermo is already causing her some trouble!

In a preview clip posted to  read more »

Diane von Furstenberg on plastic surgery: "I know that a lot of people look at me and think, 'Why doesn't she do something to that face?' But I made a decision. I do yoga and I hike, but I won't do Botox. I know if I start doing things I will get insecure. You wear your own face. It is a little bit of your history, a little bit of who you are." [Vogue UK]

An email from a PR employee at Holly Dunlap's Hollywould line sent out to press earlier seems to indicate that the line is closing: "Many of you have heard that Hollywould is up for sale. Sadly, the press office is closing, and today is my last day... As of now, I do not know where I will be going, but I will stay in touch." [P6] 

Marc Jacobs has designed a limited edition Bugaboo stroller that sells for $1500. [Racked]   read more »

Most of the people who came to Camilla Morton’s book party at the Diane von Furstenberg showroom last Thursday night appeared to be models or DJs or photographers. Giselle Bündchen arrived in skintight leather pants. A man with a waxed handlebar mustache wandered about wearing glasses. One young lady had on an American Apparel leotard and platform heels that resembled nothing so much as toaster ovens.

Thirty-seven-year-old publisher Carrie Kania, who recently put out the American edition of Ms. Morton’s best-selling style book, A Year in High Heels, looked with excitement at her author’s fashionable friends, but spoke only to her colleagues from Harper Perennial, the small but proud paperback unit of HarperCollins that she has lovingly presided over since the fall of 2005.  read more »

Diane von Furstenberg is launching a blog tomorrow called Inside DVF on her website DVF.com that will include news, images of new items, horoscopes, and "cultural advice," as well as posts by Ms. Furstenberg herself. [Fashionista]

American Apparel CEO Dov Charney is being sued again, this time by a former employee who says he was pressured to fix the books by Mr. Charney so that the company appeared to be doing better than it was and could attract investors. [NYP] 

Helpful guidelines for the Comme des Garcons sale at H&M tomorrow! [Racked]  read more »

When asked about the Sex and the City sequel that Kim Cattrall recently confirmed, Sarah Jessica Parker said, "I'm thrilled to know Kim is excited but all the deals are not yet done." [Vogue UK] 

Marc Jacobs has cast model Raquel Zimmerman for his spring women's campaign and downtown artist Ryan McGinley for the men's collection. And former Marc Ronson-dater and daughter of Gavin Rossdale, Daisy Lowe, has been selected for the Marc by Marc campaign.  [WWD] 

Diane von Furstenberg is blogging about The Standard Hotel and her travels through Asia on her website. [DVF.com via Cityfile]  read more »

Even we didn't notice while staring at photos of Madonna at the her Filth and Wisdom premiere that her Chanel shoes had a heel in the shape of a gun. If only Sarah Palin would throw on a pair of those...[Vogue UK]

At the launch of her Wonder Woman-inspired collection and comic book, Diane von Furstenberg said that if she had a superpower, she would destroy all weapons. [The Cut]  

Thakoon Panichgul's sportswear line for Target will be out on Christmas Day. [WWD]   read more »

Irina Aleksander called around to find out the costumes prominent New Yorkers are wearing this Halloween. Celerie Kemble's going to need a lot of hairspray!

Ms. Aleksander also moseyed down to Diane von Furstenberg's meatpacking district store, where the fashion empress was throwing a party for Paper mag's Kim Hastreiter's new book about Geoffrey Beene.

And Spencer Morgan rang his old friend Chris Wilson to find out the real story behind his scandalous tale of sexual deviancy on board an American Airlines flight. It's, uh, not what you think!

We talked mob money with writer Gay Talese at the screening of Gomorrah.

After months of speculation, we got to the bottom of Marquee's temporary summer shutdown.

We tallied gifts, drank absinthe, and chatted with godfather Michael Musto at nightlife heir Liam McMullan's 21st birthday party.

Russell Crowe got a little testy at the Body of Lies premiere--par for the course, we suppose.

We partied with Diane von Furstenberg, Tory Burch, Fern Mallis, Martha Stewart and Rory and Elie Tahari as the CFDA welcomed its newest members.

On Tuesday evening, the bi-level roof of Elie and Rory Tahari's enviable Prince Street apartment was turned into a rooftop lounge with couches, bottle service, and a DJ station for a Council of Fashion Designers of America party welcoming 28 new members.

"I think it's been 10 months since we've begun planning this!" said Mr. Tahari. “It's always great to welcome new members into the community. I tell them how lucky they are because they are young and have a lot of opportunities available to them in the industry." The new members were pinned with floral boutonnieres instead of name tags so that everyone would know who they were.

The party was scheduled from 7 to 9pm; everyone could, therefore, get home in time to at least catch a part of the presidential debate. (CFDA President Diane von Furstenberg must have been looking forward to the debate, since she arrived and left in what seemed like a matter of minutes.)  read more »