Eye candy of the week

The divine Ms. Katie, here at last night's UN-hosted "Raising Malawi" fundraiser, continues to raid my fantasy closet. Her geometric McQueen sheath makes me wanna fall in love with her all over again.Two of my favorites, ScarJo and Javier, doing the Grace/Jimmy thing in the new Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair. Chloë Sevigny in Elle UK modeling a Miu Miu so lovely (and hmm, so familiar...) I barely notice the retched pootie platform action going on down below.

Ripper-offers at Zara, please to take note of Rachel Roy's metallic mustard high-waisted skirt for one of your bazillion Fall collections. I'll take one in black, burgundy and gunmetal, too, if you have time. K'thanks.

Selma, Agyness -- lookie who just joined our club!

You might call it Angela-wear, but I *adore* this rosette-trimmed capelet from Koi Suwannagate's new Fall RTW collection.

After coming across this gem of a fun frock on Resurrection's website, I may have to make my way over to Mott St. while I'm in Manhattan this weekend...

Good to know even married supermodels have to walk off Saturday night shame now and again...

Ms. Teese upping the ante on stylish travel-wear. You say impractical, I say blueprint for next Friday's 6:05pm flight.

Rafaello's 'Lachey Way' aside, I plumb adore this long-time couple. I can only hope to one day find a man who looks this interested at a Fetherston fashion show...

I also adore this one on her own, especially when she takes a page from Ashley Olsen and pairs her breezy ballerina Marchesa dress with a slim-fitted LLJ.

Eye candy of the week

What the heck, y'all seemed eager to eat all the candy last week, so I figured it'd be a good idea to pass some more out.

Enjoy.

If I were more into handbags, I'd jump for joy at finding this Kelly-style vintage bag. At only $70, even the price smacks of decades gone by...

I was recently asked who my favorite current designer was for a blogger profile, and my answer -part of it, anyway- was that, for clothing I can afford (when it's on-sale), I'm definitely all about Beth Blake and Melissa Akey for Thread Social right now. This is a look from their Spring/Summer RTW collection, and I'm already stalking TS's online vendors in anticipation of its debut.

This is the prettiest Vicky B. has looked in years. I could be wrong, but I think it may be her new wrist tatt that's responsible for her dare I say, almost friendly-looking glow...

We may have broken up after the disturbingly vacant appearances you gave during promo week for that awful movie I know you're regretting right about now, but Katie, doll, we'll always have your outfits. This one, I'm proud to say, looks awfully similar to what I put together every chilly Saturday afternoon. It has "walking 10 blocks to Penn Quarter" written all over it.

Like a soothing, drop-drop-fizz-fizz after the SAG Awards heartburn - Joy Bryant adds a touch of class to the head-shakingly bad fare on the Welcome Home Roscoe Jones red carpet.

The side view is just as good, no?

KimKar in quite possibly the ugliest swimsuit the Calypso outlet ever did sell. But for serious, who's even looking at the suit? Even Kim can't help but glance at her goodies and think, "Gotta admit, I'm a lucky, lucky lady..."

I wasn't in love with the cut of the colorblocked Calvin Klein gown Jamie-Lynn Sigler wore to the SAG Awards last Sunday, however...

...I do believe I have a new pair of shoulders to adore.

Speaking of disappointing SAG dresses, thank goodness Kate rebounded from her Harley-inspired Balmain number with this kicky cobalt Lanvin mini. *Love*.

And while we're on the topic of Lanvin, let me please lust over this pre-Fall peek at Alber's upcoming collection (photo courtesy of Ms. Spinach)

Not crazy about the embellished Herrera dress, not crazy about all the Godiva (I'm a Sunkist Fruit Gems girl) but Ali Larter, as always, is so well put-together I had no choice but to dub her a definite piece of "eye candy".

Forgive me, readers, for I actually like a D&G dress...

Some guilty confessions and surprising realizations I can't keep to myself any longer:

After seeing this dress on both Revolve and Saks' websites and then triple-checking with the Google that my eyes didn't, in fact, deceive me, I have to concede I am no longer able to say I hate everything Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have ever designed. It hurts, but that's life. On the bright side, it's not like I don't still have Roberto Cavalli and Beyoncé to rely on for consistent production of makes-me-wince clothing. I've contemplated these Dell'Acqua's as a 'Sugar Daddy' offering since the day they debuted in Bop's designer boutique over a month ago, but for some reason I've hesitated. I guess I just didn't want to deal with all the "but I thought you hated ankle straps" and "with your calves you really oughtn't wear an ankle strap" comments their presence on my blog was sure to elicit. I'm not sure whether it's their prick-point toe, their intermixed colors and materials or their sneaky, hidden platform that has me tilting my head and sighing each time I look at them, but whatever it is, I'm no longer hiding from the world that I likey these a lotty.
I want a jumpsuit. Or playsuit. Whatever this sexy, space-cadet looking thing is called, I want it, and I wanna wear it with five-inch matte-metallic heels and one of those crazy, super-structured Balenciaga jackets. Not to work or to a wedding, of course, but maybe to cocktails at the Mayflower...God, how I love the crowd at Town & Country on a weeknight...
For only the second time in my life, I'm finding it hard to deny that a dress made of nothing but black leather can actually be sexy in a non-streetwalker sense. I crave this little number in the worst way, but knowing my luck it's probably not only another Dolce & Gabbana anomaly but also so outlandishly expensive even HRL would hesitate.
After seeing this interview, I actually feel guilty for liking Katie as much as I do. Or did, rather. Her story sure is an intoxicating one, but its novelty quickly fell to the floor when I had no choice but to accept that there isn't an ounce of wry humor, charm or playful beguile about her -- just a bunch of sophisticated knits, Nicole Richie sunglasses and biannual haircuts. Such a shame...


Any fashion-related confessions you'd like to share?

Still time to Tivo!

Today (Monday, January 14th)

Katie on "Good Morning America": ABC, sometime between 7-9am

Katie on "Live! with Regis & Kelly": ABC, approximately 9:20am

Katie on "Late Night with Dave Letterman": CBS, approximately 11:50pmGoing bare-legged in New York in January makes me go hmmm...

It must be croppin' season!

After the weightiness of yesterday's post, all I wanted to do last night was a put together a piece on pretty dresses.

I was even going to call it "The pretty dress post" or perhaps something simpler like "Pretty Dresses - yay!" or "These dresses - pretty, no?"

In it, I was going to include a brief, substance-free intro on why owning a pretty dress makes a girl feel pretty and how when a girl feels pretty, even if she's not, she somehow magically becomes pretty (eye roll), and so on and so forth.

But just as I was about to find this pretty lady 11 or 12 pretty friends, I checked my inbox and found no fewer than six enthusiastic e-mails from readers either requesting I write a short-hair post or specifically asking me for my stylist's name* so they, too, could take the pixie plunge.

It seems there's something in the DC air that has women hankerin' for a croppin', and about that I could not be more pleased! I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is nothing more confidence-boosting than catching a glimpse of your hair in the mirror, even on a bad skin/hair/waistline day, and thinking to yourself, "I don't want to change a thing."

And what's even more gratifying than that is when those same words involuntarily come running out of your mouth in fierce Tyra fashion when a smug critic likens you to a Thai ladyboy or Christian from "Project Runway." Until I went super-short last July, I'd never had a cut about which I felt so protective -- not even close.

But now that I do, I'm addicted, my standards have risen, and there will for sure be no going back to letting myself live with ho-hum hair.

Just to be clear, I'm not implying long hair is always ho-hum and short hair is always va-va-voom -not at all, I mean, hello and hello- but I am saying there is a strong tendency for women with longer hair to lazily rely on their length to make their looks look more pulled-together. A fabulous short cut, by virtue of its relative rarity alone, requires much less of a day-to-day time and product investment to make a strong statement.

As with a strapless neckline and short-shorts, however, not everyone is a good candidate for short hair; be sure to rely on your stylist's honest opinion before you opt for the chop.

So anyhoo, for those who asked and also for those who will inevitably tell me I should grow out my "Hungry Like the Wolf" hair, here below are some of my favorite above-the-shoulder lock looks, in order from boldest to longest.

Enjoy!

Swedish Model
(Summer 2007)

Natalie Portman
(Winter 2006)Selma Blair
(Summer 2007)

Elisha Cuthbert**
(Winter 2007/'08)

Audrey Tautou
(Summer 2006)
Agyness Deyn
(Fall 2007)

Bop Model
(Winter 2008)

Katie Holmes 2.0

(Winter 2008)

Katie Holmes 1.0
(Fall 2007)

Paris Hilton
(Winter 2007/'08)

*Karen Doron, PIAF Salon, (202) 783-3334
** your Editrix's favorite (after her own, of course)

Taking an 'us' day tomorrow...

I do apologize, but we're both far too depressed to write tomorrow's post now that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has formally announced there will in fact not be a televised Golden Globe Awards this year.

What do these people expect Mum to do, retool her workout schedule again now that she won't be making and consuming her favorite red carpet snacks all day on Sunday?

(silence)

It's just not fair.

48 days and counting,
Montesquieu

p.s. these new pictures of Katie Holmes looking classically beautiful in a one-shouldered draped ivory Lanvin gown at tonight's Critics' Choice Awards only makes me sadder...just imagine the stunner she'd have worn this Sunday!