Still down for the count...

Despite yesterday's feeble attempts at existing, I am sorry to report I am still quite near the precipice of death and thus won't be joining you today or probably even tomorrow for our regularly schedule blog posts.

For serious, if you don't believe me, ask any one of my friends who had the displeasure of hearing the emphysema-plus-bronchitis-plus-Demi-Moore tenor of my voice at any point during the past 96 hours.

Not pretty.

Anyhoo, enough about me (and that means no more text messages with photos of my thermometer under self-pitying subject headings like "boo :-("), while I'm away please to check out all the prettiness going on in Paris this week and the links at right I've labeled "inspiring irreverence" -- particularly the most recent addition, an often witty, always spot-on, brand new blog plainly named, "Stuff White People Like."

I laughed particularly hard at numbers 28, 47 and 63.

Oh, and number 20, of course. So true!

A final tip of the hat to Jon Stewart's only funny quip of the Oscar broadcast -- his deadpan-delivered praise of Cate Blanchett, an actress whose range is so wide, he waxed, she even played the role of the pitbull that attacked Josh Brolin in No Country For Old Men.

Funny stuff.

staying away for real this time,
Johanna

Eye candy of the week

She may drink her own breast milk and be the kind to leave a Post-It in her friend's apartment reminding her to recycle, but with her asymmetrically shaved pixie and super lean runway frame, 24 year old Claire from NYC was the easy choice to be my prized pony for this, the tenth (!) installment of "America's Next Top Model."

Here, a video introduction:

It's so true what they say about typecasting. Luke Perry and Jennie Garth have grown up, gotten married, raised children, ridden bulls and danced the cha-cha-cha, but try as I may, these two together, even at some random event called "Chevy Rocks!", will always make me think first and foremost of Kelly's face after Brenda skewered her (in front of Dylan!) with the classic, "I was always taught that if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck…"

HRL, take note, Rihanna at last night's Brit Awards is your eye makeup blueprint for my "Jumpsuit Mandatory" birthday celebration. Tick tock, woman, get to practicing!

After enduring four straight days of not being able to avoid Lindsay Lohan's painfully unsexy attempt at recreating Marilyn's "Last Sitting" (not to mention her mother's insufferable interviews pertaining thereto), I've come up with an idea.

How about we take this young curvy thing here...
And make some Jayne Mansfield magic?
My favorite photo of Scott's this week captured all that I love about a well-dressed man: fitted, formal, polished and neat. The yellow accent of eccentricity, the silvery tousle and the Gucci boutique backdrop certainly don't hurt, either...

After I figure out the genesis behind Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi's decision to anoint themselves "6267," I'm going to place at the tippy top of my wishlist their breathtaking take on the perfect formal showpiece coat.Or at least let it share top billing with this front-draped, skinny-cinched Bottega Veneta sheath...
...and this tiered one-sleeve Marni blouse peeking out from under this structured coat, which, if there's room, I might slide somewhere else in my top 10.
I know presidential politics are and should be rooted in substance, but let's suspend reason for a second and imagine how cool it would be if our First Family looked like this instead of this?

My ticket on the Megan Fox Express has long since expired -she's just too one-dimensional is what it comes down to- but holy wow, that's one hard to miss rib tatt she's got there. I don't really care what it says (if you do, click here), I'm just in awe of a woman with that little protective fat who chose the most painful part of the body on which to have a needle create not just a small fairy or the Chinese character for "serenity" but something of the that-must've-taken-a-good-45-minutes variety. Color me impressed, MegFo.

You hate 'em, but I can't seem to get enough

Good ruffle-age
Derek Lam

Great ruffle-age
3.1 Phillip LimOff the charts ruffle-age
Peter Som for Bill Blass

Falling all over myself with the new Fall fashions

It's still very early in the game, and those shows to which I'm looking most forward -namely Lanvin, Brian Reyes, Ralph Lauren and Rodarte- have yet to send their looks down the catwalk, but judging from what I've clicked through thus far on Style.com, the Fall/Winter 2008 RTW collections look to be pretty darn spectacular.

Full of muted, structured garments, leather jackets, patent detailing and lovely little bows, this season's crop almost makes me want to skip over the next eight months and go straight to September.

Here below is the best of the best so far -- enjoy.

Mini-ifying the '50s cocktail dress*
Erin Fetherston

Gauzy layering adds look-at-me dimension to a done-before dress
Douglas Hannant

Pairing simple matte with structured sheen makes basic black anything but
Alexandre HerchcovitchCovering it all up lets your outline (and the draping) steal the show*
Juan Carlos Obando

Loving an LLJ was never so easy...
Katy Rodriguez

Proving leather accents can be edgy and elegant
Katy Rodriguez

Mixing '80s geometric with modern detailing
Jeremy Laing

Harmoniously juxtaposing rough with smooth, muted with citrus
Rachel Roy

Layering slim upon slim upon slim, school-girl style
Rag & BoneFeaturing my favorite color combination for Fall
Sari Gueron

Making bows look a little less precious
United Bamboo

Taking the tunic from big and blousy to slim and structured
Vera Wang Lavender Label

Combining everything I love in one outfit: leather, ruffles, and looking like a lady*
Yigal Azrouël

*your Editrix's favorites
**all photos taken from Style.com

Eye candy of the week

One of the time-saving tricks I've learned over the past year is that when a picture strikes me as blogworthy -no matter if I have or haven't a post in mind for which it will be of use- I always save it to a folder on my desktop labeled, "eye candy."

For days like this one when I don't have time to put together a thoughtfully written piece, that folder sure does come in handy.

Below you'll find my highlights from this week's prettiest, unused photos.

Enjoy.

The 40-year old First Girlfriend of France, Carli Bruni, from both the front...
...and the back. (well played, Mssr. Sarkozy)
The new Esquire cover. Even women will have a hard time tearing their eyes away from this leg-fest...
Miss Dita arriving at the Jardin des Tuileries for the Dior Haute Couture show on Monday......and Lacroix on Tuesday......and Gaultier on Wednesday...My favorite men's look of the RTW season (from Lanvin):My favorite women's look of the Haute Couture season (from Lacroix):
A take-your-breath-away photo from the Sartorialist:
Dita's Mouret sheath, Claudia's long, long limbs and Vick's Louboutins -- perfection.

My new Toys "R" Us catalogue

Remember when we were kids and the phonebook sized Toys "R" Us catalogue arrived a good two months before our parents even broached the subject of a Christmas wishlist? Remember how seemingly endless the options were, with pages and pages and sections and sections of Barbies, Milton Bradley board games, Nerf guns, Fisher Price castles and My Little Pony grooming stations?

You knew early on you wouldn't unwrap every item whose page you dog-eared or even every item that made it onto your Christmas Wishlist through the careful vetting process that was the do-I-want-it-or-do-I-really-really-want-it? test, but even that - the power of the unknown - added an angle of mystery to the anticipation and fantasy of it all.

That time of year was, quite simply, one of the most enjoyable parts of being one of those little people who don't yet drink or have sex.

Well, now, 20 years later, I still experience that same brand of unadulterated joy when I electronically flip through the pages of my grown-up version of the toy catalogue better known as Style.com's comprehensive Fashion Week(s) coverage.

I know, I know, none of us necessarily need '50s-inspired cocktail dresses, plunge-neck evening gowns, high-waisted skirts or ruffle-front blouses to enjoy fulfilled lives, but just like the nine year old who comes across the new-in-'89 talking, walking, eating, drinking, pissing, bath-loving Cabbage Patch doll that causes in her belly such a powerful and involuntary "must have that" desire she completely forgets she already has in her possession 12 Babyland General Hospital birth certificates, quite similar is my predicament when I click on "Oscar de la Renta," "Marchesa," or "Jason Wu."

Me have, me know, but me want, too. Me so very much want.

Santa, for you:

Temperley

Ralph Lauren

Proenza Schouler

Oscar de la Renta

Marchesa

Malandrino Couture

Lela Rose

Jill Stuart

Jason Wu

Doo.Ri

Cynthia Rowley

Bill Blass