>> The third time was the charm for Costello Tagliapietra yesterday — after starting and stopping the runway music two times, the second of which included dimming the lights, the show finally got under way for the third and final time an hour after its scheduled start. Lucky for Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra, their designs made it worth the wait.

Their tailored lady got some edge, courtesy of Philip Crangi's black leather accessories and an airbrushed-on tattoo . Each girl sported a blue anchor with her initials under it, Miu Miu Fall 2008-style, to match the designers' own anchor and initial tattoos, and Christina Kruse got to show off the big cobra tattooed on her arm. An unconventional fabric choice — ultrasuede — gave a matte contrast to all the shiny charmeuse, and unexpected color combinations gave a real zing to the lineup. The only major problem came from the shoes, made by Giuseppe Zanotti for the show — a lot of girls had trouble navigating them, and Georgina Stojilkovic came close to falling.

*image: source