>>  I've been obsessed with the idea of a peeptoe boot ever since Prada did it for last spring, so seeing this picture The Sartorialist took of one of my favorite stylists ever, Vogue Paris' fashion director Emmanuelle Alt, with her in Fendi peeptoe booties, made me love her just that much more. 
Also, I would really like to obtain her shoes.  There's just something so unexpected about having a peeptoe in a shoe that is for all utility supposed to keep your foot warm.  I think that's what attracts me so much -- that element of surprise. 

>>  A variation on Little Edie's trademark headscarf/ headsweater/ headtowel was already seen at Prada, but will fashion be having another Grey Gardens moment again soon?   The movie has inspired countless editorials since it debuted in 1975, most famously Steven Meisel's for Vogue Italia in 1999, but with a Grey Gardens musical showing on Broadway starting next month, and a remake of the film with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange coming out next year, you could be seeing big brooches on heads and skirts worn upside down before you know it.  Those Beale women, they were staunch (S-T-A-U-N-C-H) characters, after all.

>>  I know, I am such a purist.  When I saw that Franca Sozzani had decided to put Nicole Richie on the cover of Vogue Italia's October 2006 issue, I thought I would just close my eyes, ignore it, and it would eventually go away.  I know Steven Meisel shot Nicole and people like Lance Bass, Paris Hilton, and Kathy Griffin in the accompanying editorial inside as a mockery of tabloid magazines, but really.  We have enough tabloids.  I've been holding onto the creativity that goes into the editorials we usually see in Vogue Italia (and also Vogue Paris) for dear life.   They are my monthly picture bibles.
To make it worse, now I'm hearing rumors that Paris Hilton is on an upcoming cover of Vogue Paris.  All I can hope for is that I will be very pleasantly surprised.

>>  After yesterday's fantastic show, I kind of went on a McQueen rampage.  The product of said rampage?  Some videos of all the wonderful productions McQueen has done to complement his runway shows in the past.  We're talking models-as-pawns in a live game of chess, we're talking car painting robot arms attacking Shalom Harlow, and my personal favorite, McQueen's Spring/Summer 1998 runway show formerly known as "The Golden Shower."  (His sponsor didn't like the suggestive name -- but you have to admit, it is so quintessentially McQueen.)  Seriously, these productions are jawdropping, make-you-wish-you-were-there -- the way a fashion show should.

A clip from "The Golden Shower":

Go here to see another (better quality) clip from "The Golden Shower" show, and then use the sidebar on the left to catch some other McQueen show clips -- if I may suggest, make sure you at least watch the Spring/Summer 1999 and Spring/Summer 2005 (close seconds for me).

>>  I was beginning to be worried about what to look forward to next spring, this season's shows have been for the most part uninspired.  Like everyone's creative juices weren't flowing quite right. 
But leave it to McQueen to save the season.  His demicouture dresses, influenced by trapped petals, Goya drawings, Mexican dress and the Marchioness Luisa Casati, are just as expected -- absolutely beautiful.

More to come tomorrow when the pictures are better.  A tiny video of the finale, complete with orchestral version of the Stones' Paint it Black can be seen here.

>>  M. Yves Saint Laurent has reportedly collapsed near the YSL boutique in Paris.  Hopefully he will recover quickly, and nothing serious has happened...

EDIT:  Reuters is reporting from a spokeswoman for YSL:

Monsieur Saint Laurent did not have a heart attack.  He just missed the curb, dropping into his car, and he fell.  He's fine and he did not go to the hospital.

Phew.  I was shocked to even hear that the reclusive M. Saint Laurent was out and about, but so glad to hear he's okay.

>> After the prototype issue sold out, DVD cum magazine FLY is at it again.  The first official issue, "Words Remembered," drops today, featuring contributions from Karl Lagerfeld, Hussein Chalayan, Boudicca, Thom Browne, Zac Posen, and Alice Roi.  The trailer for the issue once again features a great song (and the requisite beautiful footage) -- enticing indeed.

>> Courtesy of style.com:

Have people finally had it with front-row celebrities and the inevitable delays and other hassles they cause? One designer, whose show is among the most coveted and hard-to-come-by invites of the week, is considering declining a request for tickets from fashion week's most omnipresent (and, thanks to her bulked-up bodyguards, most exasperating) celeb, Janet Jackson.

My guess?  McQueen.  And I love him for that.  Especially because Janet took Hilary Alexander's front row seat at YSL.

The whole of the celebrity hijinks, as WWD tells it: 

The celebrity scene at Yves Saint Laurent Thursday evening became a bit little untidy as expected guests Katie Holmes and Victoria Beckham were nowhere to be seen just as the show was ready to get under way. It was then that a late-arriving Lenny Kravitz was ushered to the seats destined for the two stars. Just as the lights dimmed and the music kicked in, Janet Jackson and her posse suddenly rambled in to find their seats already filled. Not to worry, The Daily Telegraph's fashion scribe, Hilary Alexander, sacrificed her seat to the songstress. But that wasn't the end. Ten minutes into the show, Holmes and Beckham arrived together. They had to stand for awhile, but eventually seats were found for the two late arrivals. The more punctual glitterati include Kanye West, Catherine Deneuve, Betty Catroux and Pierre Bergé.

Sad that the real YSL VIPs -- Deneuve, Catroux, and Berge -- can all make it on time, but the other self-important VIPs cannot.

>> Snap up all your favorite pieces at Topshop, there could be trouble in paradise.  Jane Shepherdson, the director widely credited with turning Topshop into a brand the Kate Mosses of the world will proudly wear, is threatening to quit, ironically, because of Kate Moss. 
Ms. Shepherdson seems less than happy with the decision to hire Kate as a designer -- doesn't feel that she was properly consulted. 
It's too bad that if this shakeup does go through, it will affect all of us Americans who will be getting Topshop (online and on land) just as the good goes away.

EDIT:  It is now confirmed that Jane Shepherdson has quit her position as brand director at Topshop.  Sir Philip Green, owner of Topshop's parent company Arcadia, is denying that Ms. Shepherdson's decision had anything to do with Kate.  "She was in on all the discussions," he said.