>> Courtesy of The Observer:

When Tom Ford first approached Carine Roitfeld and Mario Testino to work with him, they refused. 'But he called, he called, he called. And one day he come to visit us on a shoot and we said, "Oh, he is very good-looking ... Let's do the job with him!"'

I love that this anecdote is so telling about the way the fashion industry (and the world, really) works:  to get noticed, you must be insanely persistent.  And it doesn't hurt if you're pretty. 

More attitude from Carine here.

>>  I'm not going to spend much time on the Oscars, because they were highly uninspiring.  No favorite dresses this time around, no one made me stop and wow.  I don't like to say that, but it's true.  And sometimes truth hurts.  Where's Michelle Williams when you need her?  Even Bjork, where's Bjork -- at least her infamous swan dress (so shoot me, it grew on me) had personality. 
Bits and pieces of note:  the salmon color of Gwyneth's dress (beautiful), the clashing black and navy and fringe! of Portia's dress (loved the braided back), and the spiral seams of Reese's dress (sigh, Olivier).  Oh, and Andre Leon Talley, stick to your day job, darling.  Don't do styling (O Jennifer Hudson, the travesty) or live interviewing on television.  Or practice more in front of the mirror beforehand, get all those talkingwaytoofast jitters out.