>> THE MODELIZER —Breaking news: Gisele Bundchen may or may not be engaged to quarterback boyfriend of two years Tom Brady.  Rumors floated around that he proposed on a private flight Christmas Eve with her parents present, but Gisele's twin sister and Tom's father denied the reports.  Gisele was later photographed, sans ring, but some sources still seem to believe in the engagement.  The two were supposedly ring shopping recently . . . [Boston Globe, Boston Herald, E! Online]  
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>> A month ago, Gisele Bundchen was spotted in LA taping a music video as favor to a friend, and the finished product for Blackcowboy's "Come On" video has finally debuted.  So will her performance become as iconic as Stephanie Seymour's in "November Rain," the supermodels' in "Freedom" or Kate Moss's in "I Just Don't Know What to do With Myself"?  I'm going to go with no.

>> Hints at the 2009 Costume Institute Gala theme have been swirling since May — first, it was thought to be an ode to Marc Jacobs, and then an ode to fashion muses.  Now that the official announcement has come out, we learn that both subjects are involved, just not quite in the way that was originally thought: the May 4 gala rings in "The Model as Muse," with Marc Jacobs as honorary chair, and Kate Moss, Anna Wintour, and Justin Timberlake as co-chairs.

The accompanying exhibit, which runs May 6 to Aug. 9, will explore the evolution of models and "their roles in projecting and sometimes inspiring the fashion of their respective eras," with special focus on one of the first publicly known models, Marion Morehouse; the first supermodel, Lisa Fonssagrives; fifties mannequins Suzy Parker, Dovima, Sunny Harnett, and Dorian Leigh; sixties icons Jean Shrimpton, Moffitt, Twiggy, and Veruschka; Seventies faces Jerry Hall, Iman, and Janice Dickinson; the supermodel trinity of Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell; Nineties “It” girls Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Nadja Auermann, and Shalom Harlow; and more recently, Gisele Bundchen.

As Harold Koda, curator of the Costume Institute, explained: "We look at the power of clothing, fashion photography and the model to project the look of an era. With a mere gesture, or the line of her body, a truly stellar model can sum up the attitude of her time, creating an alluring synergy between herself and the clothing to communicate a designer’s message to the wider world."

Seventy haute couture and ready-to-wear looks, plus photography, runway images, and video footage of models, rock stars, socialites and actresses who set the tone for each era will emphasize the theme, but most exciting of all — think of all the models who will be representing at the gala.
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>> THE MODELIZER — Some were calling the rumors yesterday about a Gisele Bundchen-Tom Brady wedding reception at Tavern on the Green a PR plant, and his "shocked" friends agree . . . mostly: "I really doubt (a wedding) is happening, but stranger things have happened."  So I guess we're back to square one. [Page Six, Boston Herald]

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>> Yesterday, the New York Daily News published a list of fashion's 50 most powerful New Yorkers. All the usual suspects are there — Anna Wintour (#1, of course), Marc Jacobs (#3), Diane von Furstenberg (#8), Gisele Bundchen (#4) — but there are also some lesser-known additions, most of whom have interesting anecdotes. 

Among them is Betsy Pearce (#20), the lawyer who brokered Phoebe Philo going to Chloe and Nicholas Ghesquiere moving to Balenciaga; Michael Oliver (#30), the store manager at 'Wichcraft in Bryant Park, who claims to have served 10,000 shots of espresso during Fall 2008 fashion week; and "Mean Christine" Chin (#34), the whose facials simultaneously induces fear and cull the best out of models's skin.
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»Kate Moss spent yesterday hanging out in Ibiza with Sir Philip Green and his daughter Chloe [PopSugar]

»Gisele Bundchen is making a one-of-a-kind calendar of herself for Tom Brady's birthday [OK! Magazine]

»A "major plan by a very directional client" is being built around Toni Garrn [TI]

»Bee Shaffer celebrated her 21st birthday dinner last night at Morandi [FWD]

»Sean Avery is now dating Calvin Klein's ex-wife, Kelly Klein [Page Six]

»The Preen show at New York Fashion Week will be minus Thea Bregazzi, who is staying London to have her and fellow Preen designer-cum-partner Justin Thornton's baby [Style File]

»Despite rumors to the contrary, Andre Leon Talley does not dress Michelle Obama [Style File]

»Taylor Momsen, Miu Miu campaign girl in the making? [Fashionista]

»Sass & Bide have pulled out of New Fashion Week [FWD]
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>> THE MODELIZER —Gisele Bundchen may have made her millions with her prime body real estate, but she's now trying to rid herself of real estate of a different kind.  She's just relisted her West Village penthouse, which spans three floors and is connected by a spiral staircase, at $5.9 million. [WSJ]