It's a noble tradition: journalists going undercover and obscuring their real identity, in order to serve the public by bringing them the unvarnished truth about the real issues of the day. And no issue is currently more pressing than the one Eric Wilson takes on in today's Times: Given the grave economic situation, are the sales clerks at Madison Avenue boutiques still complete bitches?
• Jason Wu's Fashion Week show will be the second-hottest ticket in town right behind Marc Jacobs. [NYO]
• Isaac Mizrahi's debut collection for Liz Claiborne is now online and up for sale. [Fashionista]
• Not everyone is excited about Fashion Week moving to Lincoln Center. Like Anna Sui. [NYM]
• Anna Wintour is styling Adele for the Grammys. [NYM]
• Football player Stewart Bradley is interning at Elle. [Fashionista]
• Eric Wilson explains the difference between Hello Kitty and Barbie. [NYT]
Is it because there's a recession going on, or because the Times' Eric Wilson believes that nothing in the world is more important than cosmetics and skincare, that he's so very surprised about the absence of rioting in the streets yesterday morning, when department stores were giving away products in recompense for price-fixing? "The strangest thing about the scene in front of Bloomingdale's," he writes, "... was that there was no scene." Eerie! After all, why wouldn't you want to trek out in the snow for strictly one tube of mascara or jar of skin cream per customer, especially as nothing else important was going on?
The Met's Costume Institute Gala's increasing celebrity focus brings out the bitchy queen in the Times' Eric Wilson, who went around last night asking a bunch of poor helpless movie stars whether they'd heard of Paul Poiret, the man they were supposedly honoring. While he reports that America Ferrera "blinked gamely" when quizzed about the art deco-era French designer, he also mentions that "Jennifer Lopez, Renée Zellweger and Sandra Bullock seemed preoccupied with finding the bar" and that Harry Connick Jr. admitted (horrors!) that he'd "never heard of that person before." It is supposed to be all about the fashion, people! On that note, Scarlett Johansson wore kind of the worst dress imaginable.
How to explain the fact that antlers have replaced skulls as this year's (okay, and maybe last year's) de rigeur restaurant-decor and accessory motif? Eric Wilson, the New York Times' resident fop, was confused—he thought maybe it had something to do with Disney's Beauty and the Beast ("One may recall that it was the oafish Gaston... who delivers the line in song, 'I use antlers in all of my decorating.' So does most of Brooklyn.") So he turned to some hipness experts for clarication. Their motley assortment of answers may surprise, confuse, and delight you! Here are some faves.
