On last night's episode of Stylista, the contestants were divided into teams and tasked with devising a "shopping" page, one of those cheap-to-create catalogue-ish pages that highlight an alleged trend. When the hour of judgment rolled around, one team got roundly scolded by Joe Zee and Anne Slowey for not bothering to include store details and prices because, Anne frowned, what on earth is the point of looking at something if she cannot instantly totter off to purchase it? Elle would never feature clothes that aren't actually available to anyone, right? Um, not exactly, as the Times' Eric Wilson discovers during an intrepid investigation into what those three tantalizing little words, "price upon request," actually mean.

♦ John McCain canceled his appearance on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman tonight; Keith Olbermann will fill in instead. [HuffPo]
♦ The best (and worst) fall TV show ads. [THR]
♦ The end of the Sun is drawing near; the last paper may be published on Monday. [Gawker]
♦ NBC's Nightly News gained viewers in 2007-08; ABC and CBS both experienced declines. [TV Decoder]
♦ Did Harper's Bazaar photoshop its October cover featuring Kirsten Dunst? [WWD]
♦ Oprah Winfrey will lend her voice to the upcoming Disney flick The Princess and the Frog. [THR]
♦ Ad spending declined by 1.6% in the first half of 2008. [AdAge]
♦ Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho is coming to Broadway. [Variety]
♦ Meet the oldest working reporter in the country. [E&P]

The September issue of W magazine features actress and Lance Armstrong lover Kate Hudson glaring purposefully down her nose at the camera. "The look is a definite departure for her!" writes W's flack, enthusiastically. The look's not a departure for the magazine industry, though; it's strikingly similar to this 1994 Harper's Bazaar cover. There simply must be new ways of looking at the camera, people. Click to enlarge. [via J'Adore Joey]

• New details about Tina Brown's forthcoming (and Barry Diller-funded) news site: It's going to be called The Daily Beast in an homage the Evelyn Waugh novel, Scoop. [Baltimore Sun, via Gawker]

Classy fashion rag Harper's Bazaar ran a photo spread of insane model and television personality Tyra Banks dressed as possible first lady Michelle Obama. Why? Because... Tyra's black... and a lady? Sure! Daily Intel suggests that maybe the real Michelle Obama turned them down, but we're willing to give Bazaar's editors the benefit of the doubt and assume that this was their stupid, stupid plan from the very beginning. They released a little video from the shoot, and Tyra says some nonsense and a Bazaar editor says some nonsense and then they all go to White Castle, because they are all higher than you've ever been in your life. Video below!

Just in case you missed it, those photos of Tyra Banks as Michelle Obama in Harper's Bazaar are now online! [Harper's Bazaar]

Harper's Bazaar's much-discussed photo spread of Tyra Banks as Michelle Obama is finally online, and my but is it ambitious. Also, cringey: Model-industry booster Banks is depicted behind the desk in a (poor) imitation Oval Office, in a strapless gown at a formal state dinner and even, as pictured, laughing at a newspaper story about fat white bitters with President Barry Hussein, presumably after making elitist love in Harvard sweatshirts. Wasn't it just yesterday that it was politicians acting like fools in hopes of stealing some celebrity buzz, rather than the other way around? Presidential candidates were appearing on Saturday Night Live, the Daily Show and even professional wrestling matches to promote themselves. Barack Obama always seemed the most aloof in this process, and now it's clear why: He has as much to offer the celebrity-industrial complex as it offers him. [Harper's Bazaar via Wonkette]

• Mary-Kate Olsen is the last person federal investigators want to question before they close the Heath Ledger case. But the 4-foot-11, 90-pounder is refusing to talk unless she's granted immunity from prosecution. [NYP]

You know what's really heartwarming? When the world's most powerful celebrities manage to keep things in perspective, and realize that their little quibbles and irritations are nothing compared to the struggles average people face. Of course, that's not to suggest the famous are immune from real traumas, like when a fashion magazine comes to your house, takes pictures, and then slightly misdescribes one of those pictures in a caption.

Harper's Bazaar editrix Glenda Bailey visited Buckingham Palace last Wednesday when she was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for her "contributions to journalism and fashion." Unfortunately, the designation doesn't enable her to call herself a Dame; on the plus side, it's one honor that Anna Wintour can't claim. [WWD]

It has been many, many moons since Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt broke it off, but that doesn't mean that Gwyneth is immune to the jealousy that Angelina Jolie and her multi-national brood of infants inspires. In the new issue of Harper’s Bazaar, Paltrow tells the mag that, “I may force myself to [get pregnant] one more time because the result is so worth it...And also my [late] dad said to me that his only regret in life was that he had only two children and he didn't have more." Though we doubt Coldplay frontman Chris Martin finds these loving words inspiring when it comes to slipping into the sheets with his hooker-heeled wife, Paltrow seems to feel the Apocalypse will officially begin if he doesn't. You see, she’s just the best mother in the whole world (aside from Dina Lohan, that is), and “owes it to humanity” to produce another spawn. Also? Her late father was reincarnated as her hair,and chopping it off made her go “...aaah!” An explanation, after the jump:

Before Hillary Clinton showed us that she really does wear her heart on her sleeve (and it's a ladylike sleeve!) she backed out of a Vogue photo shoot because she was afraid of looking too feminine. Editor Anna Wintour was irked. But the Democratic candidate is featured in a February issue of Harper's Bazaar, along with six of the other running candidates. She is not, despite earlier reports, wearing a miniskirt and heels. After the jump, see the pictures of Clinton in all her high couture glory.

Last night, the fire alarm went off at the Harper's Bazaar holiday party! But the resulting video was incredibly boring. (I mean, it was like, a fire alarm. And some queen going, "Ooh there's a fire." There wasn't.) But, thanks to the magic of a tragic and lurid dance remix of the native sounds from the video (so glad I spent that $500 on Logic Pro 8!), now it looks and sounds almost sort of exciting and flashy! (Also the picture of the car helps somehow, no?) OMG THE DRAMA. THE CHIC, CHIC DRAMA! (Also, they were totes playing Grace Jones, so kudos.)

"The media went on a rampage, blaming me for the whole O.J. book debacle. They came out, guns blazing, and tried to kill me. I felt like Faye Dunaway's character in the final scene of Bonnie and Clyde. Bullets flying in every direction," former publisher Judith Regan writes in her hotly-anticipated Harper's Bazaar profile of herself. You know, the one where she talks about having sung 'My Way!' It's on newsstands now, and it is all about how she "took the blows." In fact, this phrase comes up several times. In one instance she writes that something happened "after a month of taking the blows without protection." Shots! Blows! Attempts on Judith's very life! What is fact here and what's hyperbole? Does Judith Regan believe in distinguishing between the two?

This "amazing" and fabulous opportunity of a lifetime—an auctioned-off internship at Harper's Bazaar—raises money for Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project. So blame The Divine Miss M for reinforcing the Haves' capability to purchase their credentials, at the same time as she raises money to restore neglected parks in economically-depressed 'hoods. Ah, the jaw-dropping irony. Or perhaps not so much—look who's a sponsor at the $50K-$99K level! Why, it's none other than the Hearst Corporation, parent publisher of Harpers Bazaar!

Boy, Lindsay Lohan is looking rough in that picture. Oh, wait! That's actually her Mom, Dina, but with enough oversaturated lighting, it sure is hard to tell, right? Come on, play along. "I don't want them to know I'm her mom. It's a whole 'nother demographic. People just go dark," the speckly cougar told Harper's Bazaar, adding that she is not above wearing Linday's castoff clothes: "If you can button it and clip it when you're in your 40s, you're going out." Is clubbing with one's underage daughter a good parenting strategy? Who knows. Also, is Lindsay an alcoholic? Dina says noooo. "Noooo! She is just a 20-year-old who had to reel it in." But Dina also says yes: "She's from an addictive personality genetically." No shit, lady.

Nope, not a Photoshop joke this time. Just a rather unfortunate but nevertheless unintentionally appropriate photo-spread break in Harper's Bazaar. Full spread after the jump, courtesy of the eagle-eyed goldenfiddle.

EIC Glenda Bailey, you've got some explaining to do. Where to start with this? Obviously, yes, it is a pregnant, naked picture of Britney Spears. No, no, it is not necessary. Isn't Bazaar a fashion magazine? Should it not aspire in the direction of Vogue rather than Perfect 10?

If nobody knows all your secrets quite like your doorman does, nobody knows a magazine quite like the dude who's helping coordinate its move into a new office tower. A guy involved with getting the Hearst titles out of their old offices en route to the Foster building (but: "I'm not a mover," he assured us) has learned a lot from his experience — that Bazaar girls are gorgeous and self-important, that CosmoGIRL! chicks drink communal beer, and that there's no way Hearst's new digs will be as cushy as Rodale's. We're skeptical on that last point, but, still Not-a-Mover's full report on the Hearst trek awaits after the jump.

• "Katie Couric's deal to move to CBS News is completed in principle, and an announcement that she is leaving NBC might come as early as this week." Which would be a relief, so we could finally stop hearing speculation about it. [TV Week]
• Budget Living's failure shows that indie mags just don't work anymore. But shhhhh... Ron Burkle might hear. [NYT]
• Jim Cramer says the Times should ditch paper and move entirely online. He's crazy, of course, but in that case also probably right. [NYM]
• The NYT's new web redesign — and the Journal's of a few weeks ago — are about creating more ad inventory and adding news aggregators. [Ad Age]
• Is Hearst looking to replace Glenda Bailey at Bazaar when her contract is up later this year? Well, no, says the company, and her numbers look good, too. [WWD]
• ESPN to start broadcasting dominoes games (matches?). Remarkably, this does not seem to be an April Fools joke. [NYT]
• NYO TV columnist Rebecca Dana has a signed picture of Richard Dawson on her mantelpiece. We're a little jealous, to be honest. [Jossip]