Anna Wintour's sequined, seahorse-looking Karl Lagerfeld dress was controversial back when the Vogue ruler wore it to the Costume Institute gala in May. Time's final verdict is another slap to the embattled editor.

Crazy old Betsey Johnson can't afford a runway show during New York's big February Fashion Week, nor can Carmen Marc Valvo. Meanwhile, black is the new black. Depressing.

• Glamour's list of 2008's style dos and don'ts is now online. We'll leave it to you to guess where this outfit worn by Jodi Marsh landed. [Glamour]
• Marc Jacobs chats about his new Stephen Sprouse-inspired collection for Louis Vuitton. [SF]
• Carmen Marc Valvo has decided against staging a runway show at Fashion Week in February. [WSJ]
• Barack Obama has already picked out his tux for the inauguration, but a few designers share their sketches anyway. [WWD]
• Mayor Michael Bloomberg went holiday shopping on Saturday and picked up Diana Taylor a pair of $29.99 fleece gloves at Modell's Sporting Goods. Times are tough, clearly. [NYT]

Bedbugs aren't just for dirty hovels like Fox News and hipster Bushwick. The filthy bloodsuckers have allegedly infested the very flower of our national womanhood—the offices of Marie Claire:

For weeks, the Anna Wintour rumors coming out of Condé Nast concerned the Vogue queen's failures and purportedly impending departure. Now someone is spreading word about the Dear Editor's glorious success. Hmm.

• Tim Gunn says he and Heidi Klum are "despondent" over the "horrible, nasty" fight over Project Runway. "We worry that season six will never be seen by anyone," he says. Us, too! [WB]
• Tory Burch's new meatpacking store opened last night with very little fanfare. [WSJ]
• Dolce & Gabbana is launching a makeup line early next year. And rumor has it Scarlett Johansson will be the face of the ad campaign. [WWD, SF]
• Matthew Williamson is in expansion mode. He's planning to launch a menswear line. [Vogue UK]
• Depressed? Single? Go get some Botox! Says Tom Ford: "A little bit of it between the brows can make you look less stern and more approachable. Who needs to frown, anyway?" [Details]

Is Karl Lagerfeld doing anything to adjust to the new economic climate? Sort of! The 85-pound designer tells Germany weekly Die Zeit that he's been busy tightening his belt in recent weeks and just moved into a smaller house in Paris. And even though he recently purchased a house in Vermont, he'd like to point out that it's a modest affair. (It's "very Emily Dickinson... in fact it's almost Puritanical.") Of course, since this is Karl Lagerfeld we're talking about, he adds that there are certain things that just cannot be sacrificed. Like his "chambermaid, chauffeur and chef," who are "still musts." And he doesn't have any plans to trade in his three Hummers: "I don't want to drive at the same level as the others." Who does?

Has marriage to a vertically-challenged head of state robbed France's First Lady of her sense of humor? Carla Bruni Sarkozy—whose party trick used to be making her boobs dance individually—is now suing a French clothing chain for slapping her famous nude photo on their seasonal shopping bags. It could be worse: A few weeks ago Sarkozy tried (and failed) to ban the sale of a voodoo doll in his image, which has since turned into a big seller in Paris this holiday season. [Telegraph]

The Post had a fun time this morning with two Fashion Institute students who giggled about being arrested for dealing coke. Now the school assures everyone: there are no drugs on campus any more:

• Shopping for high-end luxury products during a recession must be done covertly and in private, and must not be discussed with outsiders under any circumstances. [NYT]
• Stefano Gabbana has lots to say about the fashion biz. And seasonal fruit. [WWD]
• Saks is closing 16 of its bridal salons. [WWD]
• It looks like Agyness Deyn has a fresh fur scandal on her hands. [Daily Mail]
• Why did Tara Subkoff celebrate her birthday last night at the Carlyle? "I'm getting a little bit older and figured I needed to start making the shift." [SF]
• Diptyque and amyl nitrite: Kate Moss's winning combo. [ModelsBlog]
• Model Alessandra Ambrosio has launched a YouTube channel. [YouTube]
• Fashion mags: More nudity, less fashion. [R29]
• Two FIT students were busted last night for running a coke ring. [NYP]

We should start off by saying that Lauren Bush is our favorite member of the Bush family. In fact, sometimes we forget that her uncle is the President, and what could be a greater compliment than that? She even deserves credit for dating David Lauren. Hooking up with a billionaire heir is rarely a commendable act, but since her relationship with Ralph's son is clearly a source of angst for the rest of the Bush clan—possibly because he's a decade older, Jewish, leans Democratic, or all three—it works in her favor. So it's with love and respect that we share the one thing about Lauren that we're decidedly less impressed with: Those burlap FEED bags she's been shlepping to every event she's attended for more than a year now.

It's so passé to be a vapid consumerist spendthrift. Even Barney's warns that conspicuous consumption will probably get you "branded an idiot," for God's sake. But most socialites can't help themselves; if they stop setting huge piles of money on fire, they'll get frostbite, in their sick little hearts. This fundamental tension between fashionable goods and fashionable austerity has, at last, been resolved, by traveling showrooms, blackmarket house parties and secret shops, all for the uber rich. Times Styles has the lowdown:

Between the bobbing and the "under-the-table propositions," this looked like possibly the most intriguing Times Thursgay Styles story ever. But it turns out to be a fairly pedestrian, non-sexual piece about outlaw stylists secretly snipping at discount "hair parties." It does feature an "interesting" hairdresser who is still charging $1,900 for a housecall. At that price he better throw in a blow dry. Multiple blow dries. The best goddamn blow dries you've ever experienced.

• A new shade of lipstick created in honor of Michelle Obama is a "shimmery bronze that works with many skin tones." Alas, "adorable daughters and hot, incredible husband not included." [Nylon]
• Burberry's spring ad campaign features an all-Brit cast including Lily Donaldson. [Vogue UK]
• Is ID Models finished? [Fashionista]
• The new Kelly Cutrone reality show will track her as she "tries to get clients into top-tier publications," makes phone calls, and books photo shoots. [NYM]
• More details on that cap André Leon Talley's been wearing: He purchased it from a man selling stuff off the back of a truck who was "wearing a peacoat embellished with no less than a diamanteé Obama silhouette." [stylefile]
• Photos of some of the YSL items going up for auction early next year. [VF]

With the economic crisis putting the squeeze on nearly everyone and with fashion retailers dropping like flies, it's a tough time to be a young designer. So we're glad that Russia Today thought to check in with clothing empress Kira Plastinina—whose latest line was unveiled in Moscow last week—and even gladder that the 16-year-old heiress isn't stressing about her business. "The collection is not expensive, it is affordable," she says. "And I think it is important that fashion is affordable to all girls." We agree, and as for the common assumption that her success is thanks to her juice and dairy magnate father Sergei Plastinin, well, nothing could be further from the truth: "People who know me, my friends and my family, know that I work really hard." And if such hard work is rewarded by, say, Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie being paid millions to sit front row at Kira's runway show, what's wrong with that?

♦ Rachel Zoe is scary skinny these days, no? [NYO]
♦ On the heels of Zac and Thakoon, Doo-Ri Chung also plans to launch a lower-priced line. [WWD]
♦ Andre Leon Talley's latest accessory? "A $20 black knit cap bearing the name 'Obama' spelled out in sparkly stones." [WSJ]
♦ Victoria Beckham's line at Bergdorf Goodman is quickly selling out, you'll be pleased to hear. [NYM]
♦ What do your nails say about you? [Fashionista]
♦ Henry Holland has a new set of tees with drawings of John Galliano and Agyness Deyn in the buff. [Grazia]
♦ There's a big Charlotte Ronson sale that begins tomorrow. Proceed with caution! [Racked]

♦ Amusing bits from profile of Marc Jacobs from Rolling Stone, which was reprinted in the Sunday Times: He's now up to 30 tattoos and he spends at least two hours a day at the David Barton Gym. As for his ex, Jason Preston, he has this to say: "I've had boyfriends who were media whores... I don't want to make the same mess again." [Times UK]
♦ If you've wondered why Victoria Beckham's collection of dresses looks like the work of Roland Mouret, there's good reason: Mouret served as Posh's "mentor." [Vogue UK]
♦ Inexplicably, Lindsay Lohan's legwear line is "selling like hotcakes." [NYDN]
♦ Anna Wintour really wants to reiterate that she has no plans to leave Vogue: "With so much uncertainty, one thing is certain: Vogue," read the mag's ad in yesterday's New York Times. [Fashionologie]

Memo to luxury good companies: Now is not the time to start cheapening your image or, worse yet, ripping off your wealthiest customers, like Bulgari seems to be doing. As the rich try to seem fashionably frugal, thus damaging the economy for everyone, it seems they are buying fewer emerald-and-sapphire-encrusted watches. Bulgari is loath to reduce prices — "that is totally wrong" for the brand, the CEO tells the Times — but to save money it is cutting corners on its products. Which, as Anna Wintour recently told everyone, is a dumb idea.

♦ A sensational robbery was carried out at Harry Winston in Paris last night. Robbers—dressed in drag, no less—made off with $108 million diamond rings, gem-studded bracelets and other jewelry, making it one of the largest such heists ever. [AP]
♦ Sofia Coppola is in Tokyo this evening to unveil her new line of accessories for Louis Vuitton. [WWD]
♦ Courtney Cox is the new face of Avon's women's fragrance, Spotlight. [WWD]
♦ "Save Anna" t-shirts have materialized, of course. [Racked]
♦ More on the party last night for Vera Wang's new boutique in Soho. [WSJ]

WWD reports that Barack Obama plans to wear a union-made tuxedo by Hart Schaffner Marx to the inaugural balls on Jan. 20. Well, at least one important decision is out of the way! [WWD]