In its review of Elle-focused reality show Stylista, the Times finds plenty to like, surprisingly. It seems hippie editor Anne Slowey does a surprisingly convincing impersonation of Meryl Streep imitating Miranda Priestly standing in for mean old Anna Wintour of Vogue. (So much for those embarrassing preview clips from a few months ago.) The catfighting is inspired and "novel." And yet that's not what will hook you on the show. You'll watch because you are aching to pretend, for an hour each Wednesday, that the brutal hierarchy of yesteryear lent work an elegant simplicity. Writes the Times' Gina Bellafante:

What business does Sarah Palin have spending $75,000+ at Neiman Marcus and $50,000 at Saks if she's not planning to be part of the "Washington elite" or "seek their good opinion," as she told the Republican National Convention in September? She probably wants to look snazzy on TV, because the poors get the same channels as the elites, and appearances matter more than they should. John Edwards knew that, so he spent $400 on hair cuts until he was accused of being a slick poverty pimp by various conservatives. Now that Politico has caught the Republicans' designated working-class icon being far more profligate — Edwards could get 10 haircuts just on the Palin/McCain ticket's monthly hair and makeup bill — reps for the "small town... hockey mom" aren't even bothering to deny their hypocrisy:

♦ Did you expect Anne Slowey to play down the reported feud between herself and Nina Garcia? Au contraire: "I'm not even really conscious of the fact that, oh yeah, she used to work at Elle," bitches Slowey. [NYO]
♦ Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman has joined old-school jeweler Garrard as a guest designer. Good to know she's feeding the joint account now that husband Harvey's career isn't exactly on fire. On a related note, Marchesa's having a sample sale this week. [WWD, Teen Vogue]
♦ Kate Moss's transition from elusive to overexposed is officially complete, as she provides interview answers that miraculously manage to be even more mundane than the questions. Her "fail-safe party item," you'll be scintillated to hear, is a "little black dress." [Times UK]

Sad news that catty style assessor Mr. Blackwell passed away this weekend. Though, maybe not so sad for the decades' worth of celebrities that he slammed as his Worst Dressed picks of the year. If you're curious about who Mr. B selected as his top (bottom?) choice each year since 1960, you can find a list here. We've also compiled a photo gallery of the most recent 20, after the jump.

Richard Sylvan Selzer — better known to pop culture observers as the acerbic, list-making fashion zealot Mr. Blackwell — died Sunday of complications from an intestinal infection. He was 86. A former hustler, petty thief and model whose acting and B-grade fashion career overlapped with the infamous 10 Worst-Dressed Celebrities list he launched in 1960, Mr. Blackwell found his voice firing one-line zingers into a crowded pop culture at a time when celebrities could do little wrong. His latter-year rhymes weren't always fully functional, but some of his early jibes were as vicious as anything you'd find online today; 10 years ago he said of his commentary: "The list is and was a satirical look at the fashion flops of the year. I merely said out loud what others were whispering. ... It's not my intention to hurt the feelings of these people. It's to put down the clothing they're wearing." Believe us, Mr. Blackwell, we can relate — as can so many of our peers and colleagues in print and online who, for better or worse, trade on his influence every day. After the jump, we mourn his passing with our own top 10 of Mr. Blackwell's withering witticisms from nearly 50 years on the scene. Rest in peace, (un)kind sir.10. Jane Fonda (1967) — "Stretch pants on angel food cake." 9. Howard Stern (1995, the first year a man topped the list) — "Let's face it. Howard's 'Miss America' drag looks like Godzilla impersonating Gypsy Rose Lee." 8. Elke Sommer (1973) — "Do-it-yourself kit with the wrong instructions!" 7. Martha Stewart (1999)— "She dresses like the centerfold for The Farmer's Almanac."

Who did (troubled?) business magazine Portfolio select to put on its cover this month, in the midst of the greatest financial upheaval since the Great Depression? Dov Charney. Pervy, pacing, dog-loving American Apparel chief Dov Charney. There must be an explanation for this, right?

The Hong Kong-based clothing retailer Giordano International—"the Gap of Asia"—has a new line of crisis-themed t-shirts planned for Halloween. Think it's in poor taste? Not at all. It's supposedly designed to cheer you up. "Giordano has chosen a brainy way to lift spirits with 'Halloween HalloTees' that are equally stylish, casual and spooky," the company said in an official statement.

♦ Will The Rachel Zoe Project live to see a second season? Zoe doesn't know, but she hopes so. [The Cut]
♦ Charlotte Ronson is replacing Cory Kennedy as the face of Sebastian haircare. [Nylon]
♦ Charlotte was at Henri Bendel last night to help her future sister-in-law, Lindsay Lohan, celebrate the launch of her leggings line, 6126. [Marie Claire UK]
♦ Tory Burch's website is about to relaunch with content based "on her personal choices, from travel to entertaining to beauty." [WWD]

Kim Brittingham is New York writer who is fat. (Self-described. She once, as a stunt, made a fake book cover titled "Fat is Contagious: How Sitting Next To a Fat Person Can Make YOU Fat," and rode around on buses reading it. Heh). Anyhow, she reports that she had a meeting set up with a PR firm (5WPR, natch) to discuss her being a spokesperson for Avenue , a "plus-size" women's clothing retailer. But, at the last minute, she couldn't get her foot in the door, so to speak. Take it away, Kim:

The aspiring fashionistas at Teen Vogue know a hot trend when they see one, and they're not about to let Us Weekly, Saturday Night Live and the National Enquirer have a lock on randomly and unexpectedly influencing American politics beyond all reason. So they've started something called, adorably, the "Political Partier Blog," which is all about how hot college boys are reshaping the election and, like, other political stuff, such as a funny Peanuts website. Anyway, let's have a look at the five young people (four of them boys, squee!) mentioned, always with their ages attached, in blogger Lindsay Talbot's 10 posts:

Actress (and fauxmosexual?) Lindsay Lohan is launching a fashion line today. The collection is "pretty eclectic from gold zippers to leather detailing, to buttery soft cashmere." She's at some store tonight at 6pm if you want to meet her, I guess, and buy crazy clothes.

Following political candidates on the campaign trail as they make the same stump speeches day after day can't be much fun, but news photographers seem to have figured out an amusing way to pass the time: They simply train their lenses on Sarah Palin's legs and shoes and snap pic after pic of the aspiring veep's heels and long gams. (Of course, Palin was sort of asking for it when, for her first TV appearance, she decided to wear red peep-toes with three-and-a-half-inch heels by a company called Naughty Monkey.) Alas, a search of the wires for "Joe Biden" and "shoes" doesn't yield much. (Not that we're complaining.) But evidence of the media's obsession with the leggy vice presidential contender follows after the jump.

As we've heard, even the rich are cutting back on their spending, either because they're genuinely worried about money running out, or because they're magnanimously recycling their $5,000 gowns for different events. Or, as the Wall Street Journal's Christina Binkley suggests today, simply because it's the classy thing to do: "It's not necessarily a good thing to show up at the tennis club with a new $30,000 crocodile handbag when your friends' net worth has been halved and the Federal Reserve is spending billions to keep the banking system afloat." Duly noted!

"4 out of 5 men want Oxfords...in these new Van Heusen styles." And the fifth one is a god damn pipe-smoking blond homosexual who wears Brooks Brothers! Oh racist ad from 1952, you remind us how far we've come in our quest for equal rights for blond dudes. Click to enlarge. [Copyranter at Animal]

♦ Isaac Mizrahi went on Leonard Lopate's radio show yesterday to offer advice on how to be stylish during a recession. His counter-intuitive tips? Go to expensive hairdressers, buy expensive shoes, and "never buy anything that's on sale." [The Moment, WNYC]
♦ Suri Cruise has a pair of one-off, custom-made red Roger Vivier pumps, even though the brand doesn't do children's shoes. Somehow, we have a feeling that no amount of shoes will reduce the therapy in her future. [People]
♦ The fact that Kate Moss rarely does interviews or goes on TV is looking like a wise move considering her appearance on British TV last night, for all the excitement, pretty much blows her mystique. [Fashionologie]

Nina Garcia has a bossily-titled new book to publicize, The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own, which explains why she took time to talk with with the vaguely insufferable hipster parent site Babble.com about her one-year old. Little Lucas (full name: Lucas Alexander Conrod) wears "Chrome Hearts Tees and Burberry pants" that Garcia's fashionable friends have given him, even though she herself buys him inexpensive stuff. As for how she juggles motherhood and career, she says: "That's easy. He comes first." What, you don't think that appearing on Project Runway, being the fashion director of Marie Claire, and writing books would leave ample time for baby-bonding?

♦ Last night Jessica Stam hosted an impossibly chic soiree in Paris, which was attended by Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Emma Watson, Leigh Lezark, Lauren Santo Domingo, Kate Bosworth, Lazaro Hernandez, Tinsley Mortimer, Alexander Wang, and Ryan McGinley. [stylefile]
♦ Stylista has released a preview, and the most interesting details are: They've cast a fat girl for dramatic tension, and Anne Slowey, for all her Ice Queen imperiousness, can't walk in her four inch heels. Oh, and it looks like Joe Zee's going to be a big bitch to the contestants. [Jezebel]
♦ What does the fashion world think of Sarah Palin's outfit choices? It's a chorus of "no comment," except for Simon Doonan, who offers some advice: "Nothing she wears will cause anyone to budge, so she might as well enjoy her clothes and go for a little flamboyance. I'm seeing a little Jackie Rogers, a little vintage Mackie." [WWD]

1935: Is it back? Economically, maybe, who knows. Fashion-wise? Andre Benjamin certainly believes so fiercely! Andre, a.k.a. Andre 3000 of Outkast, long ago gave up rollin down the strip on Vogues and slammin Cadillac doe's in favor of acting, singing weird songs, and designing fancy menswear under the label "Benjamin Bixby." It features old-style things like breeches and waistcoats and "plus fours," something I could not even identify despite being a stylish man myself. So: is this a mark of progress, or something to scoff at? Take a look!: Despite the fact that his clothing line is perhaps not for me—and perhaps something that would cause me to make jokes were I to spy it on the street, offending as it is to my traditional small-mindedness—there's no denying that Andre is a guy with an actual claim to being an artist, whereas just about every other celebrity designer just has a claim to being a narcissist. So good for him!

In these difficult times, it's so tricky to know how to manage one's budget, especially when it comes to buying a fall wardrobe. (It's even trickier when even the homeless in the city are carrying Gucci shopping bags.) Luckily, we have the wisdom of socialites to guide us—lead by example, as is their birthright!—through the kind of scary decisions that now loom. For instance, dare you imperil your reputation by succumbing to the Barneys rack at Filene's Basement? What a relief: Kate Schelter says you're allowed. Celerie Kemble, for her part, counsels "going back to vintage," while Fabiola Beracasa gives permission to wear the same thing (we can hardly type it!) more than once—advice seconded by Harper's Bazaar's Mary Alice Stephenson, who claimed to have worn the same Dior gown three times! We didn't know clothes could withstand such heavy usage. [NYO]

Ha ha, wow, has the management of the Wrangler jeans company all been kidnapped and tied up in a closet, causing the company to be run currently by French anarchist intellectuals? Because that is my operating theory. First Wrangler—Wrangler!—set off its just plain dumb "We are animals" campaign with that cult-like hipster photo shoot by Ryan McGinley. Now (southern accent) Rain-guhlurr, proudly headquartered in Greens-bruh Nawth Cair-Lyna, has a commercial with some French guy talking about "Why do we live when we know we will die?" Uh, to watch NASCAR? Watch this abomination after the jump. Riots amongst Alabama denim fans TK: