• Betsey Johnson reports that she's thinking about retiring this fall. She plans to hand over the reigns to Eric Sartori. At least assuming he manages to "Betsey-fy himself," that is. [Cut]
• Kanye West's line of sneakers for Louis Vuitton has been delayed, but photos of the $700 kicks can now be viewed online. [Racked]
• Lauren Conrad, Mandy Moore, Jennifer Lopez: These are not very good times for celebrities-turned-designers, as you may have heard. Not that the bad news is stopping J.Lo from launching yet another fragrance, of course. [ABC News, People]

Michelle Obama has a green thumb. Matt Drudge has a rotten, black thumb, so he doesn't buy Obama's garden-harvesting photo-op, because she only planted it 89 days ago and what kind of garden grows that fast?

The CFDA Awards were handed out last night. The big winners at the Oscars of fashion: Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy (left, with Kirsten Dunst) took home the award for womenswear designer of the year; Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez's Proenza Schouler won in the accessories category; the prize for menswear went to Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders and Italo Zucchelli of Calvin Klein; and Alexander Wang nabbed the award for emerging talent. Fashion's biggest booster won something, too. Thanks to her "meteoric rise as a style icon," Diane von Furstenberg gave Michelle Obama a special award at last night's ceremony, although, sadly, the crowd had to settle for a pre-taped acceptance speech by the First Lady. [WWD, LAT]

Because everyone gets a piece! George Obama, president Barack's half-brother, has signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish Homeland, about his struggles with drugs and his eventual salvation through, gulp, community organizing. Our favorite tidbit about the tome:

Pulitzer-winning critic Robin Givhan is the Fashion Editor of the Washington Post, but today she totally broke some news. There has been a shake-up at the White House! The East Wing of the White House. (That is the lady wing.)

• Despite what you may have read in the tabloids the past few weeks, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are not splitting up and remain truly, deeply, madly in love. So if you've spent sleepless nights worrying about that, hopefully Jolie's publicist's soothing words will finally put your mind at ease. [Us]
• Speaking of Angie, Forbes has named her the most powerful celebrity on the planet, so she's got that going for her, which is nice. [Forbes]
• And speaking of Brad, you may be interested to know what his "secret" is to avoiding odors when he's on the set of a movie and doesn't have time to shower: baby wipes, apparently. It's also a slow news day, apparently. [NYDN]
• Christina Ricci and Owen Benjamin have called off their engagement. [Us]

Happy Terrorist Fist Jab Anniversary Day! On June 3, 2008, the Obamas gave each other a pound as he locked up the nomination, shocking whites everywhere. Now—as Dr. King dreamed—it's accepted. A year of Obama pounds, in photos.

The show that Barack and Michelle Obama attended on Saturday evening is benefiting nicely from presidential publicity. The number of advance tickets sold yesterday for Joe Turner's Come and Gone was triple that of the previous Sunday. Now the Obamas just need to attend a new show every week and Broadway will be back in business in no time. [NYP]

• Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou had a baby boy over the weekend. [Us]
• Susan Boyle checked into a clinic on Saturday after suffering a "mental breakdown" following her loss on Britain's Got Talent. [NYDN, NYP]
• Kate Hudson successfully avoided Madonna at Saturday's polo match, which is a good thing since an encounter could have led to a "girl-on-girl showdown." [NYDN]
• Bill and Hillary are househunting, apparently. Per a friend: "There are some really massive estates that are incredibly cheap. Plus, it's a fun way to spend a weekend." [NYDN]
• As for Barack and Michelle, they spent Saturday in NYC, eating at Blue Hill before attending a performance of Joe Turner's Come and Gone. [NYDN, NYT]
• Eminem stormed out of the MTV Movie Awards after Sasha Baron Cohen landed in his lap, either because he was offended or because it was part of a pre-planned stunt. [P6, NYDN]
• Billy Bob Thornton's daughter has been arrested for child neglect. [People]
• Rumor has it Jennifer Hudson is pregnant. [People]

Barack Obama and Michelle visited James Beard award-winning restaurant Blue Hill on tonight's NYC date.

ArtsBeat's Patrick Healy broke last night that President Obama's gonna be hitting Broadway this weekend on a date with First Lady Michelle. The all-important question: which show?

• Gwyneth Paltrow is planning to give up her contract with Estée Lauder so she can focus on her website Goop.com, per the ever-reliable Daily Mail. More troubling: The paper says her plan is to "become an Oprah Winfrey-like lifestyle guru." [DM]
• Michelle Obama returned to NYC today. She attended the reopening of a wing at the Met (where she wore a coat by Isaac Mizrahi coat and sat next to Ralph Lauren, Iman, and Anna Wintour). Then it was over to opening night at the American Ballet Theater. [WWD, NYT]
• An excerpt from Lauren Conrad's debut novel has been posted online, in case you feel up to tackling some heavy literature. [Teen Vogue]
• Valentino, diplomat of fashion: "I saw the pictures of the Metropolitan gala evening last week and I never saw something more ugly." [Guardian]
• Speaking of Valentino, Time Out's current issue tests out self-tanners. [TONY]

• Are Americans finally shopping again? Maybe. Retail sales were up slightly in April. [NYT]
• Gucci has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Guess? Inc. [BN]
• Alessandra Stanley's Times review of Bravo's Project Runway-ripoff, The Fashion Show, featuring Isaac Mizrahi, Kelly Rowland and Fern Mallis, wasn't especially favorable. [NYT]
• Agy Deyn is now pitching bottled water. [Sun]
• Leigh Lezark is the new face of Mango. [Nylon]
• Michelle Obama wore Michael Kors—not Alaïa—to the Time gala the other night. [FWD]
• If you've ever wished you could meet Adriana Lima dressed up as "a modern-day Cleopatra," you'll get your chance this Saturday. [NYM]

• Jack McCollough's orange Oakleys couldn't cover up the scratch left behind by Kiefer Sutherland's headbutt the other night, although thankfully the Proenza Schouler co-founder wasn't seriously injuried in the incident. McCollough's rep said today he was the victim of a "vicious, violent, unprovoked assault." And the NYPD seems to agree. Sutherland is expected to be charged with assault tomorrow. [People, NYP]
• You may have thought Azzedine Alaïa was having a lousy week what with the plot by Anna Wintour to snub him at the Costume Institute gala. But he appears to be rebounding nicely. Michelle Obama wore a lovely Alaïa number to the Time magazine party last night. [FWD]
• Speaking of the gala, it raised $2 million less than last year. [WWD]
• Derek Lam's first boutique opens tonight. [Style.com]

Michelle Obama filmed a Sesame Street appearance yesterday, and, as any good American would be, she was delighted. Apparently it was even more fun than meeting some ancient English broad!

• More photos, commentary, and criticism from last night's Costume Institute Gala, assuming you're not totally sick of hearing about it by this point. [W, Pipeline, Glamour, NYM, NYT, SF]
• Rumor has it Kate Moss is planning to write her autobiography. We can't wait! [Grazia]
• Narciso Rodriguez, Thakoon Panichgul, and Maria Cornejo —all three of whom happen to have dressed Michelle Obama—have lovely things to say about the first lady's sense of style. [WWD]
• A tour of Jason Wu's apartment. [NYM]
• Eva Mendes and Jamie Dornan will be appearing in the new ad campaigns for Calvin Klein Jeans and Calvin Klein Underwear. [WWD]

Hooray! Michelle Obama's coming to New York! Hooray! She is going to attend the Time 100 Party, which is kind of lame, but still.

Michelle Obama will be in New York this evening to attend—and speak at—the glitzy party celebrating Time's list of the 100 most influential people. As the name implies, there are precisely 98 people in addition to president and first lady who made the cut. But leave it to some AP reporter to make it sound like earning a spot on the list is a really, really bad thing: "Among those who made the list: the First Lady, Michelle Obama; her husband, President Barack Obama; and Bernard Madoff, the disgraced New York money manager who has admitted to stealing tens of billions of dollars from investors." [AP]

• Swine flu fashion has arrived! Just as you totally expected it would. [Pipeline, NYM]
• David Beckham is designing a line of men's clothes. Why? Because he can, that's why. [WWD]
• Kim Kardashian is taking a stand on the importance of honest photography in supermarket tabloid journalism. It's about time, too. [Jezebel]
• A peek inside the closets of Gisele Bundchen, Naomi Campbell, and Karen Elson. [Vogue]

If Michelle Obama could be forgiven for feeling a little competitive toward France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, especially when it comes to matters of fashion and all-round feminine allure, we think it's safe to say that this morning, Michelle will be feeling glad that her vanity, as far as we know, stops short of making sex tapes. Yes, a burglar has stolen a cache of "highly intimate" videos and photographs featuring Carla with her ex-boyfriend/baby daddy Raphaël Enthoven (who, for those who like to keep track of European affairs, she stole from his then-wife, novelist Justine Levy, whose father, philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, is reportedly winning the heart of wealthy fashion plate Daphne Guinness away from Andre Balazs). Police in Paris are hoping to catch the thief before any images hit the web; the web, obviously, hopes the opposite.