• 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]

Remember all those pathetic attempts to cash in on our new president, from "commemorative editions plates" to a Barack Obama fragrance? Well, at least the latest one isn't cologne: in a desperate plea for PR (hey, it worked!) cosmetics company Khuraira named a lipstick after the incoming First Lady, reports Nylon. It's called "Lady Obama Special Edition" and is "a shimmery bronze that works with many skin tones and even more outfits." Click for even more product info.

Dressing Michelle Obama for her husband's inauguration on January 20th will be one lucky fashion designer's dream come true: As images of the Obamas are beamed to every corner of the globe, her outfit will become instantly iconic. A long list of famous designers submitted sketches to WWD of the dresses they'd like to create for Mrs. O, and we're guessing they all spent a good deal of time thinking through every last detail. One thorny matter they all seemed to struggle with: what color to depict Michelle's skin. As you'll see from the gallery above (click here for a larger pic), some designers, like Monique Lhuillier and Rachel Roy, opted to entirely side-step the historic fact that our new First Lady will be African-American by not breaking out the brown pencil at all. A couple of people, including Carolina Herrera, contented themselves with a few vague tawny strokes, while others (Lacroix, for example) were apparently so delighted to finally get to use their darkest sketch marker that they went a little, um, overboard. One thing almost everyone agreed on, though? That Michelle has the waist of a 12-year-old girl.

So bookstores are struggling, editors aren't allowed to acquire new projects or even eat a decent lunch, and it's never been a worse time for aspiring authors with dreams of literary stardom. (Unless they're Jewish comedians or former child-star drug addicts, that is.) But wait! Is it possible that Barack Obama will singlehandedly turn the tide and redeem literary culture? The President-elect was recently photographed with a copy of Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott's Collected Poems, much to the delight of Farrar, Straus and Giroux president Jonathan Galassi, who, after picking up his own poetry prize at the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction Awards last night, said: "Obama is a big reader, and he's an author, so people are paying attention to what he reads. He could have a lot of influence on books and what's read." Indeed. Now, if Michelle could just be seen reading, say, a Joan Didion novel, another angel will get its wings and a few more editorial assistants will still have their jobs come Christmas.

President-elect Obama—allegedly a 'man of the people'—is allegedly buying a fancy $30,000 ring for his fancy wife, allegedly! It was in the trusty Daily Mail, and now it's the top story on Drudge, meaning it is the single most important news story in all the world. Elitist Obama drops 30K on bling for his wife during a recession—and this bling will be made out of rhodium, the world's most expensive metal! This story is almost certainly bullshit, and we will tell you exactly why. [Updates below—we were right]:

Clearly, the most pressing aspect of President-elect Barack Obama's transition is what kind of freaking puppy he will be getting his daughters Malia and Sasha — and everyone's weighing in with their opinion. Frequent watchers of The View know that Barbara Walters is borderline obsessive about imploring the Obamas to adopt a pooch similar to her Havanese dog Cha Cha (short for "Cha Cha Cha," natch), so when it was announced that Walters would be interviewing the couple for a special to air this week, we immediately combed through the transcript to see if she would take the opportunity to push Cha Cha on them once more.

Last week, what our sister site Jezebel described as a "strange, in-depth essay" on Michelle Obama's ethnically-proportioned butt, "First Lady Got Back," ran on Salon. Obviously, this was provocative enough in some circles to draw a storm of Internet criticism, which, of course, is exactly what Salon wanted. Everybody won: they got the attention and blogs got some content. But! The author of the piece, Erin Aubry Kaplan (who is African-American, has previously written about Jennifer Lopez's rather more sizable ass, and is an op-ed columnist at the L.A. Times) felt the need to earnestly respond to the disproportionate freakout her essay created.As she responded on the blog 3 Brothers and a Sister:

♦ It's a horrifying mystery that will weigh heavily on all of our minds until it's solved: Where on earth is Karolina Kurkova's belly button? [Telegraph, Daily Mail]
♦ Diane von Furstenberg confirmed last night that she has submitted sketches for Michelle Obama's inaugural ball gown: "Well, they asked me to. Of course, everybody has." [The Cut]
♦ Best outfit worn to the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards last night: Agyness Deyn's tux-style black suit with Marc Jacobs hat and red platforms. Absolute worst: Blake Lively's hideous Vena Cava dress, which we can only imagine was chosen to fulfill a contractual obligation to expose her boobs at all times. [stylefile, Teen Vogue]

Tonight's 60 Minutes sit-down with President-Elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle was the media equivalent of a fluffernutter sandwich, and it tasted good. Here the couple were relaxed and clearly happy to have ended the long campaign. Giggling with big smiles, the two won over the newsmagazine's senior-aged audience with feel-good family stuff and little in the way of substantial announcements. In the following clip, Barack relates his presidential way of dealing with Michelle's mom Marian Robinson. Click for the video.Thanks to Blakeley for the CBS footage. You could hear Michelle Obama's exuberance as she discussed scouting her new digs:

Last week Tina Brown's new blog fest The Daily Beast ran a post featuring sketches by past Project Runway contestants as ideas for First Lady Elect Michelle Obama's inauguration gown. Then, oops!, The Smoking Gun figured out that the supposed entry by season one winner Jay McCarroll was actually a "hoax," perpetrated by a Canadian musician named Jay McCarrol (one L!) The author of the piece—who worked on it while at the now-shuttered Radar—had contacted him instead of the real designer by mistake and he just decided to run with it. So he sent the author the sketch, and the whole article ended up getting published on the Beast. Tina and Co. took the sketch down after the Smoking Gun reveal, and now the real McCarroll has weighed in on the whole kerfuffle: He tells the New York Observer:

John McCain was right. So was Bonnie Fuller, and so were we! President Elect Barack Obama has totally become not just the great mixed-race hope for the nation, but he and his family have also evolved into tabloid-worthy celebrities. He and his wife Michelle are, in fact, "the new Brangelina." Well, that's according to Albert Lee, an editor for the bright Queen of all Glossies, Us Weekly. He recently explained to CNN that the Obamas are just what sells right now. The latest issue featuring the happy and now victorious couple smiling on the cover moved over one million copies. Because, he surmises, "everything else seems totally irrelevant right now." Which is true! But, what does this mean for American politics and, more importantly, American celebrity? We never quite got the thrust of those McCain ads that compared the senator from Illinois to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. People actually seem to be kind of into that idea. There's something almost Main Streety about not just knowing the business of an administration's policies, but also knowing where they ate, what they wore, and what those adorable little girls are up to. Plus, the old, gross vanguard of hedonistic celebrities is dead anyway. And here, as the glorious new replacements, are some nice do-gooders to focus on. It's like the Kennedys all over again! Except, you know, hopefully with a different ending. Hear Mr. Lee elaborate in his own words below.

♦ Did you attempt to get your hands on some Comme des Garçons for H&M today? You're braver than us. [Racked]
♦ Cathy Horyn provides a clear-eyed assessment of Barack Obama's sartorial style, pointing out that "his jeans are the loose, jingle-the-change-in-your-pocket type. He belts them at the waist, and when he wears them with white sneakers and a windbreaker, one could almost say he had stolen the look from Jerry Seinfeld's character on the television series." [NYT]
♦ At Diane von Furstenberg's party for Financial Times editor Vanessa Friedman, André Leon Talley broadcast his delight over Obama's victory in the most appropriate way: The back of his coat was emblazoned with "The New American Dream" in crystals. [WWD]
♦ Also gushing about the Obamas? Donna Karan, who says: "I'm hoping to get to work with them—it would be my dream. They are so committed to ideals that are much in alignment with mine." [WWD]

♦ At yesterday's Fashion Group International panel on fashion retail, Simon Doonan chatted with Sally Singer, Bloomingdale's fashion director Stephanie Solomon, and InStyle's beauty director Amy Synnott about the pervasive doom and gloom in the retail industry. Doonan's take: "It's really terrifying. But I think my job is to sustain the idea that fashion is exciting and glamorous. We really need to do our best even if sales are plunging." [WWD]
♦ When deciding who should front its next campaign, did Louis Vuitton go for someone fresh, edgy, and exciting? Nope, it's supposedly Madonna. [stylefile]
♦ Because now every article on Michelle Obama's person must be identified, priced, and judged: She wore Maria Pinto to the White House, and those dangly earrings she wore on election night? White gold with diamonds, priced at $11,000, and designed by Loree Rodkin. [WSJ, The Cut]

New code names: "Renegade" (Barack), "Renaissance" (Michelle), "Radiance" (Malia) and "Rosebud" (Sasha). [Chicago Tribune]

The first family-to-be has been given their code names by the Secret Service. Barack Obama will be known as "Renegade"—at least when it comes to dark-suited agents whispering into the microphones attached to their cuffs. Michelle will be "Renaissance." And Malia and Sasha will go by "Radiance" and "Rosebud," respectively. [Chicago Tribune]

France's First Lady Carla Bruni, who's never met a spotlight opportunity she didn't like, is eagerly joining her husband Nicolas Sarkozy in praising the Obamas. Mrs. Sarkozy said in a TV interview that she "can't wait" to meet Michelle Obama: "To see this couple go to the White House is just magnificent." The Italian-born former model/actress also told a French newspaper that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's comments about Barack Obama's "tan" made her "pleased to have become French." [People, TFP]

Just which elite private school the Obamas pick for daughters Malia and Sasha Obama has turned into "one of the most closely watched contests in Washington," according to The Atlantic. Sidwell, Georgetown Day and Maret are considered the likeliest options, and Sidwell is the frontrunner since it has a history of presidential offspring (Chelsea Clinton and Tricia Nixon) and Hunter Biden, the vice president-elect's youngest son, happens to go there. The chance they'll send them to public school? "A long-shot scenario." [Atlantic]

So much for Daniel and Isabella. "Barack" is poised to become a big baby name thanks to his victory on Tuesday. A number of new moms in Kenya have reportedly named their newborns after the President-elect in recent days, and it isn't just limited to Barack's first name. "Michelle" is expected to grow in popularity, too, and one South Florida couple even named their son "Obama" on Wednesday. [Reuters]

♦ Michelle Obama may end up on the cover of Vogue in the next few months: "It's been a long-standing tradition to photograph the new first lady. So needless to say, we are very interested in working with Mrs. Obama." But Ebony may get there first. [WWD]
♦ Shares of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. plunged today following the company's announcement it's revising its 2009 forecast. [Bloomberg]
♦ New York television critic John Leonard has died. [Vulture]
♦ A round of layoffs have hit Hearst, although the exact numbers haven't been released. [Folio]

You can't fault the New Museum for trying to capture a bit of the election buzz. The institution unveiled an oil portrait of Michelle Obama today by Elizabeth Peyton, which features the First Lady-to-be listening to her husband address the crowd at the Democratic National Convention with daughter Sasha sleeping in her lap. It's now part of Peyton's exhibition, "Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton," and will be on display until January 11th. [Unbeige]