What will $200,000 get you at Neiman Marcus? Eight cupcake cars, or Dinner with American Literature. Really: Neiman Marcus is selling a $200K dinner, replete with America's literature and arts luminaries. Who do you get for all that cash?

• Stylist Pat Field may not take part in the Sex and the City sequel—it seems she can't bear the idea of Carrie Bradshaw going from "fashionista to recessionista." But she does have a bit of advice for Susan Boyle, which is nice. [Grazia]
• The return to scarcity: Saks and Neiman Marcus report they're ordering a lot less inventory than they did last year, not surprisingly. [Bloomberg]
• The Rachel Zoe Project returns to the air on August 25. [Fashionologie]

• The recession ain't stopping Marc Jacobs: He's opening seven new boutiques this year. [WWD]
• Alexander McQueen stunned crowds at Paris Fashion Week with a collection that "oozed with imagination," but was "plenty unsettling," too. [IHT, WWD]
• Reviews from some of the other shows in Paris the past couple of days. [NYT, WSJ, Vogue UK]
• Détente! Anti-fur crusader (and PETA honcho) Dan Mathews was spotted shaking hands with none other than Anna Wintour. [NYP]
• Apparently the economy is forcing women to rush over to consignment shops to sell their "beloved Louis Vuittons at pennies on the dollar." [NYP]
• J. Crew is thinking of opening a bridal salon. [Racked]
• You can credit Twilight for boosting sales at Hot Topic. [NYM]
• Neiman Marcus reported that sales dropped 21% last quarter. [Reuters]
• A peek at a new collection by Kimberly Ovitz, daughter of Michael. [Pipeline]
• At John Galliano's show in Paris, "toxic" fake snow had editors like Hamish Bowles, Grace Coddington, and Glenda Bailey most unhappy. [Fashionologie]

• Diane von Furstenberg had a really lovely Oscar weekend, thanks so much for asking. [DVF]
• Rachel Zoe is denying that clients Cameron Diaz and Debra Messing have abandoned her. "Styling is still her number one priority," a "source" says. [SW]
• Layoffs: Neiman Marcus is cutting 450, Valentino is downsizing its NY office, and there are rumors Coach is trimming staff, too. [WWD, WWD, Racked]
• Thakoon reflects on last week. [NYO]
• Chloe Sevigny's second collection for Opening Ceremony hit London on Sunday evening. [WWD]
• Reports from London Fashion Week as it winds down. [Vogue UK, NYT, AFP]
• The gloomy mood in Bryant Park last week appears to have made its way to Milan: Just Cavalli has cancelled its runway show for Thursday. [NYM]

• Valentino didn't lose money in a giant Ponzi scheme. He did, however, just lose $39 million to the government of Italy. [NYM]
• Neiman Marcus is laying off 375 staffers. [WWD]
• That giant Forever 21 in Times Square? It's actually going to be a Century 21. [Reuters]
• Disney and Sephora have lots in common. [NYT]
• Liz Claiborne is expected to report big losses for the fourth quarter. Isaac to the rescue! [WSJ]
• Alas, no bar is planned for Topshop. [Racked]
• Annie Leibovitz was spotted at the Hay-Adams in DC yesterday, suggesting Michelle Obama could be on the cover of March's Vogue. [Politico, via]

♦ Employers cut 240,000 jobs in October, bringing the year's total job losses to nearly 1.2 million. The unemployment rate is now 6.5%, up from from 6.1% in September. [CNNMoney]
♦ Why has the market been falling sharply in recent days? One reason is that hedge funds have been selling billions of their holdings to meet demands for cash from their investors and their lenders. [WSJ]
♦ Citigroup is reportedly planning another round of layoffs. [DB]
♦ Ken Griffin's Citadel says his fund lost about 22 percent last month. [NYP]
♦ The evidence is largely anecdotal, but it appears there's been an increase in suicides related to the financial crisis. [NYT]

Interested in a life-sized Lego sculpture of you and your significant other for $60,000? An authentic Guinness pub installed in your home for $250,000? Maybe a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course in your backyard for $1 million? The economy is screwed and the holidays aren't here yet, but Neiman Marcus has released its annual Christmas catalog full of the usual overpriced items. The savvy press reps at the high-end retail chain seem to have anticipated the questions about timing. It's just an elaborate press stunt, you see; they don't actually expect anyone to buy anything! "The whole purpose of these fantasy gifts is to make people smile... and sometimes bad times are even better for fantasy."

A man brings up a Discovery Channel special he recently saw on astronomy. He says that he and his wife are sitting in bed watching it, and as a diagram of the solar system flashes onto the screen, his wife remarks that she didn't know the earth revolved around the sun. "How could you not know that?" he asks, incredulously. "Oh, shut up!" she snaps. "You don't know how to get to Neiman Marcus! Which do you think is going to be more useful?"