Not sure how I feel about this one.

Hmm. I love any sort of music/ fashion collaboration. I really do. That's why I'm not sure what to think of the new Kurt Cobain Converse. My lovely neighbor came over yesterday sporting these sneakers which looked totally cute on. On the chucks are Cobain’s infamous scribbles and words which are amazing to see- BUT on a pair of Converse?? I always thought Nirvana was a little bit of a sell out for a grunge quasi "punk" band, but isn't this TOTALLY selling out?? Does Courtney Love need the money that badly? P.S. these kicks are on back order so if you want a pair you are gonna have to wait a month or so...

Discuss: Men in tights.

A friend of mine told me he was watched "Iron Man" this weekend and loved it. THEN I came across this piece in The Independent about the recent fashion trend of men wearing tights sparked by superhero movies. OK, my friend is probably one of the best dressed guys I know and is definitely NOT the type to start sporting spandex anything EVER much less a pair of tights for men, BUT it did get me wondering especially since Calvin Klein sent men in tights down the runway three seasons ago. Has something that had dudes in a tizzy a year ago resurfaced??

Guys: would you wear tights even if all of your friends started wearing them and said it was cool? Ok, let's take wearing them out in public out of the equation- would you even wear them to the gym?

Ladies: would you ever hang out with a guy in tights? On a personal note, I've hung out with some eccentric dudes in my life, but I don't think I could go there...  

Lessons from LVMH.

Last Thursday I was on Fox Business talking about what a mistake Cartier was making by having a MySpace page. Yeah, they may have 3,000 + friends but the branding is all wrong (they should have just stuck to ads on A Small World), they are essentially dilluting the brand (MySpace = mass, Cartier = heritage and prestige) and a MySpace strategy now is about three years too late.  Well, my position wasn't really liked by a lot of people. In fact, I got some pretty rude e-mails. BUT to my point, I came across this piece in Women's Wear Daily  about how LVMH finally reached an intellectual property settlement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment in the amount of 154,000 Euros. For those of you not in the loop, LVMH felt that artists like Britney Spears, Ruben Studdard and Da Brat were using unauthorized images of the Toile Monogram and Multicolore in their CDs and videos, so they took action and filed a law suit. Freakin' genius. Way to regulate on the brand control. If I were LVMH I wouldn't want just any lo-fi celebrity endorsing Vuitton as well! Cartier, take note.

"Recessionista."

I found the definition for this term on a site called www.wisegeek.com. It says a recessionista is "someone who seeks out fashionable items which are also low-cost." OK, so I can name a couple of my favorite recessionistas, but the queen bee is Kathryn Finney of The Budget Fashionista. Not only is she a fierce dresser and has impeccable style, she can find a discount on anything in all corners of the world. For real. Check out her site if you don't believe me.

Blinded by Love

Anne Hathaway thought she had found Mr. Right. Instead, Raffaello Follieri stands accused of lying, cheating and bilking millions. Why did she fall for him?.? Dining at the upscale Nello Summertimes in Southampton, N.Y., in May, Anne Hathaway and her boyfriend Raffaello Follieri were the very picture of a glamorous young couple in love. "They seemed really happy," an observer says of the pair, who were joined by Follieri's parents, Pasquale Follieri and Anna Cordella. "She seemed very comfortable," says the source. "His parents really seemed to like her. They were having a great time and laughing. It was a nice family get-together."

Those good times were about to come to an explosive end. Within a month the four-year romance between Hathaway, 25, and Follieri, 30, was in ruins--and within a week the dashing Italian businessman had been arrested on charges of wire-fraud conspiracy and money laundering. (Legal experts say that if he's convicted he would likely face up to 10 years in prison.) Appearing in a Manhattan court on June 24, Follieri was branded a "con man" by federal prosecutors, who accuse him of bilking investors of millions--largely by making false claims that he had close ties to the Vatican--and then using the money to fund a dolce vita that included yachts, the opulent apartment he shared with Hathaway on Fifth Avenue and hobnobbing with former President Bill Clinton. Said Assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Brodsky: "He was able to deceive everyone."

But of the dozens of victims he allegedly duped, friends say Hathaway fell the hardest. The brunette beauty--who shot to fame at 18 as a squeaky-clean Disney heroine in The Princess Diaries--thought she had found her prince in Follieri, telling PEOPLE in '06 that he was a keeper: "You can say what you want about it, but we just love each other."

That fairy-tale romance had a devastatingly unhappy ending. Even as some friends say they warned Hathaway about Follieri, she stuck by him for months as allegations of his wrongdoing swirled. But in June, when she learned that Follieri's charitable foundation was under investigation by the New York State attorney general for tax irregularities, the actress--who served on its board and was also a donor--broke it off. Says a pal: "That was the last straw."

Days later Follieri was arrested in his boxer shorts by FBI agents at his mother's Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan; meanwhile Hathaway kept a game face as she traveled the world promoting her movie Get Smart. Now held in a 7 1/2-ft.-by-8-ft. concrete-block cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, he spent his 30th birthday on June 28 behind bars. Labeled a flight risk by prosecutors (officers found him with a suitcase containing $15,000), he is scrambling to make $21 million bail. "My client is a formidable and resilient young man who is vigorously addressing the strident terms of the bail," says his rep Melanie A. Bonvicino. "He looks forward to overcoming the current allegations."

As for Hathaway, a source close to the star says her busy work schedule--last month she finished shooting the romantic comedy Bride Wars with Kate Hudson--has been a welcome distraction. "Anne didn't mention [the breakup], and people around her didn't ask," says the source. "She was completely blinded on this one. She loved him and so she didn't see much else until now."

Others wonder how she couldn't see. Among the charges in the papers filed by the U.S. Attorney's office: that Follieri kept priestly robes in his office and once asked a monsignor to change into the vestments of a more senior clergyman in order to appear better connected to the Vatican. Investigators say he swindled funds for his $37,000-a-month apartment rent, private jets and medical bills for himself and his "girlfriend"--Hathaway is not named in the complaint--as well as orthodontist bills for his father. (A source says Hathaway was interviewed by the FBI for the investigation; the agency had no comment.) A former employee says that Follieri often bragged that his duplex residence was once used by Aristotle Onassis. "When you walk in the downstairs, it makes a big Godfather impression," says the source. "Everything was white on white on white. In the office there was this giant picture of Anne. It was like, 'This is me, and this is my movie-star girlfriend.'"

Hathaway was equally smitten. "I think she felt she had a major catch who was a powerful, wealthy European businessman," says the former employee. "Everything was 'Don't worry, I'm the man.' Essentially, the knight in shining armor. Unfortunately, the armor was some crap metal that tarnishes."

Multiple sources say they are convinced that Hathaway knew nothing of Follieri's alleged schemes. "She's a sweet girl, and he seemed like the right kind of guy," says a friend of Hathaway's. "At the end of the day, could she tell you that he was a dirty dealer? No way." Adds another: "She's not guilty of anything except being a young woman who hasn't been worked through the wringer by a con artist before."

A guy who wore his confidence like one of his custom suits, Follieri was introduced to Hathaway four years ago by a mutual friend. "She told us the story one night," says a source who knew the couple. "She [said she] was put off initially by his arrogance and attitude [and that] he pursued her and within two weeks they were madly in love."

Raised in suburban Millburn, N.J., Hathaway--who sealed her status on the A-list with 2006's The Devil Wears Prada--fell head-over-designer-heels. "In Sardinia she would just cling to his arms," says Lee Mellis, a close Follieri pal who vacationed with the pair. Adds another friend: "She doesn't need a rich guy. She needs a guy who takes care of her."

At Manhattan's Balthazar restaurant, where the couple were frequent guests, Follieri would often order for "Annie," as he called her. "It was a very chivalrous relationship," says an observer. Whether walking their chocolate Labrador Esmeralda--now being cared for by Follieri's mother--or cooking pasta together at home, "they seemed to have a nice, cozy, happy life together," says a friend.

Still, "they had a turbulent relationship," says the former Follieri employee. "She lacks a tremendous amount of confidence. He was a security blanket for her." During one yachting trip with the couple, says the source, a female employee felt she was being treated poorly by Follieri. "Annie said to the girl, 'Don't go. This is an opportunity of a lifetime to be on a yacht. When are you going to get a chance like this again?'" recalls the source. "It was clear she was taken by the whole powerful-man thing."

That continued even as Follieri became increasingly dogged by legal woes that included bouncing a $215,000 check to a New Jersey businessman. (Follieri paid the debt, and the case was dismissed.) Raised in a small town in Italy, he moved to New York in 2003 There, say prosecutors, he told investors he was raising money to buy and redevelop properties being sold by the Roman Catholic Church--even calling himself the Vatican's chief financial officer. That sales pitch attracted high rollers such as billionaire Ron Burkle, a pal of Bill Clinton's whose business later sued Follieri for $1.3 million for misusing funds. (The suit has been settled.) With Hathaway on his arm, Follieri also pledged millions to worthy causes. The pair partied with the Clintons in the Dominican Republic and became regulars on the social circuit.

Investigators say Follieri exaggerated actual ties to the Vatican to gain the confidence of investors. "Raffaello had an official [looking] document from Pope John Paul empowering him to dispense of church properties," says a Clinton associate. Adds another: "He had a lot of highly reputable people vouching for him, all of whom he had duped."

There were those who had suspicions, however. Bill McCall, chairman of the Boston archdiocese's real estate advisory committee, met with Follieri regarding the purchase of church property in '04. "He kept saying, 'I want to buy,'" recalls McCall, noting that there are strict rules governing the ways Church properties can be converted for commercial use. "To me, there was a naïveté there--I'm not sure he ever would have achieved the rezoning that he needed."

But even after so many alleged deceptions, insiders say his romance with Hathaway was no con. "There was great affection between the two of them, and a great love," says a pal. "I feel so badly for her." Friends are certain that Hathaway's happily ever after is still to be written. "She's got such a real positive outlook on life--inspirational," says her college friend Pamela Cuce, who attended Vassar with the star. "There are few people so sincere and accepting as Annie. She's a very strong woman."

"She's a sweet girl, and he seemed like the right kind of guy. At the end of the day, could she tell you that he was a dirty dealer? No way"

--A FRIEND OF HATHAWAY'S

"He made her feel confident because he was doing all of these things to sweep her off her feet"

--A FOLLIERI SOURCE

A JET-SET ROMANCE

A man who appreciated the finer things in life, Follieri squired Hathaway on chartered planes and private yachts and shared a luxe Manhattan apartment next to Saint Patrick's Cathedral with the actress. "He was charming, glamorous and I think probably mysterious to Anne," says a friend.

Clarification: Steve and Barry's

A frequent reader pointed out how he thinks I made a mistake by saying Steve and Barry's revenues were increased by not spending money on marketing. He thought I meant earnings so I want to clarify. Dear reader:

This was not me speculating on how Steve and Barry's made their cash, this was a quote from the chief executive when I spoke with him. You say,"You can't increase revenue by not advertising- revenue is sales. You can only increase profit by cutting expenses." I agree with you, but I'm directly quoting from the source that prob. knows his business best... or at least it seemed like he knew his business best when I spoke to him last year. Hope that helps.

XO, Hitha

Ugh.

Rafa Nadal beat Roger Federer in a 5 set marathon of a match. Boo. To make matters worse, you can't even see the totally cute cardigan he slipped on for the awards ceremony. Boys don't try the cardigan look at home if you are not tall, dark and euro or skinny and emo.  Only HE can pull off looking this great while being so sad at the same time. I think I am going to listen to some Morrissey now...

(photo Getty Images/ C. Brunskill)

The look of a champion.

Ok ok, maybe I am getting ahead of myself, but I am watching the Wimbledon final right now and PRAYING Federer wins the title. Yes I think his game is spot on, and of course I would love to see him make history if he wins this match, but more important than all of that is how he looks when he accepts his trophy. Check him out last year. How AMAZING does he look here?? Dapper, relaxed, happy, sexy... The only thing hotter than a champion is well dressed one!

(photo courtesy of ABC News Australia)

Discuss: Steve & Barry's is going bankrupt!

Bye bye Bitten hello bankruptcy!

According to this WSJ article, Steve & Barry's is closing more than 100 of its stores and contemplating a full liquidation of its assets. I gotta be honest- last year I wanted to do a feature on Steve and Barry's for my old employer and when I did my research it seemed Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten line was the last ditch effort to make this company really fly on the fashion side. The execs at the retailer insisted the reason why they were able to see an increase in revenues year over year was because they didn't spend any money on advertising- literally. The only reason why we are even talking about Steve and Barry's now is because of SJP's major media tour around her collection Bitten. They DID throw an amazing party for the launch of the collection! Maybe they should have saved that money and spent it more on paid adverts as opposed to wooing us editors...

Barneys New York is giving peace a chance.

Rumor has it Barneys New York will be all about peace and love this holiday season, but not in the traditional sense. It's the 50 anniversary of the peace sign, so what better way than to celebrate it by decorating your entire stores windows with the iconic symbol?  But they aren't the only ones getting on the trend band wagon. Come September, expect to see the peace sign EVERYWHERE from shirts to spring sweaters as well as patterns. That boho chic look has been sort of in for a while, but now it's going to get REALLY hippie for Spring 2009. Ya heard it here first!

lululemon logo: inspired by Gimme Shelter?

I am beat street. So instead of zooming all over town to meet friends tonight I decided to take advantage of the empty city and watch Gimme Shelter- my favorite movie EVER. Yes the music is amazing and the film itself rules, but I can not get enough of what Mick Jagger was wearing! Check out the shirt below.  Doesn't it kind of look like the lululemon logo but f-ing cooler? He paired it with a studded wide belt and tight side snap pants. I am SO re-creating this outfit for myself!!

Typical night.

Yeah... if you've been out with me in the last year or so you know I am never on time. It's a problem andI am trying to fix it. Last Friday was no different. I went to go meet my friend for dinner and I was 35 minutes late. Ugh. I can see where people would think it was a personal "f--- you" and totally disrespectful of their time, but I want everyone to know that's not my intention at all! Some people smoke, drink, do drugs, cheat on their significant others. I'm always late. And I swear I am trying to change!!  

Whoa the cab was windy.

I think TV in the back of cabs is kind of genius. BUT it makes me ill to watch TV and drive at the same time. I always turn it off.

We were going 75 MPH down 5th ave!!

Would you wear this??

 

Gorgeous pictures, right? This is from a Vogue Italia shoot in 2007. Notice what the model is wearing on her head though- it's an Amish bonnet. Yeah- a real one! The other day I was on Fox Business talking about polygamist style. Turns out those enterprising women out in Colorado City created a web site so people can purchase FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Later Day Saints) approved children's clothes. They are shipping all over the country to places like California, New York and Arizona. There are about 10 women putting together the clothes now, but if demand increases they will add more peeps to the work force. How much do you wanna bet we see those long dresses and gibson girl hair on the runway next Feb??