BlackBook

Lela Rose, Be & D, Kooba, and Kate Spade are just a few of the brands Cynthia O’Connor has helped bring to the crest of the buyers’ market. An entrepreneur and avid shopper, O’Connor may be one of the smartest women in fashion today.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines gilt as being "covered in gold." I define it as a website that allows members to sift through men’s, women’s, children’s and home décor luxury brands at up to 70% off the showroom price. I like my definition better. Each sale lasts 36 hours, and in the sample sale spirit, it's first come, first serve. Log on for a via-video preview of the next sale, and members only get weekly updates, via text or electronic mail.

Starting this October, our favorite makeup mega-store Sephora will sell a new Marc Jacobs product. The popular perfume Daisy will be available as a glitter gel rollerball. This is pure rewind to our teeny-bopper Limited Too era. The dainty rollerball fits in any purse or makeup bag, so you can get shimmery and perfumey all at once, whenever, whenever.

Ever since she was an itty-bitty thing, Shalini Vadhera has been obsessed with makeup. As a sought-after celebrity makeup artist, she’s living the dream of many little girls and sexually confused boys in middle America. But as with all good stories, something wasn’t quite right. As a first generation Indian immigrant woman, Vadhera’s frustration with the lack of ethnically diverse skin tones in makeup led her to spend two years traveling the world. During her jaunt, Vadhera learned beauty secrets from women in all corners of the world. She loves that “no matter what the social and economic status of women around the world was, every one of them had a fab way of looking and feeling beautiful.” Some of Vadhera’s favorites include a Dominican nail strengthener with fresh-chopped garlic and the Belgian flat-beer cure for a case of the frizzies. “It was truly inspirational to see how passionate women are about celebrating their beauty,” Vadhera says. With so many new tricks up her sleeve, Vadhera chose to share them with anyone aspiring to exotic beauty.

For all of you Coachsters out there with an itch to design, your moment is here. Coach is taking design entries for the next limited-edition tote to hit select stores. Visit the website, download the classic prints (the signature “C,” legacy stripe, and logo), then create something you’d love to see on everyone’s arms. But there’s a catch: It’s a contest, though not without prizes. The site advertises shopping sprees, parties, and your design as a limited-edition item. Coach has even released a widget that you can embed on your blog, Facebook, MySpace, etc. so that all your friends can vote for your tote. Start creating now, because there are only 18 more days until the winners are chosen. Andéle!

Project Runway starts its fifth season (and last season on Bravo) tonight. Season 4 devotees know they can't produce a better winner (or better catchphrases) than last season's champ Christian Siriano. And real die-hard fans know that designers get booed by the judges for being too consistent. Last season's Laura was predictable whenever she designed evening wear. Jeffrey from Season 3 never stepped out of his edgy shell to create something non-rock 'n roll, and Rami in Season Whatever bored the judges with his phenomenal draping skills in challenge after challenge. Rather than predict the winners, here are my picks for who might play it safe in with one style, and how.

I’m a sucker for anything inspired by the 1940’s (except for the German part), which is why my excitement over the Viviene Westwood/Melissa, the Brazilian plastic manufacturer collaboration didn’t come as a shock. The two are pairing up to create t-strap, heeled, jelly shoes. The t-strap shoe is an iconic piece of fashion history that gained popularity from post-war swingers. The jelly shoe is also a child of the post-World War II era, garnering its place in the world when Europe experienced a leather shortage. Combining these two styles in footwear isn’t recycling trends, it’s evolving them.

True art enthusiasts will enjoy it anywhere. Which is why, I suppose, Patrick McMullan turned one of his famous Studio 54 photographs into, of all things, a shower curtain. For only $30 you can own a piece of his work in your bathroom. This documenter of New York nightlife and all things A-list has a website where you can enjoy more of his photography. You can probably even choose another picture to have turned into a shower curtain. Doesn’t Bed, Bath and Beyond do that?

The Today Show, after the first half hour, pretty much turns into a daytime talk show, with all of its concerts, celebrity interviews, and talking to erratic fans. Yesterday however, the morning “news” broadcast went further towards the dark side than even Regis Philbin would have dared, by giving everyone a how-to on tie-dyeing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun and harkened back to Girl Scout camp, but if you really want to learn how to tie-dye, Today can only teach you so much. And let’s face it -- you don't get the cool, hands-on experience like dunking a white t-shirt in your backyard tub and getting blue dye all over your legs.

New York City is home to some pretty outrageous fashion statements, and it doesn’t help when our “musicians” inspire such catastrophes as the pimp-clock necklace or the parachute pant. But putting the two concepts together yields something particularly painful. Imagine getting on the elevator to go to the gym for a nice run, when as you look down your eyes land on a horrific, eww-inspiring purse (though I hate to think of such an abomination in the same terms as my Coach or Chanel). In fact, you have to take a second glance; it’s a twelve-car sartorial pile-up, and you can't look away. Picture a large, black, patent-leather tote with a wall-clock on the front. This middle-aged woman was carrying what we can only describe as a wall-clock handbag.