Fashion Week has descended upon New York City, anointing new and yet-to-be-opened venues with its holy presence. Fashion houses and fashionable rags have shouldered their way into seen-and-be-seen restaurants and night spots, and have sold off their first born in order to offer their party guests a first look at some unopened places, like The Mondrian and the Darby's buzzy basement. The perennial question: Whether to elect tried-and-true spots (or, in the case of Alexander Wang, gas stations and bounce houses) over what could be just a flash-in-the-pan hotspot. Herewith, a rumor-mongering and totally useless look at where all the week's parties shall take place.

Surely I’m not the only one to feel a twinge of nostalgia (and/or jealousy) when I see little kids wearing shoes that light up. Thankfully, shoe designer Edmundo Castillo has created the adult-version: a light-up strappy wedge heel. Teaming up with the firm responsible for the costumes in the newest TRON film, Castillo’s design pays homage to the blockbuster. Castillo claims the shoe is "completely functional"; recharging the shoe is as easy as plugging in an adapter to the heel of the shoe, and the shoe can be switched to a blinking mode if desired.

There are few things in life that satisfy me more than a significantly well-structured shoe. Designers like Roger Vivier, Salvatore Ferragamo, and more recently Nicholas Kirkwood have the art of footwear construction down to a science and are painstakingly detailed in their designs. And while these well-known designers have paved the way for emerging footwear architects, there are also a few veteran international designers out there who are just starting to make real waves in America. Enter Camilla Skovgaard. The Danish-born designer started her career at the age of 20 when a French-owned company brought her to Dubai to design for the wives and daughter of sheikhs. After doing that for seven years, she moved to London to study shoe-making and quickly developed a distinct avant-garde approach to design. While still a student, Skovgaard received a prestigious nod from Saks Fifth Avenue in the U.S. when they decided to buy her first footwear collection, further paving the way for what would become a thriving career in the industry.

If you've set foot in a department store this past year you were likely greeted by discount racks and clearance sales a plenty. In hopes of battling the inconspicuous shopping trends set off by the recession, stores from Saks to Bloomingdale's have been marking down designer goods as far as possible in hopes of unloading a lot of extra weight. "The get-it-cheap party for luxury consumers has ended," says Bloomberg. Read: now that profits are picking up and retailers are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, red tagged items are set to become fewer and farther between.

Some people call it running errands, some call it therapy, but while you're on a major credit card spree at the major uptown department stores, you might as well kill two birds with one stone and indulge in some spa R&R. Here are a few quickie treatments meant to soothe your soles while on your spring shopping spree.

Spring is all about rebirth and growth and yadda yadda: for Manhattan scenesters it's mainly about ending winter hibernation and hitting the social circuit in order to show off the latest looks. This week was chock full of winsome odes to spring in Manhattan: parties to remind New Yorkers that the High Line will soon be in bloom, events that celebrated spring fashion openings and new spring catalogs and parties that got people excited to shed leggings, overcoats and layers of stuffy winter makeup. Here were some of the freshest beauty takes from this week's party scene.

Designers have been rolling out lower-priced lines left and right in recent seasons as a result of varying factors (competition and the recession for starters). Now comes news that the latest household name within the industry to launch a diffusion line is none other than native New Yorker Zac Posen. He joins a roster of high-fashion designers with shiny new diffusion lines that already includes the likes of Doo-Ri Chung, Thakoon Panichgul, Richard Chai, and even recent Swiss Textile Design Award winner Alexander Wang.

Post-hiatus, the actress' explosive return

Crystal Renn shows off skin-deep beauty in ads for Dolce & Gabbana, H&M and Saks Fifth Avenue, and in her insightful new book, Hungry, she lets her inner beauty shine. But we wanted the full Crystal Renn experience, so we had to get to the bottom of her on-skin beauty. Luckily, she spilled her beauty bag and let us peek in.