I’m still scarred from the debut of Stella McCartney’s H&M collection. I sauntered into the H&M in central DC (Washington, DC, the capital of we-haven’t-heard-of-any-fashion-designer-under-50), expecting to waltz away with bags full of bloussons and tuxedo jackets, and found it completely ranksacked with only a couple tee shirts and metallic jumpsuits in XL. I’ve wised up this time around.

Viktor and Rolf, high off the uber-publicity from their ballroom dancing, champagne flowing fashion show, are debuting at H&M on Nov. 9 (two days after election day-which will you be getting up early for?).

As Rachel Doddes illuminated in a recent WSJ article, V&R’s profit margin lies on the launch of their new fragrance and their H&M diffusion line. It’s a pretty interesting phenomenon–designers throwing million dollar fashion shows to court the customers of a store that sells their designs for one-tenth of the regular price tag.

Anyway, the collection stays true to Viktor and Rolf’s signature, while also incorporating the street ready-to-wear aesthetic of H&M.

Wanna make standing outside for three hours in the morning cold to be two hours late to work worth the trouble? Show up early, buy 5 of each item and sell it on eBay.

I thought Moss’ post-coke “comeback” (she’d always been the industry darling, and everyone rallied around her as soon as the pics hit the front page of the Sun) was laudable–give a girl a second chance, especially when the industry would have been super-hypocritical for ostracizing her (though it would have been a good opportunity for some industry-wide reflection).

But this overtly codependent, dysfunctional relationship she has with skeevie, sleazy Pete Doherty? When is the fashion world going to call a spade a drug-addicted- dirty-wanna-
be-bad-ass-spade? I mean, there is going for the bad boy, and there is going for the guy who looks like a boll weevill, can’t keep out of rehab, and sprays his own blood on MTV cameramen.

It’s like the helpless situation when your best friend is about to marry the guy you knew sat alone in his high school cafeteria (because he tried injected a passed out lunch lady with heroin), and you can’t say anything to dissuade her.

I hope this picture disproves rumors that Moss is pregnant with his baby, otherwise there is a whole other set of objections to raise.

Haven’t gotten your fill of pink products yet for Breast Cancer Awareness Month? (Who has, really?) Just in time for the winter winds that parch lips, leaving them gray and flaky, DuWop is offering this Power Gloss Lip Gloss kit.

The Pink Shimmer Lip Venom is a new twist on the old favorite - and if there’s one thing that would have made Lip Venom even better, it’s pink. The formula is created to reflect light, giving lips even more sheen. And, as always, the mixture of ginger, cinnamon and wintergreen increases circulation to your lips to plump and increase natural color.

Plus, not only do you get DuWop’s new Pink Shimmer Lip Venom, but the cutie pink case and mirror set. All for $22.50, a portion of which goes to Cosmetic Executive Women’s Cancer and Career’s organization. The group provides insight and inspiration to women with cancer, their employers, coworkers, and caregivers.

If that’s not a bright pink happy thought, what is?

While I loved Jay McCarroll’s entire spring 2007 collection, he sent down a pair of leggings that I cannot stop thinking about… every time I reach for a skirt or flats, they pop into my head.

And I am not into leggings… but these are leggings for a non-leggings girl: the smoked chrome color and the fine trouserlike tailoring with large cuffs and buttons give them so much more definition than flimsy spandex/nylon blend that look like tights hacked off at the calves.

Must I really wait for spring to get them (and then have to chase down Jay’s collection in a boutique in SoHo… please tell me Barney’s Coop picked up his line)?

I don’t think I’m willing to settle for the alternatives, which would just remind me of what I’m missing. So I guess it’s full length tights until next season.

Coco Button Legging at dELiA*s; Free People Thermal Cropped Leggings, Urban Outfitters

Style.com has enlisted Vogue’s Sally Singer to identify the top ten runway shows from the spring season.

The list:

The Parisian roster dominates the list (seven out of ten), which may be fair, as Paris often showcases more aspirational and high-concept designs that the more commercial fashion weeks, but can Paris really have such a stronghold on fashion?

What’s surprising is that there are, well, no surprises. No new names, no overlooked or unexpecteds… I suppose the definition of “strongest” comes into play here, but it seems as though this list leaves out a very big consideration–the designers who are innovating, who are moving fashion in subtle turns, who are quietly but forcefully influencing the landscape. This list does feature undeniably strong, and influential, collections, but it is also so obvious that it could have been written before the shows were even held.