The news spread through the wires almost as fast as the one about the hotel heiress going to jail for 45 days. Liz Claiborne buying Narciso Rodriguez for the sum of $12 million has become the story du jour that’s lasted for a whole lot more. Name it and the fashion blogs and press found a way to cover it, delve through it, analyze it and regurgitate it. One article in particular in the New York Times caught my attention because the writer went through the various reasons why the deal occurred as it did. More so than anything, the quote that stood out in particular came from Ralph Lauren when speaking to Rodriguez. I block quoted the whole thing to give context:

They sat in Mr. Lauren’s Western-appointed office, amid the photographs and vintage car memorabilia, and, Mr. Rodriguez said, Mr. Lauren told him, “First of all, you shouldn’t be struggling. That’s just not possible.”

Mr. Rodriguez added, “That’s been a constant in all the conversations: ‘Women love your clothes, so why are you struggling?’ ”

I wondered, why wasn’t it possible? There are lesser-known designer whose clothes women absolutely adore. Yet they still have trouble getting off the ground. In a sense, it’s a modified application of that nefarious bell curve. A small number of designers will do really well, a small number of designers will do really poorly and the majority of the rest will do just well enough. If I had to create this modified Bell curve at the really well end there’d be Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan. The middle of the pack would be a Malandrino, Tuleh and near the bottom would be Narciso Rodriguez. The caveat here is that it has nothing to do with quality and more to do with general success. Reading the New York Times article it is evident that everyone believes Rodriguez is an amazing designer (that, or they’re all good liars). But I will have faith and go with the former rather than the latter.

Women may love his clothes, but maybe and quite possibly, his lack of business acumen led to the precarious position of bankruptcy. He is, after all, a gifted designer and not an accountant. But maybe the lesson here (if there is one to be had) is that being a designer means wearing many hats even some that may not fit you well (to use a clumsy analogy).

links: New York Times article | photos from his Fall 2007 collection (Style)

Sometimes over the weekend when there’s absolutely nill to do and I find myself bouncing off the walls because of boredom (mind you I live in New York), I look through my old magazines and see photos and think, wow how cool from oh so long ago. Oh so long ago meaning 2 seasons ago. Now most people I know in this industry wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something from a season or two ago, but some pieces are simply timeless. A quick example of this timelessness is this dress from Balenciaga that Gisele effortlessly wears. Searching for and monetary issues aside, this is simply what one can wear any season and still be current. It’s so good and I am going to gush so much that the photo takes up half the page. Yes? Yes. For more timeless Balenciaga photos by the way, click here.

From blog posts about Mother’s day, sample sales, interviews with Zac Posen, the fashion blogging community was on a tear with a variety of interesting subjects. Read what they had to say below.

Bag Snob
Mother’s Day Gift Guide from the Bag Snob!

Coquette
Coquette loves the look of cute cropped cardigans.

Ebelle5
Inspired by or a coincidence. EBelle5 discovers the similarities between BeBe and the Louis Vuitton Riveting Bag.

FASHIONTRIBES
Go nude! In a FASHIONTRIBES podcast interview with CoverGirl makeup artist Molly Stern, learn the best tips & tricks for rocking this hot trend for summer.

Girlawhirl
Girlawhirl Gift Guide: [Mother's Day Gifts All with special discounts for girlawhirl.com readers!

KRiSTOPHER DUKES
This platinum Stella McCartney bag’s playing PETA-friendly is nice, but leatherless or lambskin, Kristopher digs it.

LA STORY
Alexa Wilkinson Has An Amazing Appetite for Life and Music Check out her Lullaby Appetite CD and Podcast on LA STORY

My Fashion Life
My Fashion Life says "hell no" to the Jeans Bikini pant

Second City Style
How to look like a bathing beauty, even when you don’t feel like one. When it comes to Summer ‘07 swimwear, Second City Style has the ultimate swimwear guide for your body type.

SheFinds
Hot or Not? The Return of Wayfarers

StyleBakery.com
Vote for your favorite emerging designers in StyleBakery.com’s third annual "On The Rise" contest and you could win a $500 shopping spree at ravinstyle.com

Styleaholics
Month of May Sample Sales Galore from D&G to LeSportsac

Stylebites
America’s Next Top Model fans can see all the cycle 8 episodes thanks to Stylebites!

Stylehive
Stylehive gets the inside scoop on Zac Posen’s widely rumored new blog project - check out the exclusive interview with the charismatic designer!

The Jewelry Weblog
Still enjoying the wave of the mixed medie jewelry trend, the Jewelry Weblog is loving the mix of suede and glass from Sepia.

eBeautyDaily
eBeautyDaily addresses a common home haircoloring problem and its solutions.

It’s official, at approximately 8:45am this morning, the fashion world lost it’s collective mind. Ok the time is just some random, arbitrary thing that I put out, but it’s not far from the truth minus the fact that it may have lost it’s mind a long time ago. My reasoning is very clear, Kate Moss’ line released at Top Shop caused near riots at the store and now she’s made her way on to Ebay. The bidding is not necessarily fast and furious and the premiums on the item are what you would expect for Ebay it’s still a wonder how she is now an uber designer in terms of buzz. In other news, emerging designers who studied years in school are banging their heads against walls. Film at eleven.

Received an e-mail (out of the -hundreds-, -thousands-, ok tens of e-mails) a couple of days ago regarding a new bag from maker Waterfield designs. Normally the bags they manufacture/sell are of a utilitarian nature (laptop, briefcase etc.), this bag in particular though seemed to mix the right amout of chic with utility. It’s not like a uber stylish satchel bag, nor is it a large hobo that you see everyone wearing like some sort of matron in a third world village. It’s a mix of sensible and stylish when you just need a bag. So I am officially shilling for the sling today because it’s now part of my bag collection and I’ve found more uses than I know what to do with. It’s that good. Check it out here.