When we think of Spring, we don't usually think black and white. But given the Spring 09 collections, this might be about to change. An overwhelming amount of designers showed black and white outfits and many had entire shows based on the shades. The graphic above is just the short list. We swear. We had to leave out Dries Van Noten, Balenciaga, Prada, Versace, Christopher Kane, Rag & Bone, Rock & Republic, YSL, Stella McCartney, Giambattista Valli, Cynthia Rowley, Band of Outsider, Philip Lim.. And we have a feeling the list could go on..

On a side note, this black and white thing could be well used as a background to some neon pieces you might have purchased for Spring 08, no?

-- HAYLEY PHELAN

*editor's note: the dress in the top row, labeled Sonia Rykiel, was actually designed by Michael Kors for Sonia Rykiel.

Or the more appropriate question is, "Will you wear spring's head gear?"

The runways have been inundated with hats. Catherine Holstein wrapped whole sweaters around the heads of her models. PPQ added I Dream of Jeannie-like toppers to their ruffly dresses and Luella splashed retro veiled hats and riding caps across her floral outfits.

We think some, like the sweaters at Holstein, might look super cool on the runway but stop short of realistically working on a regular girl's head. Same goes for the PPQ hats - they'd induce a giggle or two at the even the most wacky New York party. And the swim caps at D&G - are they serious?

Luella's little hats, while cute on Ali, Jourdan et. al, are the kind of thing we want to rock when we're eighty-year-old eccentric ladies with a murky fashion past.

Right now, we'd love one of the sun hats from Trovata and Nicole Farhi, or even a mini Mary Poppins hat from Marc. And we'd obviously rock the giant bobby pins from Basso & Brooke, but we're not even sure those are for sale.

If you don't usually wear hats, will this spring's wide selection make you change your mind? Or is this a look better left to runways/editorials/ads/models rather than mere mortals?

Bonjour Monsieur,

We're two weeks deep into Fashion Month, and we know you're incredibly busy with your own upcoming show, so we want to make sure you're paying as close attention as us to what's been happening on the runway.

It seems as though your stunning Spring 08 collection stunned more people than just us, having made quite an impression on a bevy of designers, both young and old.

We think it's only fair you charge a petite fee for the "interpretations" of your designs. You should, for example, earn 5% of sales for Jason Wu's jewel toned gowns, and at least 15% of the profits on sales of Alice Temperley's one-shouldered mini. We think you might also make a small fortune off sales of Jill Stuart, Ossie Clark and Erin Fetherston, to name just a few.

None of their dresses mushroom-cloud as beautifully as yours, none of the jewel tones seem as rich the second time around, but it's clear that none of their gowns would exist without yours.

A bientôt!

xo
Fashionista

Rewind. Back to New York for just one moment.

Less than twelve hours before my really early morning flight to Heathrow, I finally got a chance to check in with VogueTV's Model.Live girls again, and see how New York was treating them.

It took so long because 1) I was super busy and 2) they were super busy and 3) everyone's busy before, during and after Fashion Week.

The girls, who cumulatively walked everything from Marc by Marc to Chris Benz to Marchesa, are having a blast so far. Their emotions differ, from Cato, who is grateful to be cast in anything, to Austria, who's never heard of the designers but is having the time of her life, to Madeline, who's a seasoned pro next to the other two.

Read on for their New York impressions (and you can read tons more at their Bebo blogs) - and stay tuned for their tunes after London this week...

Between the wavy hair parted heavily on one side, the red lips, and all that uncharacteristic leather and grunge - it seems like Proenza Schouler has a new muse, and we think it's got to be Alice Dellal.

We're not sure how we feel about this, exactly. Sure, Alice is cute, and she's definitely edgy. But isn't she kind of like the slightly older Cory Kennedy? Or should we say, nine minutes of fame behind her?

Either way, we kind of loved the unexpected hardcore feel to some of the Proenza pieces. Of course they threw in some light and airy looks for good measure - It is Spring.

All that leather could make anyone feel badass, but come on, that tiny leather bustier was made for Alice. Modeling for some of the coolest magazines, designing for MANGO and now inspiration to one of the most established New York designers? I guess we're going to have to get used to Alice as a fashion mainstay.

-- HAYLEY PHELAN

This morning, my friend asked me how the clothes were at Rock & Republic but I was like, What clothes? Yes, it was technically a fashion show except we were too busy staring at the crowd to really notice.

As promised, Chace was front row, alongside Jessica Szohr (Vanessa), who is probably the only Gossip Girl cast member to look and dress differently from her character in real life. And then to our delightful surprise, Miss Ashley Olsen plunked down next to Jessica and the two chatted and giggled throughout the show. Could this possibly indicate a guess appearance for the twin? We could totally see Ashley Olsen playing Ashley Olsen, maybe at a party at the Gansevoort and air-kissing Serena to everyone else's secret jealousy.

Only after we finally took our seats did we notice Margherita Missoni sitting directly across from us and in second row; Nina Garcia and then, we're not sure why, John Legend and his girlfriend. Also inexplicably, but predictably, were Alex and Simon from Real Housewives of Manhattan.

We did however look up long enough to see that all the looks coming down the runway were exclusively black and white, and exclusively T-I-G-H-T. And since when are leggings and a tube top considered fashion? The boys, however, did walk out in some pretty awesome suits that we hope Chace noted. We're less sure about the acid washed black and white jeans - but hey, who knows what'll happen in the life of Nate.

--HAYLEY PHELAN

--PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

--PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

So officially, Fashion Week doesn't start until Friday morning.

Unofficially, everyone's so excited they decided to pack themselves into sweltering hot Gemma last night to celebrate the Express sponsored launch of VogueTV's Model.Live, (yes we know it's already been on for weeks but that's so not the point).

Anyway, we'll be checking in with the girls, Madeline, Cato and Austria in New York, London and Paris, (Milan will be done virtually), to see how they're doing, what they're learning and whether or not castings are still fun twenty days into the process.

So far we have these two pictures for you and the fact that Cato's first show of the week will be Nicole Miller.

Get used to their faces - we think you'll be seeing them a lot.

Even though we write and build a website, we're not the most technologically advanced group.

We've been having a hard time wrapping our minds around Twitter - more than one person has tried to explain it but it still just sounds like one more way to stalk and we don't think there should be anymore ways to keep tabs on someone you haven't spoken to since high school.

However, MAC will be "Twittering," or is it "Tweeting," backstage from over 175 shows from New York through to Paris.

"For the first time, our MAC Senior Artist Team can give instant, detailed insight into what happens backstage, all in real-time," said a rep.

This means constant model updates, make-up tips, action shots and the most inside scoop you'll probably ever get unless you plan on walking the Prada runway anytime soon.

You can subscribe to the Twitter widget, whatever that means, on MAC's Facebook page. Come to think of it, this could actually be useful if you are in fact trying to stalk Coco, no?

Standing in the "lobby" of the Bryant Park tents during Fashion Week means being pelted with copies of WWD and Fashion Week Daily while buying 'wichcraft sandwiches, coffee from an awkward sponsor and dodging street style bloggers.

But if you're looking for more intelligent pursuits in the ten minutes between Herve and DVF you can swing by the CFDA's health booth. Among all the crazy ideas we've heard about monitoring the industry's skinniness - this might be the most rational.

At Diane's behest, the CFDA's teaming up with the Renfrew Cetner, an eating disorder treatment facility, "to answer specific questions, provide referrals and basically perform overall outreach to any person who might be interested in treatment or may be worried about someone they are working with," said Steven Kolb.

It could work - even we need a reminder to eat during Fashion Week. And we never forget to eat.

Pretty much every day this week, we've received e-mails from readers asking how to get into Fashion Week.

The sad truth is, you pretty much can't go unless you're invited.

But, we did just come across this: a concierge company called In the Know Experiences swears they can get anybody into any show - as long as you pay up.

We don't think it would be nearly as fun as crashing (maybe we'll DIY that one), but hey, now you know.

So.

There was a rumor that MGMT would play at the Prada party, and we've since heard rumors that it wasn't true. We were crushed - who doesn't want to hop around to Time to Pretend, gift bag in hand?

But don't fret - looks like everybody just got their P's mixed up in all their Q's (oh, we just couldn't help it.)

MGMT's making a special performance at the Prps show on the 10th, just after 8pm.

Phew, and see you there.

Lately, there are a lot of invites to events flying around that make us go, "huh?" And sometimes, they actually make us go "ew":

ELLE's sponsoring a Fashion Week show at the Metropolitan Pavilion on the 9th. The show's being "curated" by LA boutique Dash, the children's boutique Smooch, and the whole thing's being hosted by Khloe Kardashian, to no doubt be filmed for her family's reality show.

The event's the same date as the second episode of Stylista, at 10am.

But somehow, we expect Anne Slowey to be at Badgley Mischka instead.

The Bumble and Bumble space on West 13th is one of our favorite venues for the shows.

There's good light, you can take pictures from several different points, and we love when the out-of-work model waiters serve us fat little macaroons before and after.

So it comes as no surprise that it's kind of the place to show this season. Their roster of designers: Ohne Titel (for a third time, a Bumble first), Catherine Holstein (doing her first real runway show there), Staerk, Jeremy Laing, Vicente Villarin, Koi Suwannagate, Liz McClean and Victoria Bartlett.

The Bumble people have a way of picking out the next successful designers to show at their space. Not to mention, if you actually have time to kill between shows, you may as well be in the West Village.

We almost had a heart attack when the first Fashion Week invite arrived in our mailbox last week.

It can't be that time, can it?

It is, in fact, almost September, and while we've gotten our fair share of heavy cardstock invites, leave it to Band of Outsiders to make us giggle with their white cotton glove.

They get the award for best invite so far, just like last time.

Balmain's last runway was inspired by Michael Jackson's glittery socks - is Scott Sternberg taking direction from his infamous glove?

As long as there's glitter, we don't care.