Truthfully, I didn’t even know Eric Daman, Gossip Girl’s stylist/costume designer, was writing a book until I showed up at its party last night.

It’s called You Know You Want It and it’s a charming, realistic guide to style with fantastic illustrations, quotes and photographs.

Leighton Meester, who popped up in one of Marios Schwab’s 3D dresses, wrote the intro and since you probably aren’t familiar with her writing, here you go:

“Eric is more than a stylist…He’s also a psychologist, a scientist, and an artist. Simply put, he’s a genius.

“Imagine this: you’re on set, in the middle of a frenzy of activity that would make the Energizer Bunny beg for a nap. You’ve had weeks of fittings and been in and out of different looks all day, done a month’s worth of changes in an afternoon. You are getting sleeeepy…the biggest cup of coffee in the world could not rouse you. But then Eric holds up a piece of clothing, a slip of silk dangling on a hanger, and whispers, “You know you want it.” His tone hovers between sly and delighted, as if he knows he’s about to make some kind of magic. And instead of exhaustion, you feel a glimmer of excitement. Because it’s so true. You want it. You need it.”

Okay, Rachel must be dying, literally, right now.

Her loyal, often sullen, but always, always hard-working styling associate Taylor Jacobson is finally leaving Rachel Zoe Inc. We’ve kind of seen this coming for a while, but the season ender showed Taylor getting a new role (well, sort of) handling aspects of RZ’s growing merchandise business.

But we guess things didn’t get any better. In an email to contacts today, Taylor said: “After four amazing years at Rachel Zoe Corporation, I’m saddened and exhilarated at the same time to announce my departure. After much thought and consideration, I have decided to take the challenging leap to go off and style on my own.”

Who will make Brad and Rach stay focused now? Who will keep Rodg up to speed on Rachel’s vertigo issues? Who will handle all those returns? We hope there’s a season 3 so we can find out.

Whatever happens, we wish Taylor lots of luck in her solo styling career!

Back in June, we started hearing rumors that makeup artist Tom Pecheux would be getting his very own makeup line at a major cosmetics company.

According to this morning’s WWD, that company is Estée Lauder. Pecheux will not be designing an eponymous line, but instead has been given the newly created title of creative makeup director.

The last superstar makeup artist to work with the Estée Lauder brand was the still dearly missed Paul Starr. His role as leader of the national makeup team, however, was not one with much product input. Pecheux will have his hands in everything going on at the flagship brand. We think this is a very good thing.

There’s a strict division these days between Gossip Girl loyalists and those who’ve passionately abandoned all things Blair and Chuck.

If you’re still of the former, you’ll catch an appearance from the Plasticines on Monday. The French girl group pops up to play two songs at a very important, um, debut for Jenny Humphrey.

As for fashion, no word on which black number Jenny will wear under her raccoon eyes, but the Plasticines will don custom Alice & Olivia outfits. Looks like the partnership the band formed with designer Stacey Bendet at her SS10 presentation has led to even bigger things.

Will their set be silenced by the looming threesome? That, we can’t tell you.

Anthropologie is really just cranking out the projects right now. Last night we stopped by the launch party for their new site, The Anthropologist which asks the question, “What is inspiration?” and then answers it with the works of its first three chosen artists: David Eustace, Andrew Zuckerman, and Jane Campion.

Basically it’s an online gallery that will showcase different pieces of art. We like anything that provides a showcase for art and photography, though we’re still not quite sure what this has to do with the clothes.

This morning brings another collaboration announcement from the company—this time with Koi Suwannagate. The line will be called Lawan (Thai for “beautiful) and include four pieces (a gown, two cardigans, and a top). I’ve been a fan of the designer and her amazing appliques since I first became aware of her when Gwyneth donned one of her amazing sweaters many, many years ago. My budget has not been a fan of her prices, so needless to say I’m psyched for more affordable options.

Also, we like seeing anyone’s business expanding. Yay for economic turnaround!

On Saturday morning I read that Georgia Jagger was the new face of Versace.

Then I dressed up as a nevernude and drank too much tequila so I’m just remembering now what I meant to report Monday morning.

The Imaginary Socialite tucked the tidbit into the bottom of a roundup:

“Georgia Jagger for Versace?! Bestill our fashion hearts; this is amazing.”

We’re not sure there’s a right way and a wrong way to become a super famous awesome model, but landing a solid denim campaign (Hudson), followed by a Vogue cover (UK), a cosmetic contract (Rimmel) and then graduating to a major house (Versace), seems damn perfect.

Forget the latest phone technology or Prada pumps, Anna Wintour got politics for her birthday yesterday.

American Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief was named to President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She’s joined by a handful of ‘private’ citizens including Sarah Jessica Parker, Edward Norton, architect Thom Mayne and former New York City Ballet dancer Damian Woetzel.

The committee, which works with both the National Endowment for the Arts and for the Humanities, works to achieve “economic revitalization through the arts” and guarantee the arts don’t become an afterthought in America.

We love Anna and we love the arts and we hope time in Washington (if this involves time in Washington) inspires her to get a bit more creative in New York.

The Brit’s are taking a cue from our successful CFDA/Vogue Fashion fund; Vogue UK and the British Fashion Council have teamed up for the sake of their country’s flourishing young design talent and formed the BFC Vogue Designer Fashion Fund.

Each year, the fund will award £200,000 to a fresh-faced designer, plus a mentor, to help him or her build a successful brand on “the international stage.”

Britain does, of course, already have similar programs. Topshop’s NewGen, which has sponsored Christopher Kane, Marios Schwab, Richard Nicoll, Louise Goldin, Henry Holland and so many more tends to scoop up the most talented, most broke of St. Martin’s talent and give them the perfect place to show, but the BFC/Vogue fund will have more follow through and individualized attention.

Lady Gaga may talk about starting a clothing line and she may pop up in front rows, but now she’s landing real fashion work (or as real as can be expected from Gaga).

Yesterday, the Daily Mail leaked photos of her Hello Kitty campaign. The pop star wears stuffed kittens and too much glitter in honor of the Japanese brand’s 35th Anniversary. The images will also cover special editions of her album (which’ll be sold with locks of her hair).

And now she, with Cyndi Lauper, will front the new MAC Viva Glam campaign.

The annual project sends 100% of the profits from MAC’s $14 Viva Glam lipstick to their AIDS Fund (which has raised over $150 million since its inception in 1994). This year’s campaign launches on February 25 and the lipstick goes on sale March 18th.

We can’t even fathom the launch party for this one.

Oh the horrible things we’d do for a piece of Proenza or Valli.

Thankfully, we can keep it civil via Rent the Runway; they let you rent what you want without hassle or potential jail time.

The site’s an online community where shoppers can rent designer dresses ranging in price from $50-$200. After signing up for an invite you can browse through everything from Doo.Ri to Brian Reyes, Malandrino to Matthew Williamson which means that even though you’re determined to make it through the holidays without buying a new dress, you don’t have to wear the one you wore last year.

They’ll deliver same-day in New York City and next-day everywhere else and if that’s not easy enough, they’ll even send you two sizes on your first rental, so you don’t have to worry if your temporary Tuleh will be just right.

There goes the only-wear-once problem.

UPDATE: Click here to become a member.

I haven’t played Nintendo since the days of Super Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda. But, boy, was I into it back then, and not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Today Nintendo DS, the portable one, launches a new fashion-based game called Style Savvy that sounds pretty interesting too. (Rachel Zoe and Dakota Fanning tried it out at the launch in LA.) In it you get to take on the role of boutique owner managing everything from customer questions to budget and inventory.

There are 16 lines with over 10,000 items to stock your store with. And even the customers have different personalities, so you need to treat each one individually in order to get them to come back.

We haven’t actually played the game yet, but it sounds like pretty good practice for the real world. At least you’ll learn more than you would playing Mario or Luigi and throwing mushrooms at random creatures.

To say I’m fairly obsessed with Grey Gardens is an understatement, and not at all uncommon in the fashion industry. I’m a fan of the entire body of work of filmmaker Albert Maysles. Really it’s all just genius.

However, until now I’d never thought much about his eyewear. The people over at Barneys, however, have been thinking about it a lot. In keeping with the retro glasses trend, they partnered with LA-based Barton Perreira to recreate Maysles’ classic look.

Barneys’ EVP of Women’s Merchandising Judy Collinson says, “We saw everyone wearing glasses that looked like Albert Maysles glasses. Instead of looking for the best glasses inspired by him, we thought why no have the real authentic Albert Maysles glasses. He is such an iconic, respected and beloved figure. (Plus he looks amazing in the glasses.)”

I’m semi-sure Cheryl Cole isn’t quite an American household name.

She got her start on an American Idol-like reality show in the UK, won and rose to fame with her group, Girl’s Aloud. Since then, she’s become something of a fashion icon (though with as many misses as hits), married a Chelsea footballer, landed the cover of British Vogue and more recently, signed on as a new face of L’Oreal.

Cole’s also a judge on The X-Factor, and this weekend she judged in a dress by Central Saint Martin’s MA graduate David Koma. The black, zipped-up dress caused a storm of criticism though it wasn’t offensive, too revealing or actually wrong in any other way; people just didn’t like it. And now the British press has exploded in anger.

Koma was awarded the Harrod’s design award in February, the same one Chris Kane got a few years ago, which resulted in a Knightsbridge window display. On top of that, his line’s been picked up by Brown’s Focus which means he’s someone people should be paying attention to. Though of course, the not-fashion press hate Kane, and Gareth Pugh, and anyone else making something less than easy.

So if Koma’s going for the customer we think he is, this weekend uproar’s kind of perfect.

While Target’s making brands like Hayden-Harnett and Rodarte household names, Net-a-Porter’s building a home for lesser known designers and showcasing their work for a crowd already in love with kooky fashion.

Last year they launched an exclusive Marios Schwab section (pre-Halston) and now they’ll host an exclusive holiday collection from Ashish Gupta.

The London-based designer’s carried on a long love affair with sequins and though his latest collection revolved around both a fantasy vacation and a love of Nike, he’s designed a more subdued collection for the online shop.

He tells Vogue UK that it’s “a range of beautiful easy to wear pieces in soft shimmer black and metallics…perfect for easy evening glamour.”

Michael Kors may have been missing from Project Runway last night, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been logging in some quality time in Los Angeles. Perhaps honing his first color cosmetics collection, Very Hollywood, a collaboration with Estée Lauder (their second one of the designer variety after a couple with Tom Ford)?

Think glowing Carmen Kass and the Kors runway (or Hilary Rhoda in the Craig McDean photographed ad campaign) and you’ll get the vibe of the makeup. There’s definitely nothing heavy, even the lipsticks are called “sheens”.

Frequent Kors front-rower and the cosmetics brand’s SVP and Creative Director Aerin Lauder told WWD, “The Estée Lauder customer is very much the Michael Kors customer: someone who wants a wonderful product, someone who understands fashion, someone who understands luxury, someone who wants quality.” We totally agree that this seems like a perfect match.

Louis Vuitton’s re-thinking what exactly its customers aspire to.

On the one hand, Lara Stone’s replacing Madonna as the face of the brand. Madonna’s given Vuitton all the publicity she possibly can and Lara, French Vogue favorite, re-instills a high fashion edge; rotating both pop and fashion stars keeps both audiences interested. Steven Meisel will stay behind the camera.

Meanwhile, Vuitton’s sunglasses ads should make an impression on an even younger, slightly hipper customer. André Saraiva, the graffiti artist and man behind Beatrice, Le Baron etc, shot a group of kids including the Ronsons’ little sister Annabelle Dexter Jones and the not-so-child-like Olivier Zahm at New York’s Standard Hotel.

WWD says he’ll continue shooting the cool kids and their “party-all-night vibe”

Look out Gilt and Rue La La, there’s about to be another sample sale site in the mix: Swirl, Sample Sales by DailyCandy.

The point of difference is that all the items will be hand-picked by DailyCandy’s editors, overseen by newly named Creative Director, Eve Epstein, who was until now EIC over all the DailyCandy properties.

The site’s still in Beta and will soft launch the week of November 16th, but it’s first come, first serve right now to sign up. The full-on launch will come in January.

We definitely know the site will look cute and will have a fun voice. Here’s hoping the merch and the prices are on the same level.

We are very happy to hear that Fashion’s Night Out will be back, on September 9, 2010 to be exact.

Before the big night this year, we wondered what it would really be like and if people would indeed shop. As it turned out, many, many did and it was considered a success by most. And according to ShopperTrak, retail foot traffic was up by 50%.

Anna Wintour says, “It was only 15 minutes after the event began, and we were getting reports about lines around the block at stores throughout the city. It was wonderful to see people embrace this initiative, and we are thrilled that they wish it to return.”

Agreed, Anna. Really, FNO was one of the most fun evenings I’ve had in a long time. The city felt alive and united, which I honestly didn’t expect. And the fact that it was the night before 9/11 made my heart swell with New York pride. Plus, I watched dudes shotgun beers in the middle of the Prada store. So there’s that.

No serious details have been announced yet and there’s more than enough time to plan. So what would you do differently in 2010?

Breaking into the industry is always hard, (unless, of course you’ve got a famous Mom and Pop and some modelesque looks, but we digress.) So when an opportunity as amazing as Talenthouse comes along, we have to share it.

Talenthouse gives anyone the opportunity to work with professionals in fashion, film, music, art and photography. And we’re not talking about people so indie even the most hip of hipsters hasn’t heard of them. We mean big names like Naomi Campbell, Dr. Dre, Nokia, and Adidas.

The site works so that professionals can post “Creative Invites” and anyone can submit their work. Talenthouse protects the artist’s creativity and makes no claims over the work submitted (a tricky loophole, whereas most contests claim some ownership over work submitted.) Your friends can vote for your work, and the host will select one winner to collaborate with.

Start getting creative! Naomi Campbell has posted two invites: one for a photographer and one for a model. There’s also a ski goggle design contest for Adidas, a viral video for Dr. Dre, and a ton of other options that will stimulate all your creative processes.

As October comes to an end, there’s still lots going on in the fight against breast cancer. Designers such as Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan, Tory Burch, Prabal Gurung, Tracy Reese, Milly, Rachel Roy, Rebecca Taylor and Jill Stuart, have all teamed up with Sharpie to contribute to the fund-raising efforts. (We love our colorful Sharpies and use them every day for graphics so it’s great to see the company getting so involved with fashion this year!)

The designers have created one-of-a-kind designs using Sharpie markers, including a t-shirt customized by Betsey Johnson, who is a breast cancer survivor. All items are being auctioned off on eBay and benefit City of Hope, a leading cancer research and treatment center.

Bidding for the designer sketches and t-shirts ends on Monday, November 2nd at 1pm (PST), so get on over there and bid!

Want to bid? Visit www.sharpieuncapped.com and help support Breast Cancer Awareness. And if you get out-bid you can always buy Sharpie Pink Ribbon markers and highlighters!