*Andre Leon Talley wins the award for best purple tent. As always, his volumes are amazing.

Let’s take a look at the Best Dressed of the night. This category has quite a bit of people, as it should, for fashion’s biggest event. These were the As and high Bs, the working girls.

Shalom Harlow is my pick for BEST DRESSED in Marchesa. This is what the Met Ball is all about – she looks breathtaking in that gown.

I almost fell over when I saw Christina Ricci in Zac Posen. She never ages a day and looks super sexy in this sheer number.

I found Mary-Kate’s dress underwhelming, but Ashley Olsen looks ravishing in vintage Dior Haute Couture. The whole look is perfect.

Elle Fanning looks like a little couture doll in Valentino. She is so outshining her sister, it’s not even fair.

Rihanna has been looking haggard lately, so I was pleasantly surprised at how elegant she was in this striking Stella McCartney gown.

Iman, also in Stella McCartney, turned it out in a metallic gold jumpsuit. A little draggy, a lot amazing.

Karolina Kurkova in a spring 2011 Jean Paul Gaultier lace legging-dress creation. If the models can’t do it, who can?

I love this Prabal Gurung gown and funky jewelry on Ciara. White could be difficult to pull off at the ball, but she did it right.

Even though Crystal Renn is too skinny for my taste, she is an absolute vision in Alexander McQueen. I need my hair to look like this.

After getting ready in a Barneys window yesterday, Daphne Guiness showed up in McQueen. Perfect, amazing, stuns.

I loved Ginnifer Goodwin‘s look from the moment  I saw it. Then I realized it was custom Topshop. Damn she makes it look good.

Naomi Campbell looks like the queen she is in custom McQueen. She wears the sedatives well too.

Hamish Bowles looks like a true gentleman in custom McQueen. Love it from head to toe.

I always wait with baited breath to see what Blake Lively is wearing. She obviously did not disappoint in a Chanel toga.

New York’s best couple showed up looking better than ever. Beyonce is working that Emilio Pucci gown like whoa.

Queen Bitch Anna Wintour gave her best smile to the camera and looks like a shiny grandiose statue in Chanel.

On to the Most Boring of the night. On any other occasion, these folks would have looked great (probably). Unfortunately, this also means they’re the Cs of the Met Ball.

I’m sleeping. Zoe Saldana is usually among the best dressed. Why did she choose this boring Calvin Klein for the biggest fashion night of the year?

Leighton Meester is amazing, but she has trouble getting it right. Different shoes and hair would have done this Louis Vuitton dress more justice.

I love this Michael Kors dress on Emma Roberts, but she has the body to wear something more over the top on a night like this.

Madonna, the Material Girl herself, definitely could have done better than this Stella McCartney dress. Pretty, but boring.

I’m actually quite obsessed with this Miu Miu dress Michelle Williams is wearing. But I would wear this to a nice dinner, not a gala.

And now ladies and gentleman, the Worst Dressed of the night. These are the Ds and Fs of the Met Ball, the creme de la creme of mistakes.

ARGH! Christina Hendricks used to dress so well! This Carolina Herrera gown is an unflattering fit and color on her.

Oh dear. Hate to say it Alicia Keys, but it looks like you’re wearing a giant turd instead of Givenchy. Brown jacket AND dress is NOT fly.

Jennifer Lopez looks like a halfway plucked bloody chicken. Matchy-matchy lipstick, bag and Gucci is a no go.

I thought Chloe Sevigny would make McQueen look good, but I was wrong. The hair is awful and the dress fits like she grabbed it off some rack.

Sorry to say it Kate Hudson, but this Stella McCartney is not a cute pregnant lady dress. And whatever is on your head isn’t working either.

Nooooo! In the rush of preparing for the gala, Lucy Liu forgot to get a wax! Oh wait, that’s just her looking blech in Vionnet.

I hope everyone enjoying looking at the red carpet photos from the 2011 Met Gala as much as I. Who was your best and worst dressed of the night?

Barneys fashion director Julie Gilhart said:

“We never thought of Co-Op as a place where you find secondary collections. It’s a place where you find something different.”

Truer words have never been spoken. If you want to snag any of these limited edition items, head to Barney’s Co-Op ASAP.

LINK LOVE: Fashionologie

LINK LOVE: Fashion Gone Rogue

Fashion’s Night Out has given me one more reason to highly anticipate its imminent arrival. Or rather two, in the form of these Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington rag dolls, by Brooklyn-based artist Andrew Yang.

Barney’s commissioned the dolls, which were hand sewn and painted over the course of two weeks and they will be auctioned off starting Aug. 31 through charitybuzz.com. All proceeds benefit The New York City Aids Fund.

Bravo.

Meanwhile, where’s the Andre Leon Talley doll? Yang says that Anna’s and Grace’s looks were both his “own take on their signature look.” I guess it would’ve taken too long and too much material to throw together a Chado Ralph Rucci mini-great coat and cerulean Gucci loafers.

But I still would have appreciated an attempt.

LINK LOVE: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/all-dolled-up/

Somebody’s trying too hard.  Ok, you’re into Fashion, we get it.  Simmer down a little, simmer.

B-Side

OMG Blog reports a display of “mannequins with sad clown faces dressed up as homeless people” on the co-op floor. Their take:

The scene is so accurate down to the last detail that I did a triple take before uncontrollably saying something out loud about how fucked up it is. We offend people every day here at !! omg blog !! but I think Barneys has us beat with this store display. Which part of “Taste. Luxury. Humor.” is this?

LINK LOVE

One of our favorite street photographers Scott Schuman, better known at the Sartorialist, has organized his own pop-up at Barneys! Full of lust-worthy items, Schuman displays his luxurious taste at the ‘SartoriaLUST,’ which includes pieces from Maison Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten, APC, and Ralph Lauren, among others.  Prices are high, but isn’t that the point of lust-worthy?

LINK LOVE: Racked

This is one of the best sales of the year, and if you’re looking for some amazing deals on some high quality products, this is the place to be. The flyer covers everything you need to know, and then some so ust check it out!

Natalia Brilli has resurrected a rock band from the dead!!! And they’re on tour…

The Parisian-based designer has taken her craft to a whole new level engulfing three rockers and their instruments in the finest lambskin.  The entire installation took 500 hours to put together and required 70 skins to cover the entire set.

Currently, the band is in transit heading to Miami for Art Basel from the 2nd to the 10th of December to play at the store Alchemist. “After it’s headed to Barney’s in New York, Dusseldorf in January, Copenhagen Fashion Week in February at the store Paris Texas,  Vienna in March at Park, Montreal in April at Reborn, Hong Kong in May at On Pedder and then onto Singapore and Sydney.” according to Dazed Digital.

Pieces from the band will be aailable in limited numbers and signed by Natalia Brilli herself. I officially have a covetable on my Chanukah list…

Alexander Wang, Michael Kors and Stella McCartney are just a few of the designers tapped by Barneys to give peace a chance. Each one has designed a one of a kind dress for retailer to be on display for their Have A Hippie Holiday windows.

The dresses go on display on Sunday. Ralph Lauren, Martin Margiela, Isabela Toledo, and Narcisco Rodriquez will also join the mix.

Fiorentini + Baker Double Buckle Boot. Available at Barney's Coop ($445)

This Fall one of the hottest trends is a solid high leather boot. They are easy to wear with just about anything, and they are a great way to kill that stupid rain boot trend that Marc Jacobs was so content on sparking. Now I will say that with this much leather involved, unless you strike vintage store gold, it’s going to be hard to find a pair for less than $200. However $200 is not bad when you think about it. You are making an investment here. If you buy a pair of fairly standard boots they should last you years, and they tend to be rather timeless. Here are a few of my favorites, from the cheaper to the more expensive. 

Heutchy Black Leather and Canvas Boot. Available at Oak ($488)

H By Hudson Kaiser Boot. Available at Oak ($332)

Barney's Leather Round Toe Boot. Available at Barney's ($250)

Frye Brando Lace-Up Boot. Available at Urban Outfitter Online ($260)

Bed Stu Fort Boot. Available at Urban Outfitters Online ($220)

Like I said, don’t get discouraged from looking for cheaper. Thrift stores and vintage shops are great places to find good boots, but for those of you who have a money tree in your backyard or just don’t have the time to look all over the city for a pair, check out what the Internet has to offer.

Thanks to Barney’s, Oak and Urban Outfitters for the images.

Although Helmut Lang himself left the company back in 2005, the company still impresses me with what the produce every year. This collection is one of my most sought after collections for this Fall (and rapidly approaching Winter). The neck work on the pieces is incredible, each one is different and brilliant. The collection reminds me of a John Varvatos collection, and you can’t go wrong with Johnny V. The collection is well composed, and gets two thumbs up for sure from me. The Helmut Lang collection is currently available at Barney’s and Barney’s Coop locations, so get on that.

Thanks to Skeleton Legs for the pictures.

The new Citroen 2CV by Hermes

Louis Vuitton Vespa

Volkswagon Beetle for Barney's NYC

Louis Vuitton car

Bugatti by Hermes

On Monday Rebecca wrote about how she wanted the new Fiat 500 by Diesel, well after two more designer/fashion inspired cars were spotted today, I am officially over this lame trend. The new Hermes Citroen 2CV and the Volkswagon Beetle for Barney’s are pretty damn lame if you ask me. As if the orginal car isn’t expensive enough (with the exception of the VW) now you have to pay the added super premium price to have the left over fabric from an old Hermes line stiched over the seats. The only really cool vehicle I see here is the Louis Vuitton Vespa, mostly because you can actually see the signiture monogram print. If you like Hermes or Diesel enough to buy their collaboration cars, save your money on the car and spend it on their clothes where it should be spent in the first place.

Thanks to Selectism for the images.

Wode by Boudicca will be hitting shelves soon at certain Barney’s stores across the nation. The revolutionary spray-can design sprays blue perfume that will initially color both the wearers skin and clothes, after a few seconds the colors goes away and the scent stays. This is an amazing idea, I just hope it works better than those disappearing ink pranks that didn’t always full disappear. The cost is $145 and there is an awesome video on the Boudicca website showing how the product works.