Marni's deliberately imprecise cut, curvilinear volumes, gathered egg-shaped skirts, and three-quarter-length sleeves, as well as the homemade fifties dressmaker quality of the clothes haven't changed. That will be enough to please the ever-increasing band of international followers who've hooked up to the ragtag nouvelle vague Marni caravan. But designer Consuelo Castiglioni hasn't altered her simply belted, regular-looking fur coats either, and that's more problematic. Marni started off as a pioneering revivalist in that category, but a sense of creative standstill added to the impression that the collection as a whole is marking time. Even the solid, sensible slingback platforms and leather bags, now shorn of their dangly doodads, added to the general sense of downbeat calm. It was perfectly fine, but when next spring comes, the girl needs to start moving cheerfully on.

Even the signature Chanel camellias, nestling as appliqués in textured salt-and-pepper tweed, were abstracted into something resembling a naive daisy, a flower symbol that carries with it more than a hint of the youthquake sixties fashions of Mary Quant and Courrèges. Of course, in Lagerfeld's deft hands this was no mere history lesson. The designer used those schoolgirl-short looks to focus on the leg with wrinkling kid boots so high that they disappeared beneath those tiny skirts' hems, or leggings in pale gold or silvery Lurex knits. Jeans and knickerbockers were cut as tight as hosiery and decorated with a flourish of Chanel's black satin hair ribbon at the knee.

KHARTOUM, Sudan --  A plane carrying the former rebel who ascended to Sudan's No. 2 leadership post has disappeared after losing contact, a Sudanese Cabinet minister said Monday on state television, contradicting earlier reports.

BOMBAY, India --  Authorities warned residents to remain home Sunday after new heavy rains pounded Bombay and the surrounding state, as the official death toll from last week's record-breaking monsoon rains hit 910.

The new rains, which began early Sunday, badly hampered cleanup efforts and the distribution of food to needy residents.

People wade through a flooded street during heavy rains in Bombay, India, Sunday, July 31, 2005. Authorities warned residents to remain at home Sunday after heavy rains began falling again across Bombay and the surrounding state, which were hammered last week by devastating floods. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) credits to Vogue and COX news

Currently Listening Transatlanticism By Death Cab for Cutie Sound of Settling see related

Angela Missoni picked her way into the general anti-flash mood of the season by choosing a subtle palette of slate, beige, misty blue, and plaster pink, sparked up with brighter shades of turquoise and purple. She contrasted passionflower prints on tube skirts and tight sexy camisoles against thick loose cashmere cardigans and V-neck sweaters, and slung on parkas to make things a little more casual. The eighties element came in tightly draped printed chiffon bodices and puffy taffeta collars of the kind Emanuel Ungaro might've designed for Alexis Colby. Styled together with striped obi knit belts and high heels strapped to the foot with silk strands, the collection never quite gelled as a total look. But then again, in a store, the bits and pieces will undoubtedly offer something for everyone in the family.

As Gwen Stefani sang about a "million-dollar contract," Kors' models streamed down the runway in suitably luxe silks, suedes, and cashmeres, and fur aplenty. The designer favored streamlined, sport-influenced silhouettes, from second-skin stretch-crepe bodices on dresses to ski pants in nylon or faille. Graphic blacks and whites were accentuated with shots of bright red, blue, and purple, and camel was teamed with icy gray. Kors' cosmopolitan outfits were topped off with knit caps and goggle-like sunglasses—but if his city girls have a real hankering for the slopes, they can slip into a snowflake tube top or a simple dress accented with racing stripes.

isn't that runway schedule just fabulous?? Trey readin git haha cool eh?

Nevelson was at her peak in the late sixties, a period Sui has mined for inspiration many times before, and a few of the looks in this show have become signatures of sorts for the designer: the mumsy bouclé suit, the chiffon baby doll smock, the librarian's bow blouse. Into the mix, Sui tossed era-appropriate bandanas knotted underneath the chin, opaque op-art tights, and pendant necklaces, as well as some up-to-the-second strappy fur boots. Put together, it all made for one head-spinning collage.

The designers described their collection—full of minis and maxis, boxy jackets, Beatles caps, and tall furry hats reminiscent of the Buckingham Palace guards—as "La Dolce Vita meets Swinging London." But without knowing all that, you'd have been forgiven for thinking you'd blundered into a groovy furrier's show. Dolce & Gabbana kept pretty faithful to the outline of the youthquake moment as it might have been seen from Italy—a viewpoint that encompassed both English tweeds and alta moda flowered dresses. But there was never, ever this much fur around in '64. The duo didn't just use it in a regular way on coats, like a Shrimpton-esque Mongolian lamb and a floor-sweeping white mink; they lavished broadtail almost everywhere, as if it were fabric. A black minidress and matching coat were only the starters: After that, there were two-tone boxy suits and narrow skirts with contrast banding picked out in fur, and trims applied everywhere.

At a refugee camp in southern Niger, the beds are filled with screaming children -- screaming because they're starving to death and ridden with diseases. They are the smallest victims of a prolonged drought and locust infestation that has left more than a million people near starvation. Reports of an emergency airlift are received with an air of resignation -- it may be too little, too late.

MARADI, Niger, July 24 (AP) - Nasseiba Ali is the face of hunger in Niger. The 20-month-old girl weighs just 12 pounds, and her eyes are clouded at night, one of the symptoms of chronic malnutrition.

Nasseiba may survive because her grandmother was able to get her to a feeding center. But aid groups despair that many other children are dying because the world has been slow to respond to the needs here.

"I thought we would not make it safely," Nasseiba's grandmother, Haoua Adamou, said in Hausa through an interpreter after walking for several hours with the baby on her back to the emergency feeding center at Maradi, some 400 miles east of the capital, Niamey.  She sat Saturday fanning flies from Nasseiba's face.

The aid agency Oxfam warned last week that about 3.6 million people, about a third of them children, face starvation in this West African nation devastated by locusts and drought. The United Nations estimates that 800,000 children under age 5 are suffering from hunger, including 150,000 faced with severe malnutrition. 

Are Highlights for You?

Looking for an instant way to add oomph to your look? Coloring your locks is a great option -- and highlighting is one of the beauty buzzwords that first come to mind.

Highlights can enhance the face, add dimension and shine, and when done correctly, the effect is, well...heavenly. But highlighting isn't the only option.

The Lowdown on Coloring Processes

Talk to your stylist to determine which of these techniques is best for you.

Highlights: Add light to hair; best in shades of gold, honey, amber, and rich reds. Highlights add a brighter dimension to hair color.

Lowlights: Add depth to hair. Used to make hair a few shades darker, or to break up an overlightened head of hair.

Foiling: Small sections of hair are placed onto rectangular sheets of foil and color or lightener is applied, and the foil is folded to keep color in place. Closest application to hair root of all highlighting techniques.

Baliage: Haircolor or lightener is "handpainted" freestyle onto select strands of hair; great for personalizing color on textured or wavy hair.

Chunk: Large sections of hair are lightened randomly to create the boldest highlighted look. Can be achieved through foiling or baliage.

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If only someone would invent a handy tote (maybe with gold trim?) that had a darling built-in clutch.

What’s this? Hand Maid by Michelle Frantz cotton canvas bags have a detachable pouch that can be carried as a clutch. (Practical and seductive? Inspiring!) The carryalls come in solid colors like latte, turquoise, and lime green; the leather clutches come in python and crocodile prints. (Ooooh. Options. You love those.)

These working-double-duty numbers are like getting two for the price of one.

Which is good. That’s the kind of ever-ready quality you can’t get enough of.


Available at Blue Bag, 266 Elizabeth Street, between Houston and Prince Streets (212-966-8566); Miele, 159 1/2 Ludlow Street, between Stanton and Rivington Streets (212-475-9240). To purchase online, go to handmaidbymichellefrantz.com.