Madness! Total madness! We adore Jean-Paul Gaultier's sense of creativity. His 2009 haute couture show was like a fashion circus! It's always fun to see clothes that no human being in his/her right mind would ever wear. But, hey, isn't that what it's all about?

Yes, the fashion and celebrity world are still intrinsically linked. Major designers never fail to bring out major A-listers. For Paris Fashion Week '09 Haute Couture, Dior, of course, was a heavy hitter.

"It's yellow, it's ugly, it doesn't go with anything, but it could save your life."

This is the tag line on France's new road-safety campaign for summer, which they've asked their super iconic countryman, Karl Lagerfeld, to star in.

Last month, we tipped Audrey Tautou to play Chanel in a new biopic of the French designer. Now we can confirm the rumors are true.

Tautou will play Chanel in a new movie to be called Coco avant Chanel (which means "Coco before Chanel" and which will focus on Coco's formative years, before she became known for her classic sense of style and her wonderful taste in smells). We didn't know much about the fashion legend's early life, but according to Variety, she learned to sew during her time in a Catholic orphanage after the death of her parents, and earned the nickname Coco after performing as a cabaret dancer - there's some perfect biopic material, right there.

Variety also reports that Tautou was (understandably, being the most famous hip and beautiful young Frenchwoman in Hollywood) the only choice for the role.

Do you see better fashion on the ride to work than you do in Vogue magazine -- or are you stuck with JC Penny's, and dreaming about H&M? While it's certainly possible to be stylish anywhere, the fashion-forward tend to flock to a few choice locations around the globe. But where?

Forbes magazine has recently ranked the "World's Most Stylish Cities," and while some of them -- like New York, London and Paris -- are obvious, there's a few on the list that might surprise you. Here's the top 10 -- did you city make the cut?

[via Haute Concept]

Angelina Jolie has been making headlines all week. Of course, she is a walking headline every week, and whenever she and Mr. Brad Pitt show themselves the crowds go wild. We feel their pain.

When not comparing baby bumps with costar Jack Black (key player in Twin-Gate), who is also expecting (well, his wife is), she is making the rounds at Cannes to promote their new animated film Kung Fu Panda. Oh, and she is having some fun with the media. Why not?

The 61st Cannes Film Festival is underway, and a very pregnant Angelina Jolie is on hand to promote her new animated flick, Kung Fu Panda. And, while she didn't give too much away about the film in an interview with co-star Jack Black, another secret was revealed, or, rather, confirmed -- she and Brad Pitt are expecting twins. To Angie's credit, she reacted gracefully to Jack spilling the baby beans -- check out the video here.

But hey, this is a style blog, so let's talk about how she looked (besides being pregnant), shall we?

Vintage Red's latest contribution to our closet is inspired by world travels, beers in Bali, and long laughs shared with "citizens of the world." It is a meeting of the travel inspired and the classically western, and it fits nicely.

Their Spring '08 line consists of three collections that are as distinct as they are similar. Tricky, that. They are split into Military Neutrals, Coastal Living, and South of France, respectively, and while there are the occasional pair of shorts or printed t-shirts, the majority of the line is button up shirts, both short sleeves and long.

Apparently those French women who don't get fat? Turns out some of them have anorexia. And the government is stepping in to try to stop it.

The Guardian UK reports that the France's lower house of parliament adopted a measure that makes it illegal to "incite extreme thinness."

Sam Rindy really loves art. She loves it so much that she's now facing a fine of 4,500 euros ($6,320) for expressing her affections with a tube of red lipstick. Rindy is accused of "savagery" after she left a red-lipped stain on a Cy Twombly painting valued at $2 million. The owner of the untitled, plain white painting demands $2 million in damages as well as an additional 33,400 euros for the work's restoration.

Rindy's attorneys put forth a defense that would raise eyebrows among the world's sharkiest lawyers. Her counsel claims she was "overcome with passion ... by an emotion that she could not tame." The July lipstick vandalizing was an "act of love".

Needless to say, if Rindy is acquitted, the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence better step up its security because I can only imagine the number of tourists who would risk life and limb for a chance to plant a wet one on Michelangelo's David.

Many people think of a trip to the Louis Vuitton store on the Champs-Élysées in Paris as a pilgrimage to fashion and it seems an appeals court may agree. They ruled that LVMH can keep the store open Sundays because it is a cultural experience. The French Christian Labor Union was behind the suit to force the closure of the store on Sundays. Shops are supposed to be closed on Sundays but can stay open if they have a "cultural, recreational or sportive" aspect to their business. In May 2006 the store was ordered to close on Sundays. LVMH appealed and won. The store does have art exhibits on the top floor.

As midnight nears on New Year's Eve, you need at least two things: someone you fancy at the ready (to kiss when the ball drops) and a glass of champagne. Since December 31 only strikes once a year, you've got so little time and so many choices ...

There's the ever-present Dom Perignon. There's Jay-Z's former favorite, Cristal. There's Perrier-Jouet. There's the omnipresent Veuve Cliquot. What will you do?

Me, I save a few bucks and go for Spanish cava. It's not champagne -- as the vignerons of Champagne (and their public relations folks in the US) will remind you, the term "Champange" can only be used for bubbly from the Champagne region. Still, good cava is delicious -- crisp and bubbly and light -- at a fraction of the cost of a "real" champagne. While purists might look down on me, I get to look down at my wallet on January 1 and smile smugly.

So how about it, readers? What bubbly will you drink for New Year?

In equal measure to the way they have held on to their cigarettes, young people in France have begun to reject traditional marriage. According to an article in the Washington Post, marriage has been in decline for a generation across much of northern Europe, from France to Scandinavia. Sociologists have described the trend as a "soft-culture revolution," which is a dramatic way of saying that young France is rejecting the traditional expectations of old France. With the Catholic Church's diminished role in French life, migration to dense urban centers, and overall sense of freedom when it comes to lifestyle choices, the French are no longer choosing to say "I do." And even though populations and birthrates have increased over the past generation, French marriages have decreased by 30 percent.

In an opinion piece for the magazine Paris Match, designer Karl Lagerfeld was asked to weigh in on the state of France in a series of articles leading up to next year's presidential elections. As it turns out, Lagerfeld doesn't think very much of his adopted nation -- citing a "reticence to change" and a "lack of moxie." Karl also takes a swipe at the city of Paris, suggesting that while it is still a beautiful city, it has absolutely "no verve." Lagerfeld then goes on to complain about France's 35-hour-work week, saying, "Has work become so unexciting that over 35 hours on the job is hell?" (Wonder when Lagerfeld last spent the week working in a cubicle...)

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think it's France that has changed, but Lagerfeld. Looking at his list of grievances, the complaints sound less like substantive social critique and more like the rantings of a bored, old crank -- and French one at that.

Most people associate wines from the Beaujolais region with the watery, Kool-Aid- like stuff you drink around Thanksgiving. True, that wine -- the Beaujolais Nouveau (the greatest marketing promotion ever to be produced by a semi-socialist economy), the one that comes out every November to tremendous fanfare -- is a Beaujolais.

But don't let the Beaujolais Nouveau spoil it for you. The Beaujolais region (within the French départements of Rhone-Alpes and Burgundy) produces some very fine wines, all made with the Gamay grape.

One of my favorites is the appellation Côte de Brouilly. A very fine light red wine, CdB is usually in the $15 to $20 range ... but it often has the complexity and character of a nice Burgundy (or Oregon Pinot) costing easily twice that price.

The best part? Your guests won't know it's a Beaujolais.