First, we absolutely adore Vogue's prolific editor-at-large, Andre Leon Talley.

If we ever got the chance to meet him in person, we imagine it would involve us losing all of our senses and embarrassing ourselves so much so that the people standing around watching us stumble over our words would begin to feel awkward for us.

The August and September issues of Vogue magazine are some of the most highly regarded in the industry. The cover girls are almost always worthy and the spreads inside tend to be equally epic.

They are also legendarily filled to capacity with fashion ads.

So, to make sure his Fall '08 collection gets a chance to shine, designer Oscar de la Renta is running his ads, exclusively, in Vogue a month in advance of his competition.

While retail sales in the US and Europe are slumping, China's consumer class is just hitting the scene -- and they're willing to shell out some serious money on fashion. Designers like Prada, Armani, and Louis Vuitton are having a bonanza with newly rich Chinese who are hungry for the status symbols of conspicuous consumption. Yet, there's also a rising demand for $10,000 cocktail dresses and brands like Hermes from the growing ultra-rich class.

Traditionally, the Chinese market has been mostly dominated by accessories because of the limited space in China's crammed shopping malls -- which has led to the ridiculous level of knock-offs and forgeries. But that trend is starting to shift as retailers are steadily getting access to space where they can branch out. Coach is planning to open 50 retail stores in the mainland this over the next few years and tons of others are on the same kind of track. As you can imagine, renting a prime location for you flagship store in Shanghai is a royal rip -- but apparently it's paying off big time.

Jenna Bush got married this weekend at the Bush family ranch in Crawford, Texas, and we're sure her new husband, Henry Hager, had no regrets as to his choice when he saw her walking down the aisle. Jenna was dressed in an Oscar de la Renta gown that we just loved -- it had a simple silhouette, but an intricate design with embroidered organza and matte beading from the very top to the end of her chapel-length train.

Not everyone looked so sharp, however -- check out the gallery to see what we loved and what we could've done without.

Google might be known for dominating the internet with it's mind-blowing search engines and algorithms and junk, but they're not usually known for their wonderful aesthetic sensibilities. Just look at their logo. Well, it seems that those days are over, and good riddance. Now, Google is offering users a way to bring some digital couture to their previously boring homepage.

You can class up your iGoogle homepage with background designs from names like Diane von Furstenberg, Dolce and Gabbana, Ron Wood (from the Rolling Stones), Jeff Koons, Phillipe Stark and Marc Ecko. Some of the layouts are better than others, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. We like the D&G leopard print.

[via Fashionista]

The Council of Fashion Designers of America have announced their nominees for designer of the year! For menswear designer of the year Michael Bastian, Thom Browne, and Tom Ford are nominated. Tory Burch, Marc Jacobs, and Michael Kors are all up for the accessory category. And for the biggie, the womenswear category, we have Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein, Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough for Proenza Schouler, and Marc Jacobs.

I'll admit that I was totally shocked to see Marc Jacobs on the list. Just to put it simply, nobody really liked his Spring/Summer '08 collection. Check out what I had to say about Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton here. I really felt like he lost his magic touch this year. His mojo, if you will, is gone. But apparently the CFDA disagrees, and well, we all know who has more influence in the fashion industry. Me, obviously.

And I'll tell you who I'd like to see win -- Francisco Costa. He's an Ashley Olsen fave and I love him too. This year he kept the lines and designs of his clothing really simple and the result was gorgeous. His collection was fantastic. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) Francisco just won last year, so I doubt that they'll give the big award to him again.

Also up for grabs is the Swarovski Award. This is given to a designer who shows a lot of promise. It's basically a scholarship paid out in the form of cash and Swarovski crystals. For womenswear we have Kate and Laura Mulleavy for Rodarte, Thakoon Panichgul, and Alexander Wang and in the menswear category Patrik Ervell, Tim Hamilton, and Scott Sternberg for Band of Outsiders are duking it out.

Browse through the gallery to see the designers' work and tell me who you think should win in each category!

Nothing is worse than showing up to a holiday party wearing the same outfit as someone else. So you can only imagine how Laura Bush must have felt when she found out that three guests had on the very same red $8,500 Oscar De La Renta dress she was wearing. The first lady kept the gown on for the official holiday photographs, but as soon as the shoot was over, she went upstairs to change into another lacy frock.

Hearing about the First Lady's narrowly averted fashion faux pas got me thinking about my own high school prom. Because I grew up in a small town, most girls bought dresses from the very same boutique that kept a secret registry of who bought which dress, so that duplication-humiliations could be kept to a minimum.

At the time, I thought this practice was ridiculous -- who cared if someone had the same dress you did? But after seeing the way that Mrs. Bush reacted, I'm sure she and her guests are all wishing that the folks at Oscar De La Renta kept better tabs on who bought what, and when.