Photo: giltgroupe.com

Investors are eager to pour millions into private online sample sale sites like Gilt Groupe, HauteLook and RueLaLa. They're a better investment than fashion companies whose bread and butter are sales made in stodgy physical stores. With these sites, operating costs are low, and it's tough for them to over-buy inventory since each sale is only comprised of a small selection of exclusive merchandise. The sites also excite consumers — in theory — by making them feel like insiders. If you really want a pair of Christian Louboutins for $250 and the sale starts at midnight, you're logging on at midnight with a nervous yet excited feeling. The thrill of the chase is — again, in theory — half the fun. And if you succeed in purchasing that pair of patent Loub pumps in a size 9 at 12:05 in the morning, you get not only a fabulous pair of shoes, but a story to tell your friends about how fashion savvy you are. "You don't know about Gilt Groupe? Hm. [Insert sidelong judgmental gaze]."

Photo: FilmMagic

Jessica Szohr was photographed in a black embellished tank and shorts that resemble a piñata yesterday on the set of Gossip Girl.

What do you think of the combo?

Photo: WikiCommons

Juicy Couture is closing its Madison Avenue location since it can no longer afford the $2 million rent. The company leased the space during boom times, but $58 key fobs aren't enough to sustain it now. But stress not — the giant, slightly scary Fifth Avenue location is thriving. Juicy president Edgar Huber said customers prefer to shop there.

“The Madison location became a neighborhood store, not a high-traffic store. It was never extremely strong for us. It’s important to have a store on Madison. It’s prestigious, but $2 million [in rent] is too high. Our average transaction is not as high as our neighbors.”

So it was just for show? Who were they trying to impress? Upper East Side residents? Wandering tourists? Labels who make real couture and also have stores on Madison?

Photo: Imaxtree

The response to Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli's fall 2009 couture collection for Valentino has been mixed. Though critics seem pleased the design duo finally took the label in a new direction, rather than reproducing Valentino's archives, the collection hasn't been wholly heralded. Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn just posted her response: "Ms. Chiuri and Mr. Piccioli designed accessories at Valentino before they were elevated. After this collection, I’m not convinced they are dress designers. Plainly their intention was to make something new and young, but these clothes remain concepts on paper. They have no feeling for the actuality of life, no sense of a lived experience, and frankly I’d be worried about getting too close to one of those prickly, encrusted numbers. You might get a rash." [On the Runway/NYT]

We're beginning to understand the weaponry.Photo: Getty Images

Nicole and Suzie DeFosset are twin sisters who run a PR firm in L.A. One day they took a meeting with someone described as a European personality who wanted to gain visibility in the U.S. and currently worked for German Television 1. Feigning interest in their services, he came into their office with a video camera and asked what charities are hot right now. They said, "Darfur." He asked where Darfur is. They didn't know. Nor did they realize the person interviewing them was a fictional character played by Sacha Baron Cohen. "We know Ali G and we know Borat, we’re huge fans. But Brüno, we didn’t recognize him at all," they told BlackBook. They didn't figure out they'd been had until eleven months later, when a friend of theirs saw the movie and told them they were in it. "And we didn’t think anything of it. We were like, what’s Brüno? And he was like, It’s Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie. And we were like, what?"

MadewellPhoto: Getty Images

Now is a hard time for, well, almost everyone trying to sell things to wear, but specialty-chain spinoffs especially — stores like Abercrombie's Ruehl and American Eagle's Martin + Osa. After painful losses, Abercrombie is shutting Ruehl down completely, and some financial analysts are waiting for Martin + Osa to close down, too. Despite a loyal following, J.Crew's Madewell may also be on the rocks. The chain lost $11 million last year, and J.Crew's chief executive has admitted Madewell's merchandise was too basic and expensive. Jeans used to start at $98, which freaked out potential customers, us included. Now, jeans start at $59.50. "So frankly, in hindsight, a mistake," he told investors yesterday. "The world is kind of changed dramatically in that regard." Yes! Stores can't get away with overcharging as easily. Which begs the question: How is Diesel still standing?

An Ugly Time for Fashion as Spinoff Chains Struggle [WP]

Jean Paul Gaultier couture, fall 2009.Photo: Imaxtree

• Amanda Wakeley is returning to London Fashion Week. [Telegraph UK]

• September fashion magazines lost ad pages this year, some by as much as 30 percent. [WWD]

• Some people don't think it's okay for J.Crew to use the Obama girls to market their clothes. Robin Givhan thinks it's perfectly fine. [WP via Racked]

• Fendi didn't show a menswear collection for spring 2010, but plans to show again for fall 2010. [WWD]

• A Tweet from Lady Gaga: "in paris, coffee and cigarettes looking through jean-paul gautier's [sic] show and salivating like a starved fashion gangster. C'est genial. xxox." [Twitter/LadyGaga via Grazia]

• A Tweet from Whitney Port: "Are jean shorts and heels appropriate for work?" [Twitter/WhitneyEve via People/Off the Rack]

Photo: Kate Appleton

This just in: Scoop is the new Barneys! Financially speaking, not in terms of merchandise. WWD reports Scoop is having trouble paying vendors. Some factors have stopped approving orders, and one lender said he advises vendors to ship "at their own risk." Worse, the company isn't even talking to some lenders or providing them with information about how they're doing financially, which is important in today's market. One vendor said things looked terrible for Scoop in February and March, but was paid recently. The owners of Scoop say its financial portfolio is "sound." They acknowledge the company has had "some issues," but deny the problems still exist.

The marketplace hasn't been kind to Scoop. The store has difficulty competing with department stores like Bergdorf, which court the same customers, and are forced to mark things down steeply early in the season. Also, Scoop founder Stefani Greenfield left the company last year, and some sources think that has led to a decline in the store's merchandise. Greenfield had a talent for spotting trends and a keen eye for editing.

In addition to its possible financial problems, Scoop was sued this week by former employees who say they are owed unpaid wages — a problem Barneys doesn't face, and yet another way they have Scoop beat.

Scoop NYC Feels Credit Squeeze [WWD]

Valentino's black beaded petals.Photo: Imaxtree

Karl Lagerfeld was signing a teddy bear dressed in his image for a Japanese fan on the stage of his couture show in Paris Tuesday night when he was asked about inspiration for his collection. "I could not make the big ball gowns this time," he said, "because there are no more balls."

The truth is that, even during the boom years, there were never many balls that demanded haute couture. The couture world is incredibly small, and now, in the midst of financial meltdown, it is growing even smaller. The tears streaming down the faces in the front row of Christian Lacroix — whose show went on but whose future is uncertain — could almost be for the whole charmingly old-fashioned notion that the world's most beautiful clothes are sewn by hand.

Photo: Courtesy of Skyn Iceland

Dark circles, puffiness, and crow's feet all serve as unwelcome reminders of your age, or what you did the night before. Thankfully, Skyn Iceland recently made its Icelandic Relief Eye Cream into a convenient, portable pen. Packed with rice peptides to soften wrinkles, vitamin K to lighten dark circles, and orange peel to combat puffiness, this handy pen tackles everything. The easy and non-messy application means you can chuck it into your bag and do touch-ups throughout the day. We won't give up late-night partying, but at least our eyes won't look as bad as we feel the next morning.

$20 at Sephora (for store locations, sephora.com).