Is the fashion industry facing the ugly reality of a recession?

Looks like the fashion industry just woke up and smelled the nonfat, triple soy latte. The WGSN fashion press bulletin reports that Calvin Klein will show its men's fall/winter show in New York instead of Milan. (This is the first time in a decade.)

"I am very excited to show the Men's Collection in New York. I think this is a very exciting time for menswear here, as there are a lot of new and interesting young designers working in New York now," added Italo Zucchelli, creative director of the men's Calvin Klein Collection.

No doubt, Zucchelli is also very excited that he won't have to listen to his bosses bemoan the weak-as-diner-coffee dollar and frown at every freaking euro spent. Not to mention the cost of a full-blown fashion party in Milan because Calvin Klein -- the company, not the man -- turns 40 next year too. You may recall that Valentino celebrated its 45th with a weekend of Champagne-soaked bashes in Rome and a dinner for 900 at the Temple of Venus in front of the Colosseum. Gucci recently toasted 70 with lavish parties and suppers in Rome too. Yes, I know that both companies are Italian and would host soirees in their hometown, but Calvin Klein would have to throw some sort of bash in Italy after its show. And that is not a Prosecco crowd, people.

Right now, Betsey Johnson is celebrating her 30th with parties at malls across the country (parties that she is not attending). At this point, there's no word on the plans for the big 4-0 for Calvin Klein. Hopefully, there will be cupcakes.

Photo: Getty Images

You oughta know: Designers Hayden-Harnett

Who: Hayden-Harnett, a Brooklyn-based design team (Ben & Toni) who consistently put out unique accessories and clothes that won't detonate the debit card. Their looks are bohemian, but not in a precious Tory Burch way -- more the bags you would stumble upon at a bazaar in Turkey or a flea market in Paris.

Why: The color choices are bold and I dig their fixation with geometrics and interesting patterns. The Mosaique hobo (right, $450) makes my mouth water.  And check out the oversized Floripa clutch ($427). They do limited edition runs of bags like the Beatrice satchel, (left, $590), which is a pattern by French textile artist Madame Paule Marrot.

What else: The duo also designs frocks, peacoats, capes, duffel bags and utterly awesome cuff bracelets that sell for less than $100 and are worthy of super heroines. Next up for the brand is a line of shoes. Word has it that Hayden-Harnett has been tapped for a Target Go collection, so now would be a good time to buy before they blow up big time.

Photos: courtesy of haydenharnett.com

Anna Patterson: How did she do that?

Ever drink a few glasses of Merlot and mutter to yourself, "I could have created that Google search engine!" Keep boozing. Meet Anna Patterson. She engineered the Google search engine while working for the empire and has invented a new engine called Cuil. (It's Irish for knowledge and pronounced like "cool.") A quick peek at Patterson's look -- while at Stanford, left, courtesy of the college database -- shows that she wasn't doing beer bongs and flat ironing her hair on Friday nights.

According to her bio, she was a research associate to Formal Reasoning Group in the Computer Science Department at Stanford and her interests included: programming languages, concurrency and verifications and analysis of distributed systems. Her side interest? Visualizing structures using 3-D imaging techniques.  (Cuil!)

Photo: www.formal.stanford.edu

'The Mummy': Red carpet scorecard

The premiere of 'The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,' which really should just be called 'Mo' Mummy,' took place Sunday at Universal City beneath an angry, hateful sun. Unfortunately, squinting and see-through debacles ensued for some.

Winner: Maria Bello claims victor because she smartly opted for a tousled updo that couldn't wilt in the heat and a chic toga dress that grazed just above the knee. The actress, who's been known to wear stripper shoes with Chanel and dates a guy who is 28 to her 40, always opts for an interesting cut or color. Here, she's as fresh and appealing as a Handi Wipe at a barbecue.

Loser: Jo Champa, an L.A. socialite, actress and contributor for Italian Vogue. (Physically, she looks like a head-on collision of Teri Hatcher and Brittany Murphy.) This is the second time that Champa has opted for transparency on a Sunday afternoon -- last time it was at 'Meet Dave' -- and we get it, lady: The produce is ripe.

Photos: Getty Images

Style Profile: "Mad Men" costume designer Janie Bryant

Talented costume designer Katherine Jane Bryant (left) goes by "Janie" and oversees the sartorial look of my favorite show, "Mad Men." She won an Emmy for her work on the dearly departed "Deadwood" and "Mad Men" just got nommed for 16 Emmys--the first episode  received a nod for costume design by John A. Dunn. The second season debuts tomorrow night and I already have a bottle of Scotch and a pack of Pall Malls ready to go. Bryant, a Tennessee native, is mad for good manners and well-dressed crowds. Here's the skinny on her personal style:

Amount of pressure a costume designer feels on Halloween: People always ask me, "What should I be for Halloween?" My stock answer: "Be creative and really, really scary." I ask you, what happened to being scary on Halloween?

I first played dress up with:  My grandmothers' closets. My Barbies, my friends, my baby sister Anna, and my cousin were all subjects of my visions!

Cinematic style icon: The ever so glamorous and sultry Norma Shearer.

Go-to outfit: Black Valentino buckled boots with
Swarovski crystals, J Brand skinny dark blue jeans,  majestic light gray henley style-shirt, 1970s vintage  leather jacket with leather appliques on the pockets, a pair of vintage sweetheart bracelets, and gold hoop earrings.

Favorite on-set experience: Would have to be on the set of"Deadwood."
It was season one and  was the first time the principal actors
and 150 background actors were together all  in period
costume! Definitely a moment of WOW!

Purse du jour: The Maison by Valentino in burgundy patent leather, gorgeous.

Men should never skimp on: Manners!

Women should always skimp on: Men with no manners!

Animal I most resemble: A Siamese cat.

Top three vintage stores in Los Angeles: Play Clothes (11839 Otsego St., Valley Village; [818] 752-6569), The Way We
Wore (334 S. La Brea Ave., L.A.; [323] 937-0878), and Golyester (136 S. La Brea Ave., L.A.; [323] 931-1339).

If I could makeover anyone, it would be: Middle America.

Memo to designers: Always be true to yourself.

Barneys Warehouse Sale or Fred Segal Sale: Barneys Warehouse Sale.

Worst fashion blunder: I'll have to go with panty lines or a fanny pack.

Right now, I am collecting: Positive thoughts.

My mother always told me: "You can do and have anything you want, you just have to put your mind to it" and "No use crying over spilled milk."

Makeup must-have: False eyelashes.

I dig fashion because: It's a way in which each one of us
can express ourselves. Fashion is outrageous, creative, beautiful,
opulent, minimal, whimsical, understated. Fashion is always evolving. It's everything.

I wish my nickname was: Zsa Zsa.

Photo credits: Janie Bryant, (her collection); Barbie doll, Smithsonian; Norma Shearer, Photoplay; bracelet, Marathon jewelry; "Deadwood," HBO; Siamese cat painting, Mimi Harvey; rainbow, Missouriskies.org; Zsa Zsa bust, lanscz.com

*This post originally ran last November, but I re-posted now that Mad Men has new fans and 16 Emmy nominations.

Photo bombers: Coming soon to a picture of you

"Photo bombing" has yet to achieve mainstream attention with a Wikipedia page. Then again, do you really need someone to explain to you what it means? In essence, the goal is to stealthily terrorize a picture by any means possible. Nudity is extremely popular, as are obscene gestures. But that's obvious. The best photo bombers, in my opinion, are more skillful, agile and, above all, brave.

Masterful photo terrorists find the most insidious way to disrupt the composition of a shot and mock the subjects at the same time. (The guy who's photo bombing this shot of the three blond amigos with big egos achieves both. The Caucasian thug below takes a different approach and mocks himself.)

Funniepicturez.blogspot.com has a great gallery of photo bomb pictures -- scroll down to the photo bombing feature. Googling the term brings up the very same shots, so it's a movement in its infancy -- like Dadaism during WWI. (None of the photo bombed pictures on the site I mentioned are X-rated shots, but a few images might offend -- so visit at your own risk.)

Critics will say that photo bombing hardly constitutes "art intervention," which is the intentional meddling into a preexisting piece of artwork or even an art venue, like a gallery or museum. (The performance artist who took a hammer to Marcel Duchamp's famous urinal -- titled "Fountain" -- in Paris in 2006 and called it his own "art" is a good example of an art interventionist. Same goes for an artist who manages to sneak his work into a museum.)

But I think photo bombing is a genius poke at our society's rampant exhibitionism, fueled by the Internet. Flickr has enabled people to turn the Web into boring photo albums. Or one giant mirror. Hot girls post pictures of themselves and ask commenters to rate their assets. Pictures from weddings, family reunions and proms are uploaded without any artistic censorship. No shot is left behind, alas.

Vive les photo bombers!

Photos: Funniepicturez.blogspot.com

The boss wants to see you and weigh you

On CNN this morn, an article about how a company in Lincoln, Nebraska has three full-timers devoted to "wellness." The 565 employees have mandatory quarterly check-ups to measure body fat, weight and flexibility. The program has been around for 16 years and those who achieve optimum results get a company-paid trip---to climb a mountain.

(These Buddhist monks, above, pay 10 to 15 cents to weigh themselves on a bathroom scale in Phom Penh.)

Studies show that people who weigh themselves daily gain less weight. I might weigh myself at work if there was a more private scale--maybe with a discreet LCD read out instead of that sliding reader--that wasn't crammed next to a vending machine that burps out Pop Tarts and Snickers. (Into my eager hands, of course.)

But I wouldn't want the Los Angeles Times to make weigh-ins obligatory. It's fascist and fatist. Not to mention the fact that with all the recent and brutal cut backs here, I think we've done enough corporate downsizing.

photo: Doug Niven/AFP/Getty

Bat Chic: Vintage Converse "Joker" high top sneakers

The dude selling these Converse "Joker" sneakers--issued for the 1989 Tim Burton Batman movie--is so glad that he didn't let his Mom chuck them.

Right now, there are four pairs available for bidding on eBay--click here--for anywhere from $10 to $140--the first auction ends at 3:30 pm tomorrow, Saturday. One pair is brand new, with tags attached. Others are slightly worn and scuffed.

A quick search of "Batman" on eBay revealed lots of Bat crap. These kicks, however, stand out for their cool nod to comic geekdom. Plus, you can run away really fast if some big bully goes in for the "Ka-Pow!"

photos: from Ebay.com seller sites

Style Icon: Alison Moyet of Yaz

Who: Alison Moyet, zaftig lead singer of "Yaz" -- a syntho Brit band that captivated the hearts of cool kids in 1982 with the angry, plaintive single, "Don't Go."

Why: Moyet, a precursor to Beth Ditto, empowered husky girls to play up the eyes with enough eyeliner and smoky shadow to graffiti a bathroom wall. Her thin lips and shorn coif--all Frank Gehry curves and jutting edges--made her look like a sexy and insouciant wet cat.

How: See more pictures at  Yazooinfo.com. You can also purchase the new remastered versions of classics, 'Upstairs at Eric's" and "Don't Go." Or the 4-disc set, "In Your Room." To get Moyet's Mata Hari look, define those eyebrows into worthy arches and apply the requisite smoky eye. Refer to this past post, a primer on how to get the raccoon eye, for more instruction.

photos: Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet; Moyet now -- both courtesy of Yazooinfo.com

Must-have: Wallabees

What: The wallabee, a species of shoe known for its ability to bounce high and conquer grassy lawns, moonlit hikes and cracked city sidewalks, deserves to hop into your fall wardrobe. (OK, I might have run too far with that, but wallabees bring out my inner fourth grader.)

Why : They're retro and cute and cost less than 25 lattes. These zebra pony hair wallabees from Oak (a super cool New York boutique) sell for $120. You can get them in electric blue leather or more subdued black too, for $110.

photos: courtesy of Oak.com