Free Republic

Those of you, who love Lanvin, surely will like the house’s S/S ’09 ad campaign. It was shot by our favorite fashion photographer Steven Meisel and features model Iselin Steiro in breathtaking Lanvin dresses. Ahhh tres chic, our fashion appetite peaked, by Lanvin’s glamorous visual epoch and myriad usage of sensual stylings.

Paris Fashion Week was all about romance and sensuality. Designers played with proportions and introduced dresses that were swankly asymmetrical and stylishly playful. Short in the front, long in the back, and graceful all the way through. Olivier Theyskens of Nina Ricci completely incorporated the style into his show, as did Elie Saab, Kenzo, Blamain, YSl, Emanuel Ungaro and Sonia Rykiel. From the top: Nina Ricci, Emanual Ungaro, Kenzo, Balmain, YSL, Sonia Rykiel

Roberto Cavalli, Nina Ricci, Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors F/W ‘09 From the freshest of spring lawns into winter gardens, florals are a trend that never die. Purple hues, nightfall shades of blues, russet browns, subtle grays in the form of lilacs and beaded poppies splashed on skirts, dresses, and chiffon blouses, florals are everywhere for the upcoming fall and winter seasons. And some designers are sending a more dramatic message by adding autumn leaves to their bouquets.

For those who want to add some romance to their summer wardrobe, there is an amazing draping trend. Lots of delicate chiffon and silk layers subtly cling from evening gowns to cocktail dresses and drive you to a flirty mood.

Some of the most memorable women in black entertainment have been played by men. This drag tradition with roots in minstrelsy harks back to '70s TV star Flip Wilson's sassy Geraldine character, and most recently has hoisted chitlin auteur Tyler Perry's Mabel Simmons, aka Madea, to superstardom. The sharp-tongued matriarch that Perry has portrayed in six hugely popular movies and a long-running TV show makes a cameo appearance in his new film, "Meet the Browns." Madea, the seemingly inimitable Aretha Franklin of faux femmes, has yet to inspire knockoffs, but similar drag acts continue to pop up -- the corpulent...

At long last, what the media wouldn't tell you about...BILL AND HILLARY'S 11TH-HOUR CRIME SPREE Final Days by Olson, Barbara "Disgraceful." That was former president Jimmy Carter's word for the final days of the Clinton administration. But as the late Barbara Olson shows in this riveting book, it was worse than disgraceful; it was well-nigh criminal. Here's the whole shocking story of a manic Clinton White House consumed with self-enrichment, gifts, pardons, federal land grabs, and an orgy of spending and regulating. If the Clinton administration was the most corrupt in American history, here was its most obscenely corrupt moment....