We can't stop reading Top 10 or Top 5 or "best" lists for 2010 (and there's plenty of evidence in today's report). So let's kick off the morning with mention of BellaSugar's "Biggest Beauty Moments" of the year. Sure, we appreciate celebrity fragrances and makeup collaborations. But our favorite is the pixie cut. Please see above. [BellaSugar]

Before smart phones, before Microsoft Outlook, schedulers across the world spent the week between Christmas and New Year's Day filling out their new datebooks. And apparently, some of us continue to cling to the datebook tradition. If you're searching for one, InStyle lists its top picks for 2011.

Sure, the rain in Southern California is stressful, but imagine what it's like in Norway right now. We're thinking it's probably quite cold and folks might very well do anything they can to stay warm. But that hasn't stopped Oslo Fashion Week (Feb. 14-20) from banning fur. Perhaps Norwegians have mastered the art of layering. [The Cut]

If you are craving a makeup fix, we can always point you in the direct of Sephora. What's new? The "Sephora Collection Palette Color Play" ($30 will buy you eye shadows, blush and two lip colors), which seems to have been inspired by Shopbop’s “Faces of Fashion” lookbook. [WWD, subscription required]

You may be under the impression that All the Rage tilts toward the female reader. And with all this discussion of datebooks and fur and eye shadow, we can see how you might have acquired that impression. But we are here to tell you that we embrace the world of men and their appearance! To that end, we'd like to recount the Wall Street Journal's top men's style trends for 2010:  The "Mad Men" effect (think skinny ties), man bags, plaid and tweed, Korean designers and Chinese sneakers. So, gentlemen, there you have it. [WSJ]

-- Alice Short

Photo: Emma Watson. Credit: Joel Ryan / Associated Press

 

 

 

 
 
I recently had a discussion with a friend about what it takes to be a fashion icon. Does someone have to be dead to be a fashion icon, a la Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana? Or can someone living possess such a singular sense of style to achieve icon status?

Well on Monday night in Beverly Hills, two women who would certainly be in the running for living fashion icon status held dueling book parties across Rodeo Drive from one another. At Bulgari, Russian model-muse Tatiana Sorokko sipped Champagne with C Magazine editorial director Jennifer Hale, designer-legend James Galanos and vintage guru Cameron Silver, while signing copies of her new book, "Extending the Runway: Tatiana Sorokko Style" (STS Holdings, $50). The book chronicles Sorokko's style through her extensive wardrobe, which can be seen in an exhibition on view through Jan. 2 at the Phoenix Art Museum. 

Meanwhile, across the street at Judith Leiber, "Mad Men" costume designer Janie Bryant sipped martinis with actor Michael Gladis, Barbie designer Robert Best and fashion designer Magda Berliner, while signing copies of her new book, "The Fashion File: Advice, Tips and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men" (Hachette, $26.99).

Here's a quick cheat-sheet on these two icons-in-the-making and their new style books.

-- OK, imagine this scenario: villainous -- well, villains -- use a combo of sophisticated electronics to know who you are and track your every move via a scannable radio tag attached to your underwear. And the evil genius behind it all is Wal-Mart. Yep, a bit of a kerfuffle is going on pitting privacy advocates against the world's largest retailer, which is converting to an inventory tracking system that can help store clerks locate individual articles of clothing when they are stocking shelves by attaching scannable labels to said articles (now they search for whole pallets of clothes, which isn't as precise when you're trying to find out, say, which size of jeans is missing from a shelf). But privacy advocates are raising a whole list of "what ifs." [Wall Street Journal]

-- Marc Jacobs launched Bang, his latest fragrance, with a big party in London Thursday night and it rocked. [WWD]

-- Master hat maker Lorenzo Borghi works alone in his shop, handcrafting headgear fit for a queen-- literally, Queen Elizabeth II is one of his customers. He laments the "death" of the industry. [Wall Street Journal]  (We hope he'll read All the Rage and be cheered to learn about young up-and-comers like Los Angeles' Bijou Van Ness, designed by Rehn Dudukgian, whom we met here a few weeks ago.)

-- A private memorial service is scheduled for the late designer Alexander McQueen on Sept. 20, during London Fashion Week. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

-- Compare what West Coasters wore to last weekend's gala opening of the Pasadena Museum of California Art's fourth biennial to what folks on the other coast wore to Miami's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim 2011 events. Um, I think the West Coast wins, folks. [WWD] (And the biennial is a winner too according to our Fashion Critic Booth Moore.) [LAT]

-- Vintage bags from her own closet inspired Kate Moss' fall collection for Longchamp, her second for the French brand. [People]

-- From lipsticks to bouffant hair styles, the ladies of "Mad Men" can teach us a thing or two about ultra feminine beauty. [BellaSugar]

-- Plus-size (size 10 to be exact) model Crystal Renn used to be larger than she is now, but she's also been anorexic. She wants young women to know they don't have to be thin to be beautiful, and she's upset that some photos have surfaced of her from the anorexic days. They send the wrong message, she says. [People]

-- Halle Berry has  been cast in a new comedy film that should be right up our alley, "Shoe Addicts Anonymous."  [WWD] 

-- And speaking of shoes, a great look for summer feet is hot neon sandals. [FabSugar] 

-- Oakley has collaborated with graphic artist Jeff Staple on a six-piece collection of truly covetable sunglasses. [T Magazine] 

-- Susan Denley

Photo: "Mad Men's" Elisabeth Moss, left, January Jones and Christina Hendricks. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

The style-minded madness of "Mad Men" is back in full swing  -- and well before Sunday's Season 4 premiere on AMC.

Things kicked off with a Tuesday evening screening of the season's first episode sponsored by marketing partner Banana Republic (there were so many RSVPs, the screening had to be moved from a smaller venue to the Mann Chinese 6 Theatre at Hollywood & Highland), followed by small party in the garden of the Chateau Marmont and an intimate luncheon on Wednesday at the Sunset Tower Hotel that included the show's Emmy-nominated costume designer, Janie Bryant, and Banana Republic's creative director, Simon Kneen.

Most of the cast was in attendance at both the screening and the after party; stylish standouts included Christina Hendricks in a black lace Dolce & Gabbana dress, Elisabeth Moss in a one-shoulder Oscar De La Renta number, and an adorable Kiernan Shipka (who plays the Drapers' daughter, Sally) in a bubble dress, sitting perfectly poised, hands clasped politely in the roped-off VIP section of the party.

No one was smoking Lucky Strikes indoors or drinking highballs, but plenty of guests turned up in "Mad Men"-inspired ensembles for a presentation featuring Janie Bryant, the show's much-lauded costume designer, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Wednesday night.

The fashion presentation and live interview -- moderated by Monica Corcoran Harel, who cowrote a "Mad Men" style book with Bryant, out this November -- was hosted by the museum's Costume Council and sponsored by Mattel, which recently debuted Barbie versions of the show's main characters.

Bryant, dressed in a smart metallic brocade A-line dress that jibed with the night's '60s fashion theme, shared an avalanche of details pertaining to her work on the show -- from designing and shopping for costumes to fitting and creating color palettes for the actors.

Inspiration for each episode, she said, "starts with getting the script. It's like reading a book where images are conjured in the brain." Bryant references a litany of sources, such as old family photos and back issues of Look, Time, Elegance and Ladies' Home Journal magazines, to make sure she's staying period-specific.

The designer said the show's actors "don't really say much" when it comes to their wardrobes, though she recalled the moment actor Jon Hamm pulled up his first pair of high-waisted trousers. "He said, 'Man, Janie, that's the longest zipper I've ever seen!' "

The costume designer also revealed that the undergarments worn by the female cast members on the show, which include reproductions of "bullet" bras and girdles, are key to achieving that early 1960s silhouette. "It's essential," she said. "It helps the actors transport back into time."

As for "Mad Men's" influence on modern fashion (designers including Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors have admitted to being inspired by the show), Bryant chalks it up to a pendulum swing back to feminine dressing.

"I think that period is so flattering to a woman's body," she said. "And [the show] hearkens back to a time when people really got dressed."

The event ended with a fashion show of recognizable looks from the show -- including form-fitting wool sheaths, circle-skirted floral dresses, boxy men's suits and enough metallic brocade to light up a few stages.

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: Janie Bryant and "Mad Men" series creator Matthew Weiner at LACMA. Credit: David Crotty/PatrickMcMullen.com.