Anne Slowey

At a benefit for The New Group theater company, we learned that even celebrities like Billy Crudup and Justin Long have been fired (not Ethan Hawke, though).

We learned the difference between the man who buys a $300 shirt and the man who buys a $600 shirt at a fashion show sponsored by private concierge service Quintessentially.

After reviewing Stylista's lackluster ratings, we wondered when and if the rest of the world would see the appeal of Anne Slowey.   read more »

The CW's Stylista has been on for a few weeks now and from a critical perspective (that is, ours), the show is kind of genius. So why doesn't it have the ratings to match?

It has all the requisite reality show ingredients: The bitchy Megan has more personality in one strand of her stringy hair than all of the current contestants on America's Next Top Model combined. The 20-year-old N.Y.U. journalism girl, Devin (who thought she had the fashion magazine world figured out because she edited the school fashion magazine for some time), sadly reminds us of the way we were coming out of the very same institution.  read more »

The label Juicy Couture is perhaps best known for outfitting young girls (and sometimes their moms who should know better) in cotton candy-bright velour sweatpants with the word "Juicy" written across the buttocks. Its clothes are often decorated with rhinestones and lots of hardware, combining the image of daddy's uptown little girl with a little bit of punk. Or, as Cintra Wilson wrote in the New York Times last month: "The girl for whom Juicy Couture is designed, I determined, is Lady Veruca Salt: the imperial tween in the candy store who screams: 'Daddy says only weak people have recessions. I want an Oompa Loompa NOW!'"

The organizers of Thursday evening's opening party for the label's new, 12,000 square foot flagship store at Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street had taken  Ms. Wilson's words to heart. Outside the store, a small army of male models dressed in tight black Levi's, tuxedo shirts, ripped blazers, marching boots, bowler hats, and pink flowers in place of bow ties stared at guests through their emo eye-liner with monotone facial expressions. Inside, professional ballerinas in tutus twisted into ballet moves along the steps leading upstairs. Violinists scratched away at their instruments. Colorful little cakes were passed out. A gospel choir performed. And the publicist Leslie Sloane Zelnick was nearly responsible for a few broken limbs when she entered with her client Penn Badgley, accompanied by his Gossip Girl co-star and real-life girlfriend Blake Lively, Sex and the City hunk Jason Lewis, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Gretchen Mol, sending gaggles of lip-glossed tween girls in a stampede towards the door.  read more »

The bipartisan windows of Henri Bendel currently feature a group of five mannequins standing near red and blue polling booths, each representing a political party. Today, each mannequin has a question mark above its head, but tomorrow, these will be removed and all the girls will be placed in front of the winning booth. [WWD] 

Anna Wintour waited in line to vote in Soho today. [NY Mag] 

Several prominent Hindu activists are calling for a public apology from model Heidi Klum for dressing as a crass representation of the Hindu Goddess Kali for Halloween. [Vogue UK] 

Due to the troubled economy, Madison Avenue has been plagued by vacant storefronts.  read more »

We learned that Michael Bloomberg and Vera Wang are intimidating enough without costumes.

Kelly Killoren Bensimon is not a housewife, she just plays one on TV. 

We went underground with some models at the opening of the Plaza's new mall.  

Susan Sarandon voiced her fears about the impending Bloomberg dictatorship. 

We got to know Anne Slowey at the Stylista premiere. 

Elle magazine's fashion news editor Anne Slowey arrived at the Kiehl's store on Wednesday, Oct. 22, for the premiere of her new reality show Stylista and immediately popped a Pepto-Bismol. 

Ms. Slowey, dressed in an understated long-sleeved black dress and strappy heels, wasn't so much nervous as she was excited about the premiere of the CW network show on which she plays the judge and mentor to contestants aspiring to be "junior editors" at Elle.  At the same time, she was trying not to take the whole thing too seriously. 

"I'm not a big TV watcher, so I'm sort of the belief that it doesn't really exist," Ms. Slowey told the Daily Transom.  read more »

After months of watching those over-done ads for the CW's Stylista in which Anne Slowey's well-outfitted feet exit the elevator at Elle to deliver chilling insults to her "junior editor" hopefuls about their outfits, we're looking forward to finally watching the premiere this Wednesday, Oct. 22.

Until recently, Ms. Slowey's name was rarely heard outside of intimate fashion circles. But now that former Elle staffer Nina Garcia took her Project Runway fame over to Marie Claire where she'll reportedly participate in yet another reality show, Ms. Slowey has been bumped up to the reality TV spotlight at Elle. And so while promoting the show in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Ms. Slowey couldn't help but toss a few unpleasantries—in a not-so-hidden, passive aggressive way of course—in Ms. Garcia's direction.  read more »

Recently, we came across some clips of the CW's upcoming Stylista, the show on which Elle fashion news editor Anne Slowey generously offers internship and connections-challenged masochists the chance to be her assistant—er, "Junior Editor." In a scene reminiscent of Anne Hathaway's daily battles with Smith & Wollensky in The Devil Wears Prada—probably not an accident—we watch the aspiring schedule-curators plate fancy-looking food on large, iridescent plates and file into Ms. Slowey's office, their trays rattling audibly. Clad in a wide-belted, khaki number—like a drill sergeant!—she warns them, "If you're going to live in my world,you have to express your sense of taste and style in everything you do."

In the second clip (above), we watch her conduct breakfast tray inspection while appraising the contestants' clothing. "A little Clockwork Orange" she tells a bowler-wearing gentleman. "You're looking a little like a waitress," she tells one of the girls. She takes kindly to one brown-noser whose tray includes a small notebook for the recording of "morning ideas after a colorful and healthy breakfast" and another girl's horn-rimmed glasses.

There's something about Ms. Slowey in these clips that reminds us of Madonna. Maybe it's the middle-parted blond hair or the unplaceable, fake-sounding accent. Or maybe it's just the nearly parodic show of self-importance. We'd hope that Ms. Slowey is just playing it up for the cameras, but we know better than to think about working at a fashion magazine, anyway.

[via Save the Assistants]

The CW’s premiere of Stylista on October 22 featuring Elle magazine’s Anne Slowey is only a few weeks away. Meanwhile, Marie Claire--the new home of former Elle staffer, Nina Garcia—is hard at work on their own reality show about magazine editors, Running in Heels on the Style network. And Project Runway’s television fate is still undecided as Harvey Weinstein continues to battle with Bravo in court about moving the show to Lifetime.

Amidst this fashion magazine-themed reality chaos comes yet another show, this one from In Style magazine. Blush: The Search for the Next Great Make-Up Artist will premiere on Lifetime on November 11, and will feature make-up artists competing for a $100,000 prize and a contract with Max Factor, reports Women's Wear Daily.  read more »

Marie Claire, the new home of former Elle fashion director Nina Garcia, has just announced that it will launch a reality show in March on the Style network called Running in Heels  that will give an inside look into the personal and professional lives of its editors.

"This is the first docu-series in the history of the magazine and we're excited to work with The Style Network to offer unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Marie Claire and the stylish, smart women who put the magazine together each month," editor-in-chief Joanna Coles said in a release. "There's sure to be lots of drama to interest viewers."  read more »

On the afternoon of Wednesday, August 27, the Daily Transom headed to Saks Fifth Avenue to get some face time with Project Runway judge and soon-to-be Marie Claire fashion director Nina Garcia, who was there to promote her new book, The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own.

The detailed instructions—take the elevator to the fifth floor, walk the path between Theory and Diane von Furstenberg, get to an area called Studio Services, find the first door on the right to the VIP room—were already making us giddy with the grandeur of it all.

When we finally got to this secret room, Ms.  read more »

The Battle of Elle: An examination of Nina Garcia and Anne Slowey's reality TV rivalry. [NYMag]

Project Runway winner and catchphrase machine Christian Siriano is designing a collection for maternity wear line Moody Mamas. It will be called—you guessed it!—Fierce.[The Cut]

Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall’s 16-year-old daughter, Georgia May Jagger, has entered the modeling world. [Vogue UK]

Katherine Fleming, the woman behind accessory lines for Club Monaco, Gap, and Tory Burch, is launching her own line. [WWD]

Robert D’Loren, the CEO of Bill Blass parent company NexCen Brands Inc, has announced his resignation. Kenneth Hall, who currently serves as NexCen’s executive vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer, will replace him.  [Vogue UK]

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the granddaughter of Indira Gandhi, has caused a stir in India by showing up to a parliamentary session in Western dress, instead of the traditional sari. [The Guardian]