"I love your style" is a phrase plenty of girls in this town hear once in a while. But the kind of gals who showed up at Diane von Furstenberg's studio last night—Anh Duong, Anne McNally, and Rachel Feinstein Currin—hear it a lot. And it's possible no one hears it more than Amanda Brooks, whose new book on the subject, I Love Your Style, was what everyone had gathered to celebrate. The picture-heavy tome divides the way women dress into ten easy categories, explaining the ins and outs of styles ranging from Bohemian to Cheap Chic. Cecilia Dean was eager to take the test: The Visionaire editor thought she'd be a Classic ("I'm in head-to-toe Yves Saint Laurent right now," she reasoned). I thought she would be a High Fashion poster girl. Turns out we were both surprised: Brooks put her in the Minimal section. "You know what, she's probably right," Dean said. Toward the back of the store, the first-time author was signing book after book, looking for a few surprises of her own. "No one has asked for a naughty introduction," she smiled. "But maybe I'll spice them up as the party goes on." Overseeing the proceedings was von Furstenberg herself. "I knew from a very young age the kind of woman I wanted to grow up to be," she said. "And I think Amanda is the same way. She is style."—Derek Blasberg

Saks Fifth Avenue opened the doors to its new designer floor last night, and a glam crowd walked through them—from Taraji P. Henson (who left a shoot in China to have a look) and Blake Lively to Michelle Monaghan and Alexis Bledel. But the cameras really started popping for Charlize Theron, whose plans for the week include a Dior event and a seat at the U.S. Open. "I'm really just praying for my boy Nadal," she said, referring to the Spanish star's shaky, injury-hampered tournament play. "I need to get, like, an African healing doctor on him." Later, Theron chatted with acknowledged Federer fan Anna Wintour at the mile-long dinner table that sliced through the 50,000-square-foot space. A year in the re-making, the third-floor retail area houses 49 collections in 23 alcove "shops," to which designers added their own touches: Roberto Cavalli sparkled the floor, for example—yes, we were shocked too—while Oscar de la Renta had coral stone brought in from a quarry in the Dominican Republic. The evening provided ample opportunity to share plans for Fashion's Night Out. Fabiola Beracasa said "the most important thing" on her itinerary was witnessing Hamish Bowles sing at Juicy Couture. Doutzen Kroes, though, insisted that fashion isn't the only thing worth toasting in New York right now. "It's four hundred years of Dutch people in the States, so I'm celebrating that this weekend. Nobody knows this!" Certainly there's a way for the patriotic model to observe both? "I should wear orange."—Darrell Hartman

Heels teetered across the cobblestone in Soho last night as Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Jessica Szohr, Taylor Momsen, and Michelle Trachtenberg joined Anna Sui for the launch of her Gossip Girl-inspired collection for Target. Inside the Crosby Street pop-up shop, amid peacocks and Champagne flutes, the clothes were as much the life of the party as the celebs. A lace dress with blue ribbon detail was as demure as Blair Waldorf (sadly, Leighton Meester was a no-show), while a low-cut gray shift, very Serena van der Woodsen, appeared to have teeth. Sui, whose punk Victorian aesthetic is alive and well in her latest endeavor, tapped Gossip Girl as muse after a trip to China revealed just how far the show's reach extends. "I thought, oh my God, this is a phenomenon," said Sui. But we know she meant OMG.—Liz McDaniel

A whole bunch of kids who are about to hit the runways were shaking their legs to thumping beats last night in Chelsea, at a rooftop party thrown by V Magazine. A traditional early fashion week affair, this edition brought the fresh faces out to toast photographer Paul Rowland, guest director of the latest issue's 96-page supplement. "The whole idea was based on paganism and witches, kind of dark things," Rowland (who was sporting an ankle-length djellaba) explained. With help from art-world photographers Hanna Liden, Katy Grannan, and Richard Kern, he turned out 19 different covers featuring the likes of Behati Prinsloo and Isabeli Fontana in an array of unconventional accessories, including slabs of raw meat. According to Rowland, although V editor in chief Stephen Gan was "reticent" at first about neckwear made from tripe, he eventually swallowed—or shall we say, accepted—it. Just as, if not more, bizarre: We found a designer who's actually ahead of schedule. That would be the well-organized Richard Chai, who was looking relaxed even though he has a busy Saturday coming up (he's showing both his men's collection and his new women's diffusion line, Richard Chai—Love, virtually back-to-back at Cedar Lake). "I thought it was going to be really smart, because I loved the venue. But now that I think about it, I don't know if it was such a good idea," Chai fretted momentarily, but then shrugged it all off. "I have a really big backstage." What's more, he added, the women's line has been a hit in fittings. "That's always a flattering thing, when models want to wear it." Hey, it beats the hell out of wearing uncooked offal.—Darrell Hartman

Daphne Guinness has been called many things: fashion plate, muse, couture client extraordinaire. But subtle isn't usually one of them. How ironic that that's the word that best describes—according to Guinness, anyway—the short film she made for her eponymous scent with Comme des Garçons. Wearing PVC trousers, a bondage top, and a brocaded bolero jacket plus her trademark high heels, she hosted a screening for the non-commercial commercial last night at the Hudson Hotel, where she was joined by pals like Jefferson Hack, Margherita Missoni, and Leigh Lezark. The short film begins with a nude body draped in flowing clothes and ends with a rose bud exploding into the ether. "I couldn't even tell part of it was filmed underwater," Guinness' partner in crime Steven Klein remarked, "which I think was the whole point." (Guinness confirmed it was.) "I'm ready for a big change," she said. "I think the tides are coming in again, and we're in for a big awakening." Did she mean the recession? A new silhouette? New developments in fabric or fashion? "Sure," she smiled. "All I know is that I've been bored since the last episode of Star Trek."—Derek Blasberg

Technically, New York fashion week doesn't kick off until tomorrow. But last night's party celebrating the opening of the Fenton/Fallon store nonetheless had the distinct air of a kickoff—more than one visitor to the shop's courtyard in Freeman Alley commented on the "back to school" feeling of the event. New clothes to show off, friends catching up on gossip, the weather unexpectedly crisp and autumnal—all that was missing was some fumbling with unfamiliar locker combinations and an errant freshman asking for directions to his Spanish class. Instead, there were pink-hued Belvedere cocktails, a store full of Dana Lorenz-designed bijoux, and pianist Jay Israelson playing the theme from Twin Peaks in the background. "I feel like all the cliques are coming together," said Lorenz. "It's very Breakfast Club." Only with a supermodel, i.e., co-host Shalom Harlow, instead of Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson.—Maya Singer

Paper magazine pulled out all the stops to celebrate its 25th birthday last night, booking The Virgins, Queen Latifah, and the one and only Liza Minnelli to perform—and converting the New York Public Library into a no-holds-barred dance fest in the process. On the eve of fashion week, it seemed as if the entire city—from hip-hop superstars (Kanye West) to drag queens (Lady Bunny) to famous offspring (Sean Lennon)—had come out to fête the publication. And while Mayor Bloomberg wasn't in attendance, he did name yesterday Paper Day in honor of the mag's big anniversary. The Virgins followed a set by DJ Mark Ronson. From the stage, lead singer Donald Cumming said that if he could open for Latifah and Minnelli for the rest of his life, "I'd be the happiest boy alive." The Queen, for her part, was equally energetic: "The Virgins rocked it," she smiled. "And I want to rock a little more." A giant birthday cake was presented to the magazine's founders, Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovits, before Minnelli, spritely and in her trademark sequins, took the stage. She shushed the crowd, saying, "I need to hear the notes! I don't want to blow them for all you lovely people." As if we needed reminding where we were and which fashion week we were anticipating, she led a standing-room-only crowd in a rendition of "New York, New York."—Derek Blasberg

One way to gear up for fashion week madness is to tune in to a TV show about, well, fashion week madness. At least that's what the Sundance Channel had in mind at last night's preview of its new four-part series The Day Before, which takes a peek at hectic eleventh-hour countdowns to the big runway moment. This Thursday's episode, as guests including Leighton Meester, Lorenzo Martone, and Rachel Zoe learned at the Norwood screening, will star Proenza Schouler's Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough up against endless last-minute snafus: Will that gossamer-thin chiffon hold together? Bra or no bra? When will the bags come in from Italy? Why do all the Russian models have feet two sizes too big? The Proenza episode moved along at a nice clip and even had a little irreverent streak—nothing too dishy, though. The designers (unlike Valentino in Matt Tyrnauer's recent smash hit The Last Emperor) had final cut, and thus could tweak sections in which they were, as Hernandez explained, "dissing people a little too hard." Directed by French veteran Loïc Prigent, the series also goes behind the scenes with Jean Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld's Fendi squad, and Sonia Rykiel, whose ambitious, star-studded 40th anniversary tribute show Prigent recorded last year with a half-dozen cameras. "It was fascinating, like having eyes everywhere," the designer's daughter, Nathalie Rykiel, said of watching the final product (the Rykiel installment debuts tonight). "Now, when I see it, I actually like the drama that Loïc made out of it. During, it's not enjoyable at all. I prefer not having eyes everywhere."—Darrell Hartman