In the whirlwind of  previews,  totally forgot to share with you the fact that yours truly got Bumby’d. View Jill Bumby’s so on point apparaisal on the flip. She totally zeroed in on my obsessive ability to wear all the jewellery I own all at once! Visit the Bumbys here.

Here is a preview of a Gucci bag for Autumn 2011, via Racked, which informs that Gucci will be adding custom initial embossing with this collection. That’s one way to head the knock-off scammers off at the pass.

One more bag on the next page.

Dressed simply as she often is off the clock model Lara Stone, accompanied by her husband, spends some time cycling, which as of late is a very fashionable activity. (We even spied some Bloomies stores this past fall, merchandised with mannequins posed next to bicycles!)

Handbags are tough for me to get into somehow, I can get into shoes in a heartbeat but for bags color or design  have to be next level. Meredith Wendell recently launched a ‘Grasshopper’ bag on of a kind  ( Only 10 will be made) and all I  have to say is that this one ‘Got Me’. View in details on the flip, purchase here.

We are firm believers in the necessity of a good statement skirt that is not to short or too long, but has enough details to pretty much stand alone as a ‘wow’ piece. The style above by Edun fits the bill , versatile enough to be casual and dressy via ssense.

In what seems like a forever battle against the naked native and barefoot poverty stereotypes, Awam Amkpa, the curator of Li-Space, an art gallery in Beijing, is hosting an exhibit titled “Africa: See You, See Me!” with the hopes of opening the eyes of visitors to “the diversity and the robustness of African culture.” China perception matters because the country has a fast-growing business presence in Africa. According to the WSJ article:

The exhibition is arranged with images from contemporary Africa that lead back in time to works done by early African photographers in the middle of the 20th century. Mr. Amkpa, who is based in New York, said this flow is intended to provide audiences with a glimpse of how far African photography has come since it emerged in the 1950s.

The image above is called “LV Posse.” One more image on the next page, more at WSJ.

As one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential, Blake Lively attended a gala last night, hosted by the publication with her luxurious tresses changed from blonde to red. Reviews seem to be mixed (with some at Glamour where we got this pic accusing her of looking like Ariel the mermaid!) though it’s hard not to conclude this move will endear her a bit more with the Chanel-o-philes who thought she was too bland and boring to front the label’s Madesmoiselle bag campaign. Certainly this spices up her image a tad.

A look at her gown in full on the next page.

We posted the announcement last week that Carol’s Daughter was rolling out a new “polyethnic” marketing campaign, featuring Cassie, Selita Ebanks and Solange Knowles. At the time, we also predicted the campaign would ruffle some feathers and indeed comments were hot and heavy here, here and here.

Posters were ticked off for a few different reasons but mainly because the campaign was labeled polyethic but featured models who were all the same light shade. In the video above, Carol’s Daughter founder, Lisa Price, sits down with the threesome and attempts to do some clean up in aisle 4, featuring a whole mess of hurt feelings. She zeroes in on the theme of hair though once again, folks are going to point out that among the three ladies, there isn’t a lot of texture diversity.

Light with a vintage feel Hanky Panky never disappoints in providing effortlessly fun and sexy  lingerie, enjoy a look at their latest lace sets. All available here. View more on the next page.

CFDA held a party celebrating the 2010 award recipients last week and Ann Wintour (also in the image above are Eddie Borg, Billy Reid and Prabal Grunung)  was in attendance, wearing a Prada skirt featuring the highly-celebrated banana print that has taken the fashion world by storm. The party took place at J.Crew, which will be collaborating with Billy Reid, the CFDA/Vogue  Fashion Fund Award winner, on a capsule collection.

A couple more images on the next page of fashion favorites Kate Lanphear, plus Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez.