Whether you call it preppy or classic American, Weinberg senior Linnea Perelli-Minetti’s style would make Greenwich proud.

You grew up in Connecticut. Did a lot of kids dress like you?
Everyone’s just really preppy. I can say I double-popped my collar all through high school. It’s a little embarrassing.

What influences your style?
Timelessness—I think that’s what everyone should be going for. It’s so much better to be classic because it keeps going. Invest now, have it forever.

What trend do you wish would die?
No leggings. I just wish leggings would go away.

How do you decide what to put on every day?
It depends on how much time I have. I just do what makes me happy. And skirts always put me in a good mood, skirts with belts.

What article of clothing should every woman have?
A silk scarf. They look good on everyone. I think bags are so important. I change my bag almost everyday. It’s a really, really poor idea because I’m out here ringing the bell more than anyone because I never have my keys.

What do you think about Northwestern fashion?
It’s improving, I think. When I came here freshman year, it was just a disaster. A lot of people here go for comfort, because I guess their classes are hard. But I feel I focus better in class when I’m not in sweats.

Where do you shop?
For my basics, J.Crew always. My best fitting jeans are all J Brand. I’m loving their skinnies. And vintage. That’s what makes anything I’m wearing stylish.

How would you dress if you didn’t have any limits?
If I could, I would buy everything Karl Lagerfeld has ever made.

Back in the second season of Project Runway, Santino Rice sat at a sewing machine and belted out, “Tim Gunn! Tim Gunn! If he calls your name you’re done!” At the end of that season it was Rice who was done and Gunn who moved on for more seasons of Runway and a spin-off show, Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style, whose second season premiered on Bravo on October 2.

Ever since peeking into America’s living rooms with Runway, audiences can’t get enough Tim Gunn. He’s the “sanest man in reality television,” according to The Advocate. He has released a book, called A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style. His catchphrases “Make it work” and “Carry on” have endured five seasons of television—even though they’re significantly less lewd than Tyra Banks’ “fierce” and Christian Siriano’s “hot tranny mess.”

He’s back for another season of Guide to Style, this time without model/fashion assistant Veronica Webb. Instead, spa and salon owner Gretta Monahan joins Gunn as the shopping buddy and style arbiter for the show’s fashion-challenged women.

Gunn said this season they’re dealing with the woman next door, who has some major problems with clothing. “It’s a bit like taking a recovering alcoholic to a house full of liquor bottles when we go to the department store,” he said.

Where’s the line between helpful criticism and remarks that kind of go into the mean category?
Tim Gunn: Well Gretta and I are very sensitive to people’s sensitivities, if that makes any sense. And it’s only at a point of perhaps frustration—sometimes exasperation—when we feel a blunt instrument is really necessary. We need to wake somebody up.

This week so much is being made of the style of Vice President candidate Sarah Palin, and it’s something that’s sort of ripe for parody. She’s got the glasses and the up-do, but what do you think of it and do you think that she’s actually unearthed the best style for her?
Gretta Monahan: You know, for me I think she has a look that works for the role she’s in. She’s a beautiful, beautiful woman. I’ve kind of been one of those people that would love to pull the glasses off and see the hair down. I just can’t help it. You know, I own salons and boutiques and I would love to see her also just have a little bit of variation in her look.
TG: All I can say is we should all brace ourselves for a Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun.

Do you think everyday women pay too much attention to celebrity women? And what famous women should they be paying attention to? Who sets the best example in style?
TG: If we have our eyes open we can’t help but be aware of celebrity style and fashion because it surrounds us. I’m fond of saying that the person who I believe gets it right with sophistication and polish, and an individual who is occasion-appropriate, is Angelina Jolie. I say don’t look at red carpet looks because it’s not the real world. Look at how people pick up the kids at daycare or go shopping. It’s much more of a gauge of someone’s real style and how they navigate the real world. And I applaud her style.

How’s it been different working with Gretta as opposed to Veronica last season?
TG: Gretta and Veronica are two completely different people and I must say about Gretta is that—Gretta, forgive me if this is in any way puts you off—[she's] a real woman. Gretta’s petite. Gretta knows as well as the people with whom we work, the kinds of challenges that she faces when shopping and when she’s confronted with different silhouettes and when she looks at herself from the viewpoint of proportion of fit. Gretta can empathize and Veronica Webb is a supermodel and she could break all the rules and still look absolutely fabulous.

What other changes are going to be on the new season of the show as opposed to the first season?
TG: Well you know what’s interesting about this season? The challenges, the fashion challenges that are presented to Gretta and me are a little more subtle, a little more nuanced. They’re not quite the blunt instruments that you saw on Season 1. We have women who have sensational figures, and are beautiful but have issues with the clothes that they’ve been buying, clothing maintenance, grooming. So many women think, “Oh, if I had a figure like that, if I looked like her all my fashion foibles would be put to an end.” But in fact, that isn’t true. And that fashion challenge could be presented or can be confronted by any woman. And that’s what I love about this season, that we’re dealing with the woman next door and she has issues.

You guys deal with fashion challenged women on the show. What are some warning signs that people may notice that they may themselves be fashion challenged?
GM: Throw out the sequins. I think Tim and I encountered a little too many sequins. We got to give up the skating outfits and leave those for the Olympics. And people hold onto a lot of old things. Your wardrobe, your style, it needs to be maintained.

Is there anything you’re really scared for this fall?
GM: I am very worried about very large shapes; big peplums…big shoulders. I do think for the average girl, big sleeves, big arms—I mean, let’s just face it, they just make you look bigger.

Do you have any plans to maybe include some guys as the subjects [of the show]?
GM: Tim, can we please? … I want to do the guys. I love the guys.
TG: We would really like to. The show is not an intervention so people need to contact us. This goes through Bravo, and we were really looking for a guy for Season 2. And from Bravo’s perspective, they were disappointed in who had contacted us. But for Season 3 I think we have to do it. But just in terms of getting your fashion right, the same three principles apply to men as to women and that’s silhouette, proportion and fit.

Sorry I’ve been ignoring you for the past couple of years. See, after Mean Girls, when everything started going downhill, I just decided you weren’t cheeky enough for me.

But that stunt you pulled with the coat, I gotta say, that was great. I mean, “accidentally” stealing the mink coat of some rich Columbia bitch—that’s priceless. And then returning it reeking of booze and smoke, with a tear in the lining? Even better. I mean I don’t really blame you—if I was sitting in some lounge in the Meatpacking District (hey, it could happen) and some Ivy League snot with a hot name like Masha Markova was sitting next to me and getting all up in my business with her $11,000 fur coat, I would have wanted to cut a bitch, too. I mean, doesn’t she know that she has to have that thing stored? For Chrissake, Bergdorf’s even offered the service at discount last month.

But really, the best part was when she called you out on it, and then your lawyers contacted hers and were all, “Um, we’re going to bring you something” and she got it back. And don’t worry about that $10,000 suit she’s filing against you—she totes just wants you to fund her next Fendi.

Love,

Alan

P.S.—Hot YSL Tribute bag.

1. It’s in the Bag: According to the American Chiropractic Association, women shouldn’t carry around more than 10% of their body weight in their bags—a hard pill to swallow for women who are willing to throw their back out for the chicness of a Muse purse. The rise of Marc’s Stam bag, Chloé’s Paddington, and most recently D&G’s oversized patent tote (which measures in at 19.75″x21.5″x8.5″) are recipes for misalignment, availing their carriers room for laptops, books and magazines on top of the standard supply of makeup, cash and personal electronics. Trendsetters should avoid these bags given their status not only as back breakers, but as bank breakers too.

2. Pass the Smell Test: Makeup giant Elizabeth Arden may have some reformulating to do on its surprisingly dangerous Red Door perfume. According to Jezebel, a woman was robbed by a man who she found lying in the street. Using the next best thing to Mace, the woman doused him with Red Door. The perfume was noxious enough to send him running. Word to the wise: In areas where pepper spray is illegal and there’s no department store counter in sight, Axe body spray may have the same effect.

3. Tough as Old Boots: Dominico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s D&G line featured sharp boots in their punk-inspired spring 2006 collection. These lethal kicks keep with D&G’s theme of pain — their signature corset dress pays homage to the very symbol of oppressive fashion. It figures that Dolce & Gabbana would arm its customers with these studded boots: they’ll need something to help them fend off the entranced men who can’t resist a girl clothed in the Italian label’s garb. Backstage at the show, model Lily Donaldson, who walked in the boots on the runway, showed off her sadistic side.

4. On the Loose: Thankfully, UFO pants have gone somewhat out of style. From concealing weapons to the occasional escalator mishap, oversized pants have come under fire by some schools concerned about safety. According to city officials in Dallas, baggy pants are a serious enough threat to launch a billboard campaign against the anti-fashion. But don’t be so quick to disregard: remember the near fate of the hero in that remake of The Hills Have Eyes? He was almost gobbled up after tripping over his baggy britches.

5. Dig in Your Heels: After a rash of shoe-induced injuries in Britain last summer, well-heeled women everywhere can rest easy knowing that stilettos really live up to their namesake. In one case, a Glasgow prostitute broke the facial bones of a 70-year-old man after she jumped on him with her heels. In another case, a newly married couple’s first fight turned ugly when the bride hit her new husband over the head with her shoe. The groom sought out help while holding a bloody towel to his head. However, fashion felonies aren’t just limited to Britain. Last June, a fight between two gay and lesbian gangs from Maryland turned ridiculous (but fitting) when someone whipped out a stiletto. But these pump pummelings don’t come without consequence. When the other shoe dropped, one attacker was sentenced to six years in jail.

From badly bent bag ladies to a groom under his wife’s heel, these fashion victims don’t take the destructive quality of clothes lightly. But as D&G reminds us: they can forget comfort—people are still willing to suffer for fashion.

Volume and frills were both turned up a notch (or five) at the Comme des Garçons show. The show opened with a scarlet tulle explosion in the form of a belly shirt, and later on a sculptural white dress was made to look all the more voluptuous with black gridded taping.

Issey Miyake’s dark, delicate collection worked mainly with a base of black lace and leather, offset with splashes of red. Unfortunately, the half-shorts, half-pants bottoms were more remniscent of Compton gangs than couture.

Playing on cultural clichés of fashion, Jeremy Scott showed a red velvet drapery dress (complete with tassels and curtain rod), a green topcoat printed to look like a one-dollar bill, and a white tablecloth dress that extended out horizontally from the hips, turning the model’s torso into a supper centerpiece. Scott left fashion editors wondering after the show where he hid all the real clothes.

But where are the real clothes? Photo by Peter Duhon on Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.

Marc Jacobs and John Galliano haven’t exactly been getting along since Jacobs and his personal trainer were overheard talking shit about Galliano. They must really be on fine speaking terms now, since Galliano lifted the theme of his show, “Arabian Nights”, from Jacobs’ holiday bash. Somehow, though, not even the half-naked models set in the back of the stage can compare to Jacobs’ camel toe costume. Yikes.

Maison Martin Margiela has recently become something of a sensation, but this season’s silhouettes take power dressing to new heights. Super-square dickies turned into overblown censor bars, and elevated-neckline boatneck jackets made models look like woollen Dixie Cups with heads floating inside.

Viktor & Rolf’s last show may have been about marching to the beat of one’s own drummer—each model had her own runway music, and her dress was strung up in her own private lighting rig. This season was just as rhetorical, with models sporting garments that literally spelled out “NO”, “DREAM ON”, and “WOW”. Viktor & Rolf said it was about refusing to conform to fashion, not the no-means-no reference, circa Essential NU, that immediately comes to mind. Still, there’s something ironic about a model in a furry-armed Sasquatch jacket with “NO” written across her face.

Vivienne Westwood paid homage to the Amazonian models of the late ’80s in a jungle-themed show. Models—two of them towering over the audience on stilts—sported frocks and suits that were as much safari as circus.

Rick Owens had a particularly tame show in Paris— at least relative to the surrounding showdown. Most models wore leather or wool garments that substituted zippers for seams. He turned leather bell bottoms into leg capes while emphasizing the waist and hips. Other than that, though, only one look paid homage to his fellow avant-garde designers: A fur coat in the style of Jean Paul Gaultier’s cone bra, placing two thick tails right at the boobs. Flattering. Really, really flattering.

Weinberg senior Monica Boen

Monica Boen: I study biology and international studies; I’m going to be a doctor. I’d like to open my own firm or work at a clinic. I probably want to move to a coast; California, maybe. I’ll probably have to change my look up a little — less clothing. I’m looking forward to that.

NBN: You’re looking forward to wearing less clothing?

MB: Oh, no, just being able to wear shorts and skirts and heels more often. I’m from Chicago, so I’m used to this. You’re kind of limited in your fashion options here.

NBN: Tell me about your style.

MB: I guess it changes. When I feel like I want to go out or look good, I like satin and shiny things. I like to wear skinny jeans, boots — but definitely they can’t have heels, because I’m kind of tall, so I can never wear them. On campus, I just like plain black coats and boots, jeans and a nice top. Plus, I love big, wavy hair.

NBN: Do you follow fashion?

MB: A lot of times I look at things online. I get Glamour online. I like to look at celebrity pictures in People magazine. You get to see what’s in and not. I guess a lot of times it’s celebrity influence, which is kind of weird. I follow people who look like me, or have the same skin tone. So I guess I like to see what Jessica Alba wears. And I like the Mary Kate and Ashley look, where it’s like very loose and nothing really fits well. But I just like to have fun with clothes.

NBN: Tell me about what you’re wearing.

MB: I’m wearing skinny jeans from Urban. Tall boots, which I got in Paris. This shirt is from Express. Jewelry is from Paris. They’re all pretty affordable on a student budget.

NBN: You’re so international.

MB: That’s right: international, baby.

When Klymaxx dropped Biba’s name in the group’s 1984 hit “The Men All Pause,” they may not have had these recent looks in mind. Biba’s collection payed plenty of homage to ’80s power dressing, but a sharply angled shoulder apparently wasn’t enough for designer Bella Freud. Most models sported dark fezzes that awkwardly echoed the shape of the garments.

Unbridled volume has been a key theme for the last few seasons. But now as designers are moving back to more feminine silhouettes, someone should tell Armand Basi that the referent is the hourglass, not the lava lamp.

Runway walking expert and America’s Next Top Model superstar J. Alexander (Miss J) can’t emphasize the importance of posture enough. So models at the Basso & Brooke show would have made him proud: The designers suited models with tumorous, egg-shaped headdresses to balance on their heads, accompanying the already-bizarre patterns and shapes of their collection.

The Rainbow Fish made its fashion week debut at the Christopher Kane show, where models sported garments littered with scaly, oversized sequins. The effect was a look like a pearlescent disco ball, probably with its noise to match.

Meanwhile, the mother ship landed at the Gareth Pugh show, where painted-up models showed futuristic and often times furry ensembles. The absurdity began with a blouse and circle skirt seemingly made from rubber floor mats. Then it was full steam ahead through furry boxing gloves, pointy martian-like hats, alluring origami coats done in leather, and one male model’s goat-hair bolero, which extended his shoulders a good six inches from his frame. Somehow, though, the clothes could not detract from the ghostly faces of the models, who were painted white and given primary blue accents.

More pompom coats from Giles Deacon, but this time it’s more about the texture of a Chia Pet than focused on a silhouette. The more remarkable feat here was a pink number that somehow managed to make model Lily Donaldson look like she has hips.

House of Holland pretty much summed up its importance to the fashion world last year when Henry Holland showed shirts that shouted “ONE-TRICK PONY.” His other T-shirts — the ones that featured cheeky, rhyming phrases about fashion icons — were ripped off by everyone from Teen Vogue to Urban Outfitters. Maybe he should have just stuck to what he knows best, given that he closed his fashion week show with model Agyness Deyn (surprise!) wearing a J.Crew-does-Pirates of the Caribbean tartan eye patch. And plaid antlers.

Betsey Johnson’s collection came back to haunt me in the form of Luella Bartley’s show, where models were styled with crimped, frazzled-looking hair. As if she was predicting her own criticism, the show opened with a look topped off with a witch’s hat.

Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood is credited with “inventing” the punk look back in the ’70s. Unfortunately, she’s still creating fashion anarchy in the UK — even though I want her to be sedated.

BRITNEY SPEARS: Mornin’ y’all.

HEIDI KLUM: Britney, where were you last night? Were you in, or were you out?

BRITNEY SPEARS: Well I was out with mah pals Lindsay and Adnan. Boys, sometimes a girl just needs one.

HEIDI KLUM: Britney, living with me and Seal is a chance of a lifetime. And as you know in Heidi-rehab, one day you’re in, the next day you’re out on your ass in the street.

BRITNEY SPEARS: Well, I—Everybody’s talking all this stuff about me; why don’t they just let me live? I don’t need permission, make my own decisions. That’s my prerogative.

HEIDI KLUM: Britney, I’ve scored your life design, and I cannot say you will be named the winner. Please step forward.

[Pause]

BRITNEY SPEARS: Give me a sign!

HEIDI KLUM: Britney, you’re out. Auf Wiedersehen.

BRITNEY SPEARS: What? I can’t believe this—first my lawyer, and now—Heidi, you drive me crazy, but it feels alright.

[Enter SEAL]

SEAL: Mornin’ Britney. How you feeling?

BRITNEY SPEARS: Stronger than yesterday. Now it’s nothin’ but my way.

SEAL: Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grave.

BRITNEY SPEARS: Hey what’s up with your face?

“Now I would like to bring to your attention that Tyra’s people carried a change of clothes for her at NYC fashion week. Hmmmh… could it be that Tyra messed herself before? Or just that her entourage is so organized that in case Tyra would ever, maybe, possibly mess herself that one time, they have a change of clothes? I don’t know… but all these thoughts were twirling in my mind when in horror I was watching such an abomination, feeling so alone in the world.”

Right. Well, accidents happen. But after getting snubbed for Tyra’s new reality show, whose casting crew was at Norris early last week, this writer has become significantly more likely to laugh at her expense.

But why would a Northwestern student stoop so low as to apply for a reality show on The CW? Well, first, because glimpsing Tyra is the next best thing to glimpsing RuPaul, who this writer sadly missed at the Chicago premiere of her new movie, Starrbooty. Second, getting called fierce by the star of Life Size for successfully fact checking an article does more for one’s ego than a Medill degree ever could.

For fall 2007, Gucci designer Frieda Giannini showed a sharply tailored jacket that featured leather cups on the shoulders. The effect was a boxy silhouette that accentuated the high, belted waist.

This Fall 2007 Fashion Week model sports shoulder-accentuating cups. Photo by Peter Duhon on Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.

At Yves Saint Laurent, the spring 2008 show opened with a belted, sleeveless jacket whose shoulders extended far past the model’s frame.

The power deal was sealed at the spring 2008 Balenciaga show, where most silhouettes featured a sculptural, bulbous shoulder and wide, exaggerated hips.

What’s new, though, is the way designers are using these shapes to give a more feminine feel to fashion. By broadening the shoulders or hips, the high waist looks tiny in comparison—not exactly the strong, masculine interpretation of these shapes that was common in the early ’90s.

While the power shoulder may be showing signs of a second-coming, fashion experts aren’t touting it as the next major trend. “They change the shape of the shoulder every season,” said Geoffrey Henderson, a personal shopper at Chicago’s Neiman Marcus on Michigan Avenue. For spring, the more important trend was color, he said.

But Cueatrice Scott, a womenswear sales associate at Chicago’s Barneys New York, didn’t totally dismiss the trend. “Definitely it’s important for spring because a strong shoulder balances out a lot of the volume you have in the dresses,” he said. Scott doesn’t see the trend trickling down into more accessible designer’s lines any time soon, however. “In terms of more mainstream designers, like Diane von Furstenberg, it’s not going to be very prevalent,” he said.

The trend is not slowing down yet, though. Recent shows in New York, including Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein, contained broad-shouldered garments that, this time, skipped the slim waist, heading straight for a menswear feel. If we’ve learned anything from the resurface of the ever-bemoaned spandexed, no-pants trend, we’ll keep our minds open.