Cosmopolitan

DIAMONDS ARE IN
The press was poised and ready to pounce all over the fact that the New York shows were practically accessory-less. I suppose a lot of people would quickly blame this fact on the effects Calvin Klein's Minimalism has had on American women. But if this were the case, wouldn't European women have similarly abandoned jewelry and scarves due to the influence of Giorgio Armani? Strike it up to genetic Euro-chic I guess.

One refreshing glint of light did make it into the New York shows despite the absence of costume chunkiness. A girl's best friend, diamonds, made an appropriately tailored and subtle appearance at Isaac Mizrahi and Ralph Lauren. For the latter, it was delicate tennis bracelets that glittered gracefully on the wrists of the runway models. At Mr. Mizrahi's collection, models donned Angel Rings; small diamond pendant from Lazare Diamonds and OE designs.

Cosmopolitan

SMOKEY EYES
Beauty remained a bit of an enigma during the New York collections. Just when it seemed possible to spot a trend, a new look would come darting out of left field to shoot down your theories. Like fashion, beauty is about reinterpreting the past and with the influence of the 60s on this season, it isn't surprising that smoky, heavily lined eyes and pale lips made a comeback.

Anna Sui, Donna Karan and Badgley Mischka (Mary Greenwell) made the most significant beauty statements, showing deeply lined eyes with pale orange/nude lips. While the vivid colors and shine of the Spring season still appeared in places, the finish seemed to be returning to a dewy matte with only hints of shimmer and reflection.

Berry lips, a Fall staple, made their annual appearance. Ralph Lauren's (Kevin Aucoin) classic clothes were beautifully complemented by this lipcolor along with a fresh natural looking foundation and cheekcolor. At Nicole Miller Pat McGrath chose campy turquoise blue shadow to show off her modern cowgirl look while Todd Oldham (Kevin Aucoin) emphasized eyes by outfitting models with vinyl black brows, a surprise accessory.

Essence

GOTTA DANCE
R&B bad boy Bobby Brown turns up as Martin Lawrence's best friend in the new comedy A Thin Line Between Love and Hate. The title conveys a concept familiar to the soul singer. "Most definitely, when it comes to relationships, there can be a thin line between love and hate," says Brown, 27, whose marriage to pop diva Whitney Houston has been tempestuous since they wed in 1992. Not given to public disclosures--"I don't want to talk about my personal life except to say I've been blessed"--Brown maintains that he and Whitney "are on solid ground. We're together. We love our little daughter [Bobbi, 3]. We like to watch her get up every morning. She's learning how to dance. I'm not really teaching her, though, because dancing is in her genes. She's something else, a small Whitney with a big Bobby flair!"

People

SLEEK HAIR
The biggest hair statement for the New York Fall collections came during Linda Evangelista's entrance on a moped at the start of the Anna Sui show. Demonstrating her metamorphic skillfulness, Ms. Evangelista had shed her long feathered blond mane for a blunt cut sable-colored bob. The statement not only complemented Ms. Sui's underlying mod theme in her show, the new look also worked to underscore the influence and necessity of styling. Rarely did we see the unmade or the messy; at almost every show, hair was handled in a meticulous manner: neatly tucked in a chignon (Bradley Bayou, Badgley Mischka) or blown pencil straight (Ralph Lauren, Ann Klein, Isaac Mizrahi, Mark Eisen) to gracefully rest on a model's shoulder. Though the flips and feathers of the past season still appeared periodically, blunt was the operative word with chunky bangs overtaking Helena Christensen's flip for the first place spot in the cutting wars. Blond was also making a move from the limelight continuing to be replaced by vibrant reds and rich Auburns.

People

TOUGH AUDIENCE
"The phone still hasn't stopped ringing," says Chicago Hope star Christine Lahti of her Oscar win last month for her first directorial effort, a live-action short titled Lieberman in Love. She's happy that some of those calls have included potential offers to direct feature films, but says, "It's hard to take the Oscar too seriously, especially since it's for directing and not acting. It's a great prize, but I didn't cure cancer." The first call Lahti, who is married to director Thomas Schlamme, made after accepting her statuette was to her three children (Wilson, 7, and twins Emma and Joe, 2), only to find them underwhelmed. "I said, 'Did you see Mommy?' and my 7-year-old said, 'Yeah. I liked watching the Toy Story guys and Jim Carrey. They were really cool.'

People

DIGITAL TRANSMISSIONS
"Demi believes in these kids and sent me a tape about them," says Michael Bolton, 43, explaining why he is among the stars (including Paula Abdul, Cindy Crawford and Salt-N-Pepa) turning up to showcase the talents of inner-city kids on CityKids All-Star Celebration. The hour-long ABC special is hosted by Demi Moore and airs April 20. He says his own daughters--Isa, 20, Holly, 18, and Taryn, 16--teach him as much as he teaches them. "You learn different words from your kids," says Bolton, who has been divorced since 1990. "I was invited to a Victoria's Secret fashion show with all these beautiful models. When I got home, Holly asked, 'Did you get any digits?' Digits? 'You know, phone numbers.'

Entertainment Weekly

WOODY'S TAX PROTEST
Woody Harrelson is holding out on the IRS. The actor says he intentionally withheld $10,000 in income tax as a protest against a government that continues to "desecrate nature." But Harrelson sounds like he might be having second thoughts. "I know a lot of people are going to say, 'What an idiot,'" he says. "There was no one telling me this was a good idea. Maybe I should have thought it through more."

Entertainment Weekly

STONES' ROLLING STUDIO FOR SALE
A piece of rolling rock history goes on the auction block in London on April 26. The 34-foot mobile recording studio once used by the Rolling Stones is expected to go for $38,000. The studio was used to record the band's 1970 tour, as well as much of the "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile on Main Street" albums. But the Stones weren't the only band to employ the studio. Led Zeppelin used it for "Stairway to Heaven" and Bob Marley taped a live version of "No Woman, No Cry" with it. An auction house spokesman said the mobile studio was once impounded by French customs agents who were "no doubt disappointed not to find drugs hidden between the double-walled sound-proof insulation."

Entertainment Weekly

SHIRLEY VS. DAVE
Shirley MacLaine is not a fan of David Letterman, who has used her as the punchline for many a joke. MacLaine recently described his style as caustic and used a seven-letter vulgarity to describe Letterman himself. "He doesn't know anything about himself," she says. "That's his problem. If he would ask himself some personal self-identity questions, he might, frankly, have better luck with his interviews."