Photo: Patrick McMullan

This just in: Carine Roitfeld may, on occasion, wear Topshop and Urban Outfitters under her fabulous white shag coats. (Not that we've ever witnessed such a thing.) But you can rest assured that the French Vogue editrix doesn't buy the cheap stuff herself. At an April 1 dinner at Balthazar to celebrate the launch of Topshop's stateside flagship, Carine's daughter, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld admitted, "I don't think [my mom's] been in Topshop, but maybe when her assistants shop in Topshop for themselves and they see something my mom would like they would get it for her." Julia, whom we've spotted in cute finds from Urban Outfitters, says she wouldn't even attempt to take her mom to a store like that, but that Carine sometimes requests cheap clothes off her daughter's back. "She would see me, for example, with this jacket, which is Topshop, and she'd be like, 'Oh my god, I love your jacket! Where is it from?' And then she'd be like, 'Oh, okay. Can you go get me the same?' That's how it would work. She doesn't have time to shop. She's too busy. So if she sees something she likes on me, she kind of sends me to get it."

Lucky for Carine, her daughter doesn't have universally expensive taste. "I don't like the look of wearing all expensive clothes," she said. "I like expensive stuff not for the price or the name but maybe because I like the design better." Julia says she wouldn't necessarily wear Topshop to the Met, like Kate Moss did, in bold and product-placement-y fashion a few years ago. "I would wear it more to casual than fancy parties," she said. "But for going out at night to clubs, it's perfect."

View the Party Lines slideshow.

Christian SirianoPhoto: Getty Images

MAKEUP
• Victoria's Secret Beauty signed Christian Siriano to do a limited-edition makeup collection called Christian Siriano for VS Makeup. Now he's competing with Heidi Klum, who also has a makeup line with the brand. Catfight! [WWD]

HAIR
• Corpus Christi, Texas tops a list of the 13 worst cities for hair in the United States because the humidity and lack of hair salons leads to overwhelming frizz. Be warned. [Total Beauty]

• Gossip Girl hairstylist Jennifer Johnson uses Bumpits on Leighton Meester's character to create a bouffant. We thought only Sarah Palin used those. [Elle]

• Sudiobo makes combs that are shaped like knives. They are called "Combmandos." Snappy. [Ferrari Murakami via Refinery29]

SKIN
• La Mer's new Body Refiner product contains 1.75 karats of pure diamond dust and costs $110. But is it really full of diamonds? Or just bullshit? [Beauty Counter/Style.com]

Photo: Getty Images

London obsession/TV presenter Alexa Chung is moving to New York to further her television career. Rumor is she got a gig with MTV. We wonder if MTV plans to bring back House of Style permanently and has learned models who can't read cue cards don't make the best hosts. Because surely Alexa's smart enough to not take a V.J. position for some sort of new Total Request Live-type show, illustrious and career enhancing though those are (Carson Daly can vouch for that). British people are really sad Alexa's decamping for New York. The 25-year-old former model is one of London's biggest style obsessions. Grazia reports her new pad is close to fellow Brit Agyness Deyn's in Williamsburg. She looks like she can swim with the hipsters. We're curious to see how she'll do on The Scene over here. We never understood why London was so obsessed with her, but when it comes to fashion people moving here our philosophy is the more the merrier! Anything to take some of the attention off Peaches Geldof.

Alexa's American Adventure! [Grazia]

Peter CoppingPhoto: Patrick McMullan

Olivier Theyskens presented a stunning fall 2009 collection for Nina Ricci, but he left the house March 10 after being pushed out by Puig Fashion Group, which owns the label. The industry remains flabbergasted that Puig let Theyskens go six months before his contract was set to expire in October. Anna Wintour even voiced her disappointment in her April Vogue editor's letter. Puig said in a statement announcing the dismissal that the brand "wishes to re-orientate its development strategy for the years to come." Oh, why reorient when the Theyskens fall 2009 development strategy was so, so lovely?

Photo: Getty Images

One month ago Roberto Cavalli said his licensing deal with Ittierre SpA was "as good as finished." The contract doesn't expire until 2010, but Cavalli was upset about the state of his fall 2009 Just Cavalli line. Ittierre, which had to file for the Italian equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, shipped the samples for the runway show late. So Cavalli canceled his Just Cavalli show and loudly blamed Ittierre for it at the small, no-frills presentation he staged instead. He also said half of what Ittierre sent was of really crappy quality. Ittierre even planned to sue Cavalli for all the nasty things he said about them. But WWD reports today that within 24 hours, Cavalli could sign a deal to renew his contract with Ittierre for five years.

The change of heart could have something to do with Cavalli selling a stake in his brand. Yesterday, we learned he was in talks to sell a 20 percent stake to an Italian private equity firm. Smoothing things over with Ittierre strengthens Cavalli's position in those negotiations. But who knows if that will happen since, as this Ittierre business only proves, this man is so unpredictable. Like — dare we say — an animal in the wild.

Just Cavalli May Extend License [WWD]

ValentinoPhoto: WireImage

• News flash: March was not a good month. Specialty stores cut 6,200 jobs, while department stores eliminated 300 jobs. [WWD]

• This sounds incredible: Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo is collaborating with Japanese Vogue on a pop-up shop open from the end of May until fall that's like a "magazine you can walk into." It features a new theme, merchandise, and exhibitions each month. Takashi Murakami, Chanel, Fendi, Loewe, Martin Margiela and Walter Van Beirendonck will participate for the first month. [WWD]

• Valentino was awarded the thirteenth annual Walk of Style award in L.A. yesterday. "I am completely drunk with compliments. In my long career, I have more or less refused other people saying nice things about me, but now that I am older, I accept this,” he said. [WWD]

• Real Housewife Kelly Killoren Bensimon is no longer modeling for Saks and has no plans to re-sign, says a source. "Working with Saks is a wonderful experience that I hope to continue in the future," says Kelly. "Saks Fifth Avenue enjoyed working with Kelly," says Saks. [NYP]

• Emma Roberts wants to be the face of Dolce & Gabbana. [NYDN]

Photo: Getty Images

Rumors are swirling that France's First Lady, Carla Bruni, didn't attend the G20 Summit in London with her husband because she didn't want to be overshadowed by Michelle Obama. Indeed, she wouldn't have been the center of attention — she's already done the whole hang out with the Queen thing and she never wears prints or sequins. Carla's style is predictable (Dior, Dior, and oh — Dior again!) but MObama is a total fashion wild card (Wu, Kors, Watanabe — wait, seriously MObama? Watanabe? — and Wu again). But today the Obamas landed in France and Carla and Michelle met for the first time, and then stood next to each other wearing clothes in a once-in-a-lifetime fashion Sartorial Bowl. Mrs. O reports Michelle is wearing a Thakoon coat. (We can't be sure what Carla's wearing yet, but we're guessing Dior.) We wonder if they worked together on this photo op in advance. They're both wearing pussy-bow collars and hemlines that fall just below the knee. Or maybe they think exactly alike, except where MObama sees prints, Carla sees her favorite colors, gray and purple. So who won the face-off?

Injustice at work in the Tom Ford store.Photo-illustration: Shanna Ravindra, iStockphoto

An unjust trend is sweeping the world of boutiques, and we will not stand for it. Stores for men are increasingly offering male shoppers beer and other spirits as a bribe to get them to hang out in the store longer and buy things. Dudes "love to sit down on the couch, have a drink, try a couple of things on and hang out with some of the staff," co-owner of New York's Kesner boutique Matthew Simon tells The Wall Street Journal. "They have that kind of experience and they'll want to come back." Sounds like an exaggeration — we can't imagine most straight men we know hanging out in a place where the chief purpose was to buy new clothes just for fun. But sure, who wouldn't want to go back to a shop serving free cocktails? Now some high-end women's stores offer Champagne. But Billy Reid in New York serves bourbon, Lisa Klein Men in L.A. serves gin and tonic, and Tom Ford serves anything you can dream up. "It's that type of innovation in these trying times that sets [retailers] apart and creates buzz," Scott Krugman, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation, tells the Journal, as if in-store booze is the greatest idea since the changing room. Which it just might be. So ladies, we'll have to work together if we want to see change happen. Think like a man and shop online for the next few weeks, only buy things when you need them, and pretend that skinny pants are for pansies even though you wear them 70 percent of the time anyway.

Belly Up to the Bar And Buy Some Jeans [WSJ]

Photo: Getty Images

One minute Roberto Cavalli wants to sell his company, the next minute he takes it all back. Cavalli has been teasing investors like this for about a year, and WWD reports he met with an Italian private-equity fund on Tuesday to discuss selling a 20 percent stake in his company. But Cavalli's still scratching his head over whether to cut a deal or not since his empire won't fetch as much cash in the current economic climate. He plans to talk it over with his family, including his five children. “Business was much easier these past years, but today you have to push your workers to take things in a more constructive way and with more fantasy,” he said.

Common for DieselPhoto: Courtesy of Diesel

PLASTIC SURGERY
• Reloxin (or Dysport in Europe and South America) is a new wrinkle filler that supposedly works more quickly and lasts longer than Botox. The Food and Drug Administration will vote on its approval by the end of the year. [NYT]

• In the second article in the Times about Reloxin today, we learn the injectable is great for doctors and patients in These Times because it's less expensive than Botox. [NYT]

FRAGRANCE
• Diesel signed hip-hop artist Common as the face of its new fragrance Only the Brave. He'll perform in Spain, Los Angeles, Paris, and New York to celebrate the scent, which comes in a bottle that's in the shape of founder Renzo Rosso's fist. What a combo. [WWD]

HAIR
• Look closely at Julia Roberts, and you'll notice she has pink streaks in her hair. [Allure/Daily Beauty Reporter]

• Hairstylist Andy LeCompte blogged that he performed Brazilian blowouts on Lindsay Lohan, Ashley Tisdale, and Nicole Richie. The process lasts for three months and gives hair the "wash-and-wear" look without actually styling it after it dries. [Glamour/Girls in the Beauty Dept.]

Photo: Getty Images

Turns out it's not easy being Madonna. Unless you fled to Siberia back when your stock portfolio went up in flames, you may know that the Material Mom's attempts to acquire another Malawian orphan for her collection have engendered an aggressive public outcry, complete with breathless accusations that she’s cutting red tape with her celebrity status and/or buying children for sport. This is hardly surprising: For the last 25 years, all of Madonna's actions have elicited pearl-clutching and outrage from someone, somewhere — the woman is the queen of using shock value to stay relevant. That she's now being asked to defend her every impulse, even expanding her family, is a pickle entirely of her own making: the perils of being so good at The Madonna Business that the public now believes everything Madonna does is business.