Indian designers Falguni and Shane Peacock have busted out of Bollywood straight through to Hollywood. Their champion? Britney Spears.

In the video for her newest single “Hold It Against Me,” the pop queen raises up her fists like Muhammad Ali and cat-fights with her doppelganger while sheathed in ornate outfits by the married design duo. Britney One is clad in a short black minidress encrusted with intricate fuchsia and red beadwork, feathered shoulders and a slinky red train. Britney Two wears a similar version in navy blue.

Read the full story

The Bar-B's: 'Heartbreak' Melinda Galiano, Jupiter; 'Purple Haze' Denise Taylor, Lake Worth; 'DoubleD' Donna McKee, Loxahatchee; 'Grey Guse' Gail Clark, Boynton Beach, and 'Tuck-n-Roll' Kristin Groleau, Boynton Beach. (Thomas Cordy / Palm Beach Post)

Denise Taylor goes around the table air-kissing her three girlfriends before sitting down for their weekly lunch at the Cheesecake Factory at CityPlace in West Palm Beach.

“Hello, dawling,” Denise says, setting down her Coach bag just as Melinda Galiano is finally off her cellphone. “Cute shirt!”

Melinda wags her head and flips her hair over her bare-shoulder designer blouse, a bling-bling watch sparkling to match the blinding rock on the ring finger of her left hand. Denise’s own Brighton bracelets jangle as she waves hello.

Gail Clark and Kristin Groleau are chatting – all hands, mind you – across the table as Kristin punches information into a BlackBerry that seems surgically attached to her left hand. It’s no surprise they all call her the “secretary” of their little social group, the Bar-Bs.

Today, as on most days, the topic du jour is the same: When are they going out for their next motorcycle ride?

Read the full story

By SARA GLASSMAN

It was a bold move for a jeans-and-T-shirts girl. Earlier this spring, Nicole Weiler made a challenge to herself: She was going to wear dresses twice a week.

Weiler posted her resolve on Facebook: “Just made a solemn vow to wear more dresses this summer.” That post got more than a dozen comments before one of her friends took the idea and ran.

Minneapolis florist Liz Bastian, already a fan of skirts and dresses, switched the conversation to Twitter. Bastian created the summerofdresses Twitter feed, which turned Weiler’s personal challenge into a public movement.

Meghan Wilker had met Weiler only briefly. But after reading the tweets on summerofdresses, Wilker, who is a Web developer and blogger, was inspired to don a dress — and set up a blog for the go-girlie movement. The summerofdresses.com website functions as a collective blog with multiple contributors, where anyone can add a photo of themselves in a dress.

“It’s about real women, not models, posting photos of themselves wearing stuff that makes them feel good,” said Wilker. “I think women get a bad rap sometimes about cutting each other down, especially where appearance is concerned. And this site is the total opposite of that.”

With more than 365 posts and 17,000 hits, the website has reached beyond its local roots to include posts from Missouri and Florida. Even apparel e-tailer ModCloth has latched onto the ongoing Twitter discussion.

And so has a group of men.

DAPPER DANS

Paul Wichser, a real-life friend of Weiler, read some of the tweets and decided he didn’t want to be left out. So he started tweeting and created the website summerofdapper.com.

“The goal of the website is to build a community around guys who want to think about how they are dressed and dress intentionally,” he said.

When Grand Slam champion Venus Williams stepped onto a French Open court in a see-through black lace skirt and red bustier, the beleaguered lace industry let out a cheer.

Williams’ corsetlike outfit — reminiscent of a 19th-century Parisian cancan chorus costume — startled many sports fans and prompted wolf whistles and catcalls. But it also intrigued fashion insiders, and lace designers are now hoping Williams’ bold ensemble might boost their game.

“Seeing a tennis woman of Venus’ caliber dolled up in lace and resembling more of a figure skater will hopefully revive the industry at a time when French lace makers are going out of business one after the other,” said Isabelle Tartier, director of Paris-based Frank Sorbier, one of the few fashion houses that still uses lace.

Tartier blamed the lace industry’s economic woes on cheaper Chinese-industrialized lace flooding the market.

Read the full story

Is Victoria's Secret's ad less racy than Lane Bryant's because of the size of the models?

More: Vote: Is Lane Bryant’s add too much for the “family hour”?

A curvaceous brunette tries on a trousseau’s worth of colorful lingerie, checks her BlackBerry ("Meet Dan for lunch"), then heads out the door wearing nothing but a red bra and panties, a black trench coat and a wicked smile.

It could easily be a clip from Desperate Housewives, but the Eva Mendes lookalike is a plus-size model, and the scene is an ad for Lane Bryant lingerie.

And that’s when the spandex hit the fan at two television networks.

ABC deemed the ad too racy for viewers of Dancing with the Stars, and Fox demanded several re-edits before finally airing the commercial during the closing minutes of American Idol last week.

Which would’ve been fine, one of the creators of the Lane Bryant ad said, except for the double standard.

"When you say cleavage is OK for a Victoria’s Secret model but not a Lane Bryant model, then it’s not a standards issue, it’s a discrimination issue," said Michael Goldberg, chief marketing officer of Fort Lauderdale’s Zimmerman Advertising. "The amount of skin relative to the garment is the same on both commercials. It’s just you have a bigger woman."

Read the full story

By MARIA TETTAMANTI

So long New York Fashion Week. Arrivederci Milano. Bienvenidos Miami.

March 10 – 28 is Miami’s time to shine in the fashion spotlight with three major productions — FASHIONmiami, Miami International Fashion Week and Funkshionably Loud. Here, my fashion darlings, is the inside scoop on each globally diverse event.
Read the full story

This is multitasking in the best possible sense:

I’m listening to melt-the-stress-away spa music. I’m enjoying a Shiatsu massage. I’m watching an ever-shifting display of pastel lights. And I’m getting my hair shampooed.

This, I could get used to.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the salon experience has long been the shampoo. Read the full story

The inexorable march of “Pants on the Ground” to backlash continues as Gen. Larry Platt’s song reaches another level of iconic status.

Now, you too can have the lyrics to “Pants” proudly displayed on your body with your very own t-shirt.

Several stores on eBay are now selling shirts with Platt’s lyrics and, in many cases, his likeness.

The Locotees eBay store is among those selling the 'Pants on the Ground' tee. (Courtesy Locotees/eBay)

You know what’s next, right? Ringtones.

(Thanks for the link, Mashable!)

What’s hot in winter-sport outerwear this season isn’t flamboyant design or eye-popping colors: It really comes down to more practical pieces — sometimes coupled with high-tech tricks — to keep you warm.

The idea is that these jackets, fleeces and shells take you from mountain to Main Street, summit to city and everywhere in between.

Here’s what’s new in outerwear, according to insiders:

Read the full story

Spencer Antle, bikini designer and intrepid traveler, is rattling off his schedule:

Nassau on Thursday.

Naples on Friday.

Piloting his Super Drifter seaplane over the Keys on Saturday.

One thing you quickly learn about Spencer Antle: He never stops. Read the full story