This just in: Another one of W's spies also happened to be stuck in the Dallas airport yesterday with the Gossip Girl threesome (see our previous item here). And he swears to us that after the pals finished up at Chilis Too, he saw Jessica Szohr and Ed Westwick flirting and -- yes indeed! -- kissing. "Definitely on the lips," he says. "Not a French kiss, but a smooch definitely. They were being very flirty when people were not paying attention."

For those interested, our source had more mundane observations as well.  "Ed was carrying a big Brooks Brothers bag, so I think he had probably spent his delay-time in the airport shopping at the Brooks Brothers. Jessica and Ed waited until the very end to board their flight. And then Jessica tried to go get a pizza to take on the plane but they decided they didn't have time."
 
In true gossip guy form, our spy snapped the blurry cell phone pic here, although, alas, he wasn't able to snag a smooch shot. 

Flight delays the Sunday after Thanksgiving are usually miserable at best, but at Dallas/Fort Worth airport yesterday, my fellow travelers and I found the two-hour wait to board our flight  to New York much more bearable. Throwing back pre-flight drinks and waiting it out with the rest of us at (where else?) Chili's Too were none other than Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford, and Jessica Szohr of Gossip Girl. Although the festive little bunch was cagey about why they all happened to be in the Lone Star state at the same time, chances are they all had a Texan Turkey Day with Crawford, who's a Plano native.
 
The surrounding terminals were abuzz with texting, staring, and giggling as the easygoing stars chatted amiably with a rotating group of 20-something females. When I asked the rosy-faced Westwick (dressed in a crisp white button down, jeans, and suspenders hanging at his waist) how he was faring during the long wait at DFW, he laughed and referenced Home Alone. "I'm tired and I'm dirty and I want to see my son," he said. Meanwhile, a less talkative Szohr shook her head, school-marm style, and opted out of pictures as she walked over to Crawford, who had on a leather jacket and baseball cap, for a parting hug. (The lucky lad was on an earlier flight.)

In true Chuck Bass fashion, Westwick, now without a wingman, managed to keep the bevy of blondes that he and Crawford picked up entertained with his adorable British accent. When the conversation turned to his costar Blake Lively's recent W Magazine cover, Westwick deadpanned, "You should have put me on the back cover."

(Plus, see what Blake told us about Ed Westwick here.)

A bevy of ladies sporting "No Fur!" heart-shaped pins greeted guests at the "Cool vs. Cruel" party last night at the Bowery Hotel. Organized by The Humane Society of the United States, the event drew a solid fashion crowd, among them Agyness Deyn (who was billed as the night's DJ), Tallulah Harlech (below right,daughter of Lady Amanda Harlech) and downtown auteur-ette Arden Wohl (below, left). Not everyone heeded the anti-fur message to the T, however. Wohl, for one, showed up in leggings, a teal cableknit turtleneck ... and, slung across her arm, a tan vintage shearling coat. "That's okay, if it's vintage," a companion quickly reassured her.

Arden Wohl sans shearling; Tallulah Harlech strikes a pose

Meanwhile, the young Harlech--dressed in a black vintage Ossie Clark dress borrowed from her mom and Prada heels--discussed her acting aspirations. Having recently appeared in a silent film directed by Karl Lagerfeld (granted, the man is practically her uncle), she is now hoping to find a new project. "Point me to any directors!" she quipped as she eyed the room. Deyn (below), who was accompanied by fiance Albert Hammond Jr., was operating on a slightly lower voltage. At one point she took a break from her post at the turntables (it should be noted, most of the music seemed to be coming straight from her ipod) to make a rather pained photo-op on the red carpet. When asked to pose with fashion designer Charlotte Ronson she declined, saying she had to get back to her DJ post.

Agyness Deyn and Albert Hammond Jr., djaying

Other party attendees included Paul Marlow and Alex Galan (below) from men's line Loden Dager as well as Project Runway's first-ever winner Jay McCarroll, who was wearing a Mardi Gras-esque cacophony of necklaces, including a pendant of a scorpion suspended in resin. "I shouldn't be wearing it because it's a bug!" he shouted, basking in the flashbulbs' glow. Midway through the soiree, fashion photog Nigel Barker (best known as a judge on America's Next Top Model), spokesperson for the Protect Seals campaign for The Humane Society of the
United States, gave a speech about the cruelty of fur. Although most of the guests seemed more tuned in to the open bar, he did elicit some sympathetic nods. "It's not chic," sniffed a coiffed guest. It's just not chic."

Loden Dager designers Paul Marlow and Alex Galan

All photos Donald Bowers/WIREIMAGE.

Fashion ads and editorials are dominated by 5' 11" glamazons who weigh 135 pounds. But when photographers need subjects who don't fit the usual bill, they call Jennifer Venditti. The New York casting director is known in the industry for her rare eye for finding the imperfect, but captivating, beauty in everyday people. For the past ten years, she's cast her vibrantly strange characters in innumerable advertisements (including the current Dolce & Gabbana campaign, above) and editorials (many for W).

Last year, Venditti took her talent for embracing the unique to filmmaking. Her first directorial effort, Billy the Kid, which just came out on DVD, follows the lovably eccentric Maine teenager Billy Price through a week of his sophomore year, complete with lunch periods spent alone, KISS-inspired guitar freak-outs, and his first brush with love.  "I'm attracted to someone with a strong sense of self and a unique spirit," she says. "Someone who isn't willing to conform and has a story, of course."

Most recently, Venditti (pictured below) helped cast Spike Jonze's adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, slated for a 2009 release. And she's currently mapping out a script for her next film (a feature inspired by, among other things, "women, survival instincts, madness") and casting an art project for fellow downtown fixture photographer Ryan McGinley.

The DVD is available through Zeitgeist films; it's also, of course on Netflix.

Portrait courtesy of Jennifer Venditti.

Despite the fact that he's no longer with us, Ian Fleming is about to have his very own Willard Scott moment. To celebrate the centenary of Fleming's birth, Asprey is introducing limited-edition collections of the author's complete works, published by Queen Anne Press. There are 18 volumes in all and his literary range is pretty impressive, from the entire James Bond oeuvre to the kids' classic Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. (Fun fact: Fleming was managing director at the publishing house from 1952 to his death in 1964.) And true to the Asprey company roots, each set is luxed-up to the hilt, clothbound and with gilt edges ($4,000) or with vellum spines, individual slipcases and handmade stamped endpapers ($12,000). For the truly reckless, there's the leather-bound set priced at $28,000, bedecked with gold leaf and diamonds. 

When I interviewed Blake Lively for our December cover, our chat covered the waterfront from whipped creme "carburetors" (a total foodie, she actually owns one) to the fact that she's now being tapped for indie films alongside the likes of Alan Arkin and Julianne Moore.

Though Blake's obviously got a lot going on, I couldn't resist asking about my favorite Gossip guy: Ed Westwick, aka the sinister Chuck Bass. Sliming his way through every episode in one insane, prep-run-amok ensemble after another, he's emerged as the show's true fashion scene-stealer.

"It's so much fun," Blake said, chuckling over Westwick's out-there get-ups. "This is when I knew it had hit an all-time high level of craziness: Something happened with my outfit for the White Party episode. We were on location and it was five in the morning, so we couldn't go to any local stores. We were trying to find different pants because something was happening with the seams on mine. And they pulled out a pair of Chuck's shorts to try to get me to wear those. It was summer time, and they were these tiny, tiny little shorts. And they actually kind of fit me, which was the sad part."

According to GG executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, Chuck's peacock persona draws on input from costume designer Eric Daman and Westwick himself. "Peacock is the operative word--he's strutting with the brightest feathers," said Schwartz. "It's a great fusion of Eric Daman's sensibilities and Stephanie's incredible supervision, combined with Ed Westwick's utter fearlessnesss. The man will rock a headband and a crazy basketball jersey, or like a bowtie and a seersucker suit, without one ounce of self-awareness. Or fear." 

All photos courtesy of CW.

Consumer confidence may be low, but a motley crew of actresses and junior fashionistas did their part for the economy last week, scarfing wagyu beef carpaccio and sipping Moet at the new Hugo Boss store in the Meatpacking District. Julia Restoin-Roitfield made an appearance, as did recent London transplant Peaches Geldof (flitting about in a very abbreviated jumpsuit), while sisters Theodora and Alexandra Richards manned the DJ booth.  

At the back of the store, Brooke Shields, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Mena Suvari formed a celebrity huddle. Suvari, clad in a jewel-toned blue Hugo Boss dress and elbow length fingerless gloves by designer Lauren Urstadt ("I'm like, from L.A., dude. I'm not used to the weather,") had her fiance, Simon Sestito, in tow. She said that they were leaving for Italy the next day to promote Suvari's latest flick, The Garden of Eden, which is based on a Hemingway novel. In the film, Suvari's character, Catherine, draws her husband into a destructive menage a trois on their honeymoon. "It's a very racy, sexual film," she intoned.

As Shields helped herself to the mini desserts she happily talked Halloween. Her husband, she explained, will be taking the kids trick-or-treating while she's on set. The Lipstick Jungle star was eager to promote her home ec-skills. "One costume I made, the other costume I didn't," she said, pouting a bit. She said that she personally sewed the costume for her older daughter, Rowan (who's going as a dalmation), but that her younger daughter, Grier, insisted on a store-bought pink poodle ensemble. "I told her, 'I can make it, I can make it!' And she goes, 'No, no, I want that!' I got totally shafted."

Photos by Lauren Fleishman  

Despite the current retail doldrums, not to mention Burberry's competing event in Beverly Hills, Catherine Malandrino managed to pull off a decent showing at the opening of her new West Hollywood concept store, Maison Malandrino. The party officially started when the designer's longtime muse Mary J. Blige, a co-host of the party, made her entrance in a (surprisingly demure) black jersey dress with cascading paillettes.

Holding hands with Blige and an even more lacquered-looking-than-usual Dita von Teese, Malandrino blew out the candles on an elaborate chocolate cake. In one of the store's back rooms, In Treatment's Melissa George (wearing Balenciaga) and Entourage's Perrey Reeves (stylist in tow) sifted through the racks together. Von Teese eventually made her way to the store's garden area to take in the bongo drum circle (you heard that right), while Michelle Trachtenberg was seen slipping out early, gift bag in hand.

Photos by Jean-Paul Aussenard/Wireimage

I recently escaped home to Bermuda to enjoy the pink sand beaches and catch Beyonce, Solange, Alicia Keys, UB40 and reggae superstar Collie Buddz at the Bermuda Music Festival. I wasn’t exactly in a fashion editor frame of mind, but as soon as Solange hit the stage I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her shiny black leather stilettos with hot pink platforms. (Much more experimental with her style than big sister Beyonce, Solange takes fashion risks that remind me of a young Diana Ross in Mahogany. )

The second I got back to New York, I was on the hunt to find out who made the fierce gladiator platforms, praying that they were not custom made for the star.  Lucky for me — and any other girl who loves a crazy shoe with an insanely high heel — they’ll be in Giuseppe Zanotti Design Boutiques this month. And for us non-celeb types who actually have to pay for our shoes, they’re $995.
Solange photo by Alex Masters

Brad Pitt's project for W actually sprang from a conversation W's Creative Director Dennis Freedman had with another photographer, Bruce Weber. Freedman had been mulling over how to show anything new about one of the most photographed women in the world and Weber pointed out that, in his opinion, the best pictures of Elizabeth Taylor were taken by her third husband, Mike Todd.

"I was surprised that Brad accepted the challenge," says Freedman of Pitt's enthusiastic response. "Last time we collaborated, I was struck by his sensitivity to the subtleties of photography. I knew that he possessed a highly tuned critical eye and would be very demanding of himself. Still, I wasn't prepared for the beauty and intimacy of the images he made of Angelina and the children."

For a hobbyist, Pitt certainly knew what he wanted. He was determined to shoot Jolie with Kodak Tech Pan film, which hasn't been manufactured for four years. Photo Editor Nadia Vellam located 40 rolls of the stuff on eBay, which a courier then hand-carried to Pitt in Provence, France, where the couple have been hiding out since June.
 
A week later Pitt called; he needed more film. Vellam's first source was tapped out. She finally tracked down a guy who offered her 30 rolls -- in Israel. She then had mere hours to find someone in Tel Aviv who could get on a plane to France with the film that very day.

Pitt also wanted to try a specialized film used in World War II-era movies. That was a no-go. One of Vellam's sources instead recommended Ilford to achieve the same romantic, grainy quality. Assistant Bookings Editor Will Higdon-Sudow hopped a flight with it and made the handoff in a hotel lobby. The results speak for themselves.

From top: Dennis Freedman, Bruce Weber (courtesy of Bruce Weber), Nadia Vellam (by Sean Donnola), and Will Higdon-Sudow (by Kathryn Allen Hurni).