First unveiled by Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs late last year with the code name iTV, Apple TV is a TV set-top device designed to receive digital content such as downloaded TV shows and movies over a wireless network and play them on a TV set.

When officially announced by Apple (AAPL) on Jan. 9, Jobs said the device would ship by the end of February. Apple's story now is simply that it's "taking a few weeks longer than expected" to finish the project and that the target is to have the product on store shelves by mid-March. A specific date was not given.

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One possibility is that Apple has yet to receive approval for the device from the Federal Communications Commission. The most recent Apple product to receive FCC approval was the latest version of the Airport wireless networking hub. It was approved on Jan. 9. The Apple TV device doesn't readily appear among the many products for which Apple has sought approval since the beginning of 2006, based on a search of the FCC Web site. "A pushout of two to three weeks suggests to me more of an issue with the FCC than with anything else," Carey says. Calls to the FCC weren't immediately returned.

Another issue may be a component shortage. Component suppliers known to have pieces in the Apple TV include Intel (INTC), Marvell (MRVL), and Seagate (STX). But a parts shortage probably would have been known long before Jobs set such an aggressive ship date for the product. "I doubt that it's an issue in the supply chain, because Apple is using common parts," says Chris Crotty, an analyst at iSuppli, a market research firm that specializes in electronic supply chain information. "Unless there's a special custom chip being used, there's no obvious component that strikes me as likely to have caused this delay."

....Jennifer Hudson, did win big - but lost big, too, because of the much ridiculed metallic bolero Andre Leon Talley made her put on. (Post fashion editor Serena French said it made her look "lost in space.") "Jennifer was kind of sponsored by Talley and Vogue," said one fashionista. "Andre insisted she wear that hideous Oscar de la Renta dress with the awful, awful gold python bolero.

"Jennifer really didn't want to, and so [noted stylist] Jessica Paster got her a beautiful gold Roberto Cavalli custom-made. But when Andre found out, he went ballistic. Moments before she left for the show, there was a power struggle and Jennifer ended up putting his outfit on."

Ebay, which is also fighting similar complaints by Tiffany in New York and Christian Dior Couture in Paris, denies that it is responsible for the auctions its users conduct on its website, and claims that it is impractical for it to vet every sale.

The injunction presents difficulties for eBay, whether it succeeds or fails in policing its users' sales. If the company is able to remove all sales of electronic copies of Harry Potter books then other brands will demand similar treatment when their rights are infringed by sellers. If it fails, it will be in contempt of court.

Akash Chittranshi, who is representing Rowling at the High Court in Delhi, told The Timesthat the injunction could set a precedent. "If they can do it in this case then they can do it a lot more," he said. "This is the first time eBay has been compelled to take measures to prevent e-books being sold."

Ebay did not respond when contacted for comment, but in previous cases it has argued that its website is a platform or marketplace and not an auction site.

Set the Stage - Pick your favorite Oscar-nominated film and use it as the theme for your gathering. For example, if you like "The Queen," you could provide guests with tiaras or crowns; spray gold paint on the inside of glass vases and fill them with white flowers; and, if your budget allows, have a royal guard greet guests at the door!

Dress the Part - Invite guests to dress the part to help set the mood. While black tie may be too much, encouraging friends and family members to come "dressed to impress" will help put your Oscar soiree over the top!

Wine and Dine - No festivity is complete without a great selection of wine and food pairings. An easy way to please most palates is to choose a wine that is not overly oaked, such as Mirassou, from the Central Coast of California. Its wine style is fruit-forward, food- friendly and affordable at about $10 a bottle -- and its Pinot is currently America's favorite California Pinot Noir. From cheese plates with a crisp Chardonnay, to rich chocolate desserts with a luscious Pinot Noir, wine is a classic and classy way to throw a soiree with style!

Create Some Fun - Tie Oscar trivia questions onto wine bottles, using thick white cardstock and gold ribbon to get your guests talking. Or print ballot sheets for your guests and award the guests with the most winners an "Oscar" -- the chocolate version, of course.

By the glow of candlelight, the Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg and 10 friends dined on foie gras and New York strip steak this week as they looked out over the lights of Los Angeles. The meal was gratis, and so was the Champagne, elegantly poured by silent, liveried servers at Soho House, a British-style private club practically created overnight in an empty mansion for the week leading up to Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony. It caters to the whims of Hollywood celebrities while marketing an upscale lifestyle to discerning consumers on its guest list.

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"I think goodie bags are a bit last year, aren't they?" asked Nick Jones, the propietor and marketing talent behind Soho House, a chain of hotels and private clubs in London and New York. He hopes to open a permanent space in Los Angeles in the next couple of years. "It's not like giving someone a motor car or a diamond ring," he added. "It's a more subtle connection. We're entertaining."

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At least four mansions in Hollywood and Beverly Hills have been commandeered by promoters in the days leading up to Sunday's awards ceremony, with companies like Cadillac, Delta Air Lines and Mulberry handbags among the dozens of sponsors.

Some retreats are giving away free jewelry, clothing and other products, but this year the focus is on the experience: there are concerts, parties and everything from performance art dessert-making (a human taffy pull!) to a private show by Cirque du Soleil. A suite at the Roosevelt Hotel will feature, in addition to its eco-friendly products, "acceptance speech consultations" by a well-known publicist. All free of course.

On Leslie Lane in Beverly Hills on Tuesday workers were busy raising brightly colored Moroccan tents on a stone terrace to create Haven, a three-day retreat at a multilevel house, opening the next day. (The couple living in the house moved out for the week.) "I didn't want a hotel," explained Jimmy Floyd, a New York event producer who dreamed up the concept with Jacob Gitzis, his partner. "We wanted daytime elements together with the food, the gifting, the performances. Other houses are just about gifting. That's just a part of what we do."

But the gifts, as usual, are varied and sometimes outrageous. Along with the jeans and lingerie, one company is giving away several million dollars worth of diamonds, while the toilet company Toto is handing out $5,000 commodes. Those who enter Haven will have to sign waivers promising to pay the taxes on any gifts they accept, since the I.R.S. has made clear they will be treated as income.

Sales of Spears' fragrances have — not surprisingly — taken a hit recently. Spears first perfume was a top-seller when it was introduced in 2004 and her scents were her primary source of income for the last few years, according to OK!, which reports that sales over the holiday were "weak" and that there is concern about future sales.

Although Spears was estimated to be worth $123 million in 2002, a former employee of the singer tells the mag that the star has been "burning through money," as she has not put out a new album, toured or nabbed new endorsement deals in years.

Look, PC users wear suits! And Apple users wear... denim shirts over a t-shirt tucked into their hiked-up dad jeans? And an earring? Yikes, Apple users. That outfit wasn't even hip in 1996, which shows you how cool the editors of MacAddict are/were.

Red-carpet dermatology involves scalpel-free procedures that create more temporary and potentially less detectable changes than a facelift, including Botox injections to paralyze the muscles underlying wrinkles, filler injections to pad lips and facial creases, or lasers for brown spots and broken blood vessels. These make possible the treatment of minutiae, like tiny crevices above or in the lips, about which actresses may fret more than civilians. And red-carpet dermatology permits entertainers with augmented faces to utter stock lines like, "I only had Botox" — a little white lie that allows them to obfuscate a veritable arsenal of beauty interventions.

"Celebrities can't afford to look like they have had something drastic done," said Dr. Jessica P. Wu, a dermatologist in Los Angeles. Dr. Wu said she has been working seven days a week for the last month ministering to actresses, agents and producers in her office and on movie sets, as well as making house calls. "But," she said, "they are coming in for smaller procedures because they know that every inch of skin they show on the red carpet from head to toe is going to be picked over."

Dr. Wu said an actor's grooming process might begin a month before an awards ceremony with Botox injections to the hands and armpits, treatments designed to reduce sweating. "Botox for excess perspiration is a must-have for the red carpet, for actresses so they don't stain their dresses and for actors who don't want clammy handshakes," Dr. Wu said. She recommends that some celebrities undergo what she calls a "Botox neck lift" about two weeks before an awards show. This involves injecting the jaw line and neck to relax muscles underneath the skin, she said. "It temporarily gives you a sharper jaw line and a longer neck, which looks good if you are wearing a strapless gown or a low-cut dress," Dr. Wu explained. "And it's not likely to land the actress on the cover of In Touch with a headline like: 'Did She Have Surgery?'"

The salon owner has now created a website where you can bid on Britney's hair. The starting bid is $1 million. This is the real deal: any other auction is a fake. The auction includes Britney's hair, her extensions, her half-finished can of Red Bull, the clippers she used to shave her head, the domain name www.buybritneyshair.com, and -- most exciting of all -- and her blue Bic lighter.

WE HAD THE HAIR LISTED ON EBAY, ITEM# 330089956532 AND IT WAS CANCELLED FOR AN AS YET UKNOWN (sic) REASON. WE HAVE NOW SET UP THIS WEBSITE AS THE ONLY OFFICIAL LISTING FOR THE HAIR.

Britney Spears' lopped-off locks can be yours for just $US1 million ($1.27 million) on eBay - direct from the salon owner whose clippers the newly-shorn star used during her weekend meltdown. Esther Tognozzi of Esther's Haircutting Studio in Tarzana, California, is hawking the high-priced hairball - along with the pop princess' leftover Red Bull energy drink and her blue Bic lighter. "We still don't know why Britney chose our shop. We'll probably never know," said the shop owner's husband, JT Tognozzi.

He said some proceeds from the sale would go to charity, possibly including the Florida-based Locks of Love, which supplies wigs to kids with cancer. The Tognozzis say the decadent diva's thick pile of dark tresses and extensions is the only authentic Spears hair on eBay, despite dozens of competing claims. A quick search of "Britney Spears hair" turns up a slew of enterprising copycats - offering everything from a $US3,000 ($3815) lock of dark hair from a seller in Ohio to a $US90,300 ($114,850) blond tuft - the wrong colour.

Canadian web developer Hazim Gaber asked for upwards of $US1 million for hair he claims his employee snatched off the salon floor. He even promised to release a web video as proof of authenticity. But Tognozzi said the only people in the shop during the incident were his wife, her assistant, Spears and the singer's bodyguard. All the doors were locked and the shop was already closed for the night when Spears arrived, he said. "It's pretty crazy, all the frauds and stuff that's out there," Tognozzi said, adding that he would be surprised if anyone fell for them. "They're not even in our state."

An item described as the window and frame from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot US President John F Kennedy in 1963 has been sold at auction on eBay.

A mystery bidder paid more than $3m (£1.5m) for the item, apparently from Oswald's shooter's nest at the Texas Schoolbook Depository.

The starting price was just $100,000 but bidding was brisk and the item eventually fetched $3,001,501.

An item described as the window and frame from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot US President John F Kennedy in 1963 has been sold at auction on eBay.

A mystery bidder paid more than $3m (£1.5m) for the item, apparently from Oswald's shooter's nest at the Texas Schoolbook Depository.

The starting price was just $100,000 but bidding was brisk and the item eventually fetched $3,001,501.

More than 290 people from 39 states have become ill in the food poisoning outbreak, and 46 have been hospitalized, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. ConAgra Foods Inc., which makes Peter Pan, said earlier it was checking the source of the contamination, which may have also affected the Great Value label peanut butter it makes for retailer Wal-Mart.

The FDA had said on Wednesday that certain batches of Peter Pan butter may contain salmonella and that all had a product code on the lid of the jar beginning with 2111. The FDA said the suspect Great Value peanut butter also could be identified by the 2111 code. The CDC has identified the strain of bacteria as Salmonella Tennessee, one of many strains of salmonella bacteria. They can cause nausea, diarrhea and other ill effects, but usually the sickness clears up on its own in less than a week.

"Although Great Value peanut butter with the specified product code has not been linked by CDC to the cases of Salmonella Tennessee infection, the product is manufactured in the same plant as Peter Pan peanut butter and, thus, is believed to be at similar risk of contamination," the FDA said in a statement. "Great Value peanut butter made by manufacturers other than ConAgra is not affected." The FDA said it persuaded ConAgra to recall the peanut butter on Wednesday, shortly after the CDC confirmed it was investigating the outbreak.

"FDA laboratory personnel will analyze samples collected from the manufacturing plant," the agency said. The last major outbreak of salmonella food poisoning in the United States was in November and was linked to tomatoes. It made 183 people ill in 22 states and Canada. Every year, approximately 40,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported in the United States and about 600 people die of it, according to the CDC. Consumer groups have been complaining about federal food safety efforts, saying the various agencies involved, including FDA, CDC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, do not work together well enough.

"If we cannot protect the nation's supply of peanut butter, one must ask how prepared we are for a terrorist attack on our nation's food supply," Michigan Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak said on Friday. "As Chairman of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, I have already been working with Commerce Committee Chairman (John) Dingell to open an investigation into the adequacy of the FDA's efforts to protect our nation's food supply."

Why are you selling your Account?
I started this account 4 years ago when MySpace first started. I have used it as my personal account but I am now in need of a little extra cash and my friends suggested that I sell my account so I thought I'd give it a shot. Why should I buy this Account? If you are into MySpace you know an account with over 100k friends is VERY rare. Now to own a MySpace account with over 100k friends, a low ID, and an unset URL is unheard of. If you do not bid on this account you will probably never find another one like this! This account gives you an instant customer base. Depending on the product you sell you should make back the money spent on this auction very soon.

The hard-partying pop tart asked for a purse at the Heatherette show Tuesday, but a fashion source tells us that heiress-model Lydia Hearst turned her down - and it may be because she thinks Spears isn't a good role model. The singer had wanted to be presented with the pocketbook backstage and promised to carry it to her front-row seat at Heatherette, where she would be photographed with the coveted clutch, the source claims.

But after Hearst - who had only 100 of the PUMA bags she designed with Heatherette's Richie Rich and Traver Rains - politely declined her "offer," Spears was a no-show. Leslie Sloane Zelnick, the singer's spokeswoman, told us: "It's not true."

Hearst told us: "I'm only giving the bag to accomplished young women who are doing something positive to affect the world around them. They are women I look up to and respect, like Gwyneth Paltrow and Sarah Jessica Parker and Anne Hathaway. They share the same high standards of giving back to the communities in which they live."

WHO YOU CALLING A HOE? Let your Valentine feel the earth move! Described as a "very special tool," this touching hoe ($32.50, with 5-foot handle) will help your beloved pull weeds, edge borders, break up sod, and break up with you. After all, you gave him/her a hoe! The implications could hardly be clearer.

Red -- The red rose tells your valentine without a doubt, "I love you." A vibrant and dramatic color, it stands for romance and passion. It's the perfect choice for your true love, the love of a lifetime or someone you want to get the message it's time to "get serious."

White -- Tells your angel of a valentine that they're simply "heavenly," and is a great color for the romantic in your life! White roses also stand for innocence, which makes it a perfect color choice for dads to give daughters.

Red & White Together -- By themselves these red and white roses are gorgeous, but together, they symbolize unity. What a great surprise for the newlywed valentine, loving partner or to send to your parents to say "Thanks for being such a great symbol of love through the years!"

Pink -- Send deep pink roses and you're telling that someone special you appreciate their sense of grace, style and their gentle nature. Send them light pink roses and you're saying "I really admire you!" This rose color is just the right pick to send to someone you want to become your special valentine and sign the card, "Love, your secret admirer."

Yellow -- Could there be any other color but bright, sunny yellow to symbolize friendship, affection and joy? Send your best friend a bunch of these stunning blooms with a card that says, "You'll be my best friend forever!"

Revlon Colorist is the first-to-market haircolor system that uniquely delivers one of the most sought-after features in home haircolor: fade resistant color. Revlon Colorist provides a great base of rich, radiant all over color that stays refreshed and shining for up to six weeks with an easy 2-minute application of Colorglaze once a week in place of regular conditioner. Each kit comes with salon-quality, permanent haircolor plus a shade-matched Colorglaze. The line is available in 26 vibrant shades.

The product will be supported by a multi-media campaign that will include television, print, in-store and internet placements featuring Crow's original version of the Buddy Holly hit "Not Fade Away." The campaign was shot by famed photographer Ellen Von Unworth in Nashville and New York.

"We are thrilled to launch this revolutionary product with Sheryl Crow as our spokesperson," says Debra Dowd, Vice President of marketing for Revlon's hair business. "The 'Not Fade Away' message stays true to our product as well as to Sheryl's determination and commitment to women's issues."

In addition to her role as spokesperson for Revlon Colorist, Crow will serve on the advisory board of The Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program's national clinical network of oncologists. The network provides patients throughout the country with access to cutting edge clinical trials without having to travel away from homes and families to comprehensive cancer centers for treatment. As an advisory board member she will help identify network sites in underserved communities around the nation. Crow will also act as an ambassador for the Revlon supported National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC), the largest grass-roots organization for breast cancer policy and advocacy, to help pass legislation for uninsured and underinsured women across the country. She will be guest of honor and participate in the Revlon Run/Walk in both New York and Los Angeles in which tens of thousands of breast cancer survivors and others touched by the disease participate raising money to support education and research programs.

"We are very excited to have someone of Sheryl's great beauty, both inner and outward, as the new spokesperson for our company," says Revlon CEO David Kennedy. "Sheryl will not only be a terrific partner in our business but she will be invaluable to us in supporting our various initiatives in women's cancer research and treatment. I think together we can truly make a difference."

"I'm happy to be part of the Revlon family and to be associated with a company that -- through their various initiatives -- has and continues to support breast cancer research and women's issues." - Sheryl Crow.

But the NADA survey of almost 400 automotive retailers nationwide found that dealers are making the biggest stride in adding interactive tools that give online shoppers new ways to research and price cars, trucks and sports utility vehicles and schedule appointments. Six years ago only 57% of dealers offered manufacturer suggested retail pricing data online vs. 88% in 2006.

In 2006, 68.3% of auto dealers had an interactive tool that enables owners to book a service appointment, compared to only 41.8% in 2000. In addition, 75.5% of dealers last year let consumers use their web site to submit financial forms and 68% offered car buyers the option to schedule a specific time to visit a showroom.

More important, the Internet is helping dealers to close more sales, with the web generating an average of 62 leads per month in 2006 vs. 32 monthly leads in 2000. On average last year, dealers closed on about 30% of all Internet leads, compared with 18.5% in 2000.

But dealers still have room for improvement, the NADA says. Only 17.1% of dealers respond to a web-based customer inquiry within 20 minutes, compared with 43.9% within one hour; 26.5% within six hours; 10.8% within one business day and 1.7% between one and three business days, the study found.

Fergie has topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Hot Digital Songs chart and Pop 100 chart with her singles, "London Bridge" and most recently, "Fergalicious" from her platinum solo debut, The Dutchess. Fergie is also the first female artist to have back-to-back #1 songs on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. Fergie joins past Candie's spokespeople Destiny's Child, Hilary Duff, Dixie Chicks and Jenny McCarthy. Candie's is sold exclusively at Kohl's Department Stores and on Kohls.com.

Fergie will appear in Candie's only at Kohl's print advertising campaign, which will debut in March issues of fashion, entertainment and lifestyle magazines, online at teen dominated websites, and star in a television campaign to be aired on major networks nationwide beginning in February. The TV commercial will debut on the Grammy's(R) on February 11th in select markets.

"I was really flattered when they asked me to be the next Candie's girl. There are so many wonderful women who have done past campaigns," stated Fergie. "I had so much fun shooting the campaign, playing up the glam side of my personality and I am excited to have my current single, 'Glamorous' be the music for the TV commercial."

The creative for the campaign revolves around an over-the-top and glamorous Fergie. The always glam Fergie is caught in playful moments that only our Candie's girl experiences. The commercial features Fergie hanging out in her posh Beverly Hills home, while a voyeur looks on. Fergie realizes that someone is watching her and she plays it up in a fun and sexy Candie's way. The soundtrack for the television commercial is Fergie's, "Glamorous" from her solo debut album, The Dutchess. Neil Cole, CEO, Iconix, stated, "Candie's always aligns itself with the biggest names in the music industry and we are excited to be working with Fergie. Our new campaign will further grow and support our Candie's at Kohl's business."

Julie Gardner, Kohl's senior vice president and chief brand officer stated, "Fergie is a pop culture icon and embodies the spirit of the Candie's brand. We are confident that the culturally relevant advertising and marketing campaign will resonate with our junior shoppers and further differentiate Kohl's in the marketplace."

The campaign was created by Iconix's in-house marketing team. The print campaign was shot by famed celebrity photographer, Matthew Rolston and the television commercial was directed by Chris Appelbaum, who is known for his MTV music videos. Candie's and Kohl's will be a sponsor of Fergie's "The Dutchess" tour this spring/summer. The tour will be high tech, innovative and groundbreaking. Fergie will make personal appearances on behalf of the brand as well as participate in campaign launch events. The campaign will be integrated into Kohl's spring marketing plans.

The Candie's website will feature "That Is So Candie's" theme. Users can log on to www.candies.com and upload their real life Candie's moments to "C-tube" via video, photos or stories and also enter to win a sweepstakes to be a "Dutchess for a day". One lucky winner will be flown to Los Angeles for the next Candie's and Fergie photo shoot to have lunch with the star.

It's not a self-destructing laptop battery, but it's enough to cause a stir in the toy community and disrupt Hasbro stock. Hasbro, purveyor of the ages-old Easy Bake oven, announced the recall of 985,000 of the electric ranges, sold between last May and this month, on reports that children were getting their fingers or hands caught in the product, including five reports of burns.

In midday trading Tuesday, shares of the Pawtucket, R.I.-based toy company fell 1.1%, or 32 cents, to $28.51. The Easy Bake ovens sold at Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Target, KB Toys and other retailers nationwide from May 2006 through February 2007 are part of the recall.

Wal-Mart shares edged up 9 cents, or less than 1%, to $48.61, while shares of its rival Target increased 1.2%, or 76 cents, to $62.88. The Easy-Bake Oven, manufactured in China, is a purple and pink plastic oven that resembles a kitchen range with four burners on top and a front-loading oven designed for children 8 years and older. "Easy Bake" is printed on the front of the oven. Model number 65805 and "Hasbro" are stamped into the plastic on the back of the oven.

One student next term at Oklahoma Wesleyan University may have paid a lot less for tuition than his or her classmates.

The university on Saturday kicked off an eBay auction of a year of tuition, room and board at the private college. The bidding had reached $4,425 by 11 p.m.

Bidders can buy the tuition for themselves or someone else. Among the bidders will be current students at the school, which has an enrollment of about 1,030 students.

A year of tuition, room and board at Oklahoma Wesleyan costs about $23,000. The bidding will be open through Saturday.

"I think it's a really neat idea," junior Emily Wright said. "I don't know why anybody wouldn't bid."

One student next term at Oklahoma Wesleyan University may have paid a lot less for tuition than his or her classmates.

The university on Saturday kicked off an eBay auction of a year of tuition, room and board at the private college. The bidding had reached $4,425 by 11 p.m.

Bidders can buy the tuition for themselves or someone else. Among the bidders will be current students at the school, which has an enrollment of about 1,030 students.

A year of tuition, room and board at Oklahoma Wesleyan costs about $23,000. The bidding will be open through Saturday.

"I think it's a really neat idea," junior Emily Wright said. "I don't know why anybody wouldn't bid."

In its use of franchising and product placement and its glamorous, if predictable, formula, Vogue resembles the Hollywood blockbuster. "Nobody else is doing that, and I don't think anyone has done that in the history of fashion magazines," Mr. McCarthy said of the clothes placement. He added, "I don't think Vreeland had that kind of concentration. She wouldn't have dressed Babe Paley. Nor would Babe Paley have let her."

The truth is, for good or bad, Ms. Wintour has identified the prime cultural coordinates - the compliant, publicity-seeking socialite, the obsession with money, the struggling young designer, the deterioration of old aesthetics and the rise of the luxury-goods tycoon - and aimed Vogue straight at them. "I believe that Anna opened her arms to the big global picture before anyone else did," said Stan Herman, the former president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

At the same time, she has the readiness of an old-fashioned ward boss. She puts people in her due by making herself and the services of her magazine available to them. Yet, according to any number of chief executives and designers, she does not extract advertising for editorial favors and, unlike a number of her counterparts in Europe, she does not run a side business as a consultant to fashion houses. Long before The Devil Wears Prada, her office (which has three executive assistants) was famous for its exotic efficiency. It comes as a surprise to people to have their phone calls returned immediately, to receive dossiers on the latest actresses (as she did for the designer Stefano Pilati) or to hear a rather shy but crisp English voice say, hurriedly, "What can I do to help?"

If it sometimes seems that the runways in New York — and, by extension, the fashion pages of American Vogue — reflect a homogeneous, vaguely timid point of view, it's understandable. "No one says no to her," Mr. Roberts said. "And, in a weird way, it's not her fault."