For readers of Marie Claire, one of its most popular monthly features is Splurge vs. Steal, a column that shows an expensive runway look next to a knockoff costing a fraction of the price. But within the fashion trade the magazine column is roundly disliked, at least by designers whose work is included under the Splurge heading. "I wish the magazine wouldn't encourage that kind of behavior," said Behnaz Sarafpour, after seeing an issue in which her $1,565 silk trench coat was shown next to a similar design for $159 from Jones New York. "I mean, thanks for the lovely picture, but no thanks."

Customers who crave inexpensive designer look-alikes at retailers like H&M and Zara or close-enoughs at Gap and Banana Republic or line-for-line copies of Oscar gowns by the label ABS may have little empathy for designers who denounce knockoffs. Lesley Jane Seymour, the editor in chief of Marie Claire, which has included designer clones in Splurge vs. Steal by Banana Republic, Steve Madden and American Eagle Outfitters, said shoppers understand - and generally approve - how fashion offers them expensive runway originals alongside lower-price versions of the same styles. But those inexpensive copies could be history if the Council of Fashion Designers of America has its way in a new anti-copying campaign in Washington.

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Designers like Diane Von Furstenberg, Narciso Rodriguez and Zac Posen have been journeying there to lobby for copyright protections like those governing books, music and other creative arts. Mr. Posen was in Washington on Tuesday with Steven Kolb, the executive director of the council, who said a bill could be introduced in Congress as early as today by Representative Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican. Mr. Rodriguez designed the white slip wedding gown worn by Caroline Bessette Kennedy in 1996, a style that inspired innumerable brides to don copies, and Ms. Von Furstenberg's signature wrap dresses have been copied so many times that she may no longer wish to be associated with them. They are asking lawmakers to support a proposed fashion design anti-piracy act.

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If passed, it could change the retail landscape in ways merchants and designers are only beginning to absorb. Major department stores with private labels, which often include close copies of designer looks, are divided on the proposed law because they also do business with the offended designers. At the same time a prohibition on copying dresses, coats and the like would seem to open an impossibly murky debate over how to separate a duplicate garment from one simply inspired by someone else's work and part of a fashion trend.

But for the Council of Fashion Designers the issue is black and white. Rather than calling imitation the sincerest form of flattery, as they have done for decades, leading designers are acknowledging that inexpensive copies — which they label acts of piracy — have negatively affected the luxury business. "Piracy in fashion is rampant," Mr. Rodriguez said, recalling a lunch meeting he had with senators last July, when he held up one of his $1,500 designs next to a newspaper advertisement for a nearly identical dress at Macy's, selling for $199.

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The reason clothing design is not protected under copyright or trademark law in the United States is that it is considered foremost as a utilitarian item, not an artistic expression or scientific invention. (Logos, however, and some design signatures — like the three stripes on Adidas track suits — are protected from copying under trademark statutes.)

The Centurion card by American Express is so exclusive that you won't even find details of it on the American Express Web site. It's available "by invitation only" and reputedly requires an annual fee of $2,500 and card spending of $5,000 per month. We say reputedly because American Express releases few details on the cards, which are available to only a tiny percentage of American Express's clients. MasterCard and Visa offer their own versions of these chi-chi cards. The annual fees aren't too frightening, $85 or less in most cases, but you have to earn at least $125,000 a year and spend at least $2,000 a month with your card.

Rumors circulate about who holds these most prestigious credit cards. Among the rumored recipients are Jay-Z, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson and Sean (P. Diddy) Combs, who have all been spotted with their Centurion cards in hand. There are only an estimated 10,000 Centurion cards issued worldwide -- or at least that's the rumor. American Express representatives declined to verify the rumors circulating about the Centurion card and those who carry it.

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The Centurion card, also known as the Black card, was introduced in 1999 and targeted at the very best customers. In fact, you must spend around $250,000 annually on another American Express card to be considered. According to American Express, the card offers a variety of privileges, such as complimentary companion airline tickets on trans-Atlantic flights, personal shoppers at retailers such as Escada and Saks Fifth Avenue, access to airport clubs, membership in the Sony Cierge personal shopping program and dozens of other elite club memberships. The card comes with access to a personal concierge and travel agent. The program offers many hotel benefits, including a free one-night stay in the Mandarin Oriental hotels once a year.

According to Snopes.com, a Web site that examines the truth of urban legends, one Centurion cardholder wanted to locate and purchase the horse ridden by Kevin Costner in the movie, "Dances with Wolves." The horse was located on a stud ranch in Mexico, purchased and delivered to Europe. Another request, according to Snopes, came from a cardholder who aspired to be an actress and wanted to be part of the cast of a weekly soap opera on TV. American Express contacted the director and arranged for an audition.

After learning of Maria's interest in Nike's fitness dance collection, Nike designers adapted two key pieces for Maria to wear on the tennis court. The Nike Speed Corset is pearl and black and features a state-of-the-art ventilation system in the front and back for breathability to keep Maria cool while playing in Miami's heat. The black Nike Shimmer Mix Skirt is made of moisture-wicking Dri-FIT fabric and features an adjustable roll top waist that allows for a custom fit. Nike's proprietary, tested and re-tested, moisture-wicking technology, Nike Dri-FIT helps sustain body temperature by drawing sweat away from the skin and moving it to the outside of the fabric where it quickly evaporates.

Maria, who traditionally has preferred playing in dresses, was so pleased with corset and skirt design that she decided to wear the separates.

"The corset is definitely something you don't see much on the tennis courts, but Nike made it very comfortable to wear and the vents keep me cool," said Maria Sharapova. "I'm sure that my fans are going to think it's different because I've never worn anything like this, but I'm excited about it and since it's Miami you can get away with things being a little edgier."

"Maria loved the current Nike fitness dance collection so for the NASDAQ-100 Open, we acted quickly to create a special look for Maria," said Mindy Grossman, Vice President of Global Apparel for Nike. "Nike designers translated the fitness dance apparel into a corset and skirt that offer bold style, but also provide the performance features critical for the heat and elite level of play in Miami."

Since becoming a full-time shopkeeper last fall with the opening of her uptown gift shop, Blue Tree, the actress and mother of two is equally at home behind a cash register as on a movie set. In fact, since her last movie was 2001's The Anniversary Party, which she did for her best friend, Jennifer Jason Leigh, perhaps the register is more to her liking. "I always wanted to have a general store," she says. "If I could have had a photo booth and sold candy, I would have."

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Cates' shop carries hot cocoa and ruby slippers downstairs, upscale shawls and dresses on the second floor. The red sequined Mary Janes by Coastal Projections, Cates says, are a $55 ode to her daughter Greta, now 12: "That was the only shoe she would wear (as a child). She'd always go, 'Toto shoes!' " Cates says with a laugh.

Blue Tree is part local cottage, where kids play with tops and stuffed animals, and part hushed boutique, where Upper East Side ladies can purchase a green cashmere Mina Poe cardigan for $3,500 or a black linen jacket by Heike Jarick for $900. "I feel really strongly that if people spend a lot of money on something, they shouldn't see it on 400 other people," Cates says.

Cates, who has been married to actor Kevin Kline for 17 years, seems as if she hasn't aged a day since she drove Brad Hamilton (Judge Reinhold) into a steamy frenzy as ripe siren Linda Barrett in 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High. At 42, her body is trim, her face unlined and makeup-free, her black hair straight around her shoulders with only the faintest hint of gray.

With Greta and (The Squid and the Whale star) son Owen, 14, in neighborhood schools, Cates works at the store until 2 p.m. daily because "it fits into my lifestyle." She hits gift shows to pick out items herself. Sometimes vendors or designers contact her; other times she stumbles onto antique costume jewelry, say, at a flea market or thrift store. "Being true to who I am is more important than some sophisticated buying plan," she says, picking up a mushroom-shaped dish scrubber. Today, she rushes in from a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with her daughter's class, asking whether a specific piece of chocolate inventory has arrived.

Some shoppers stare at her in recognition, but "usually they know" that she owns the store and aren't surprised to see her at the register, Cates says. "Or if they don't, they tell me I look like Phoebe Cates, and I say, 'I get that a lot.'" Her husband came up with the store's name. "It's a gentle reference to the blue trees in the Fauvist paintings. It's the idea that this is not a natural thing to find in this neighborhood."

The company says the device will store 100 songs with a six-hour battery life. A USB port on the lateral side of the shoe allows downloading of music and re-charging of the battery. The wireless headset works via Bluetooth, and picks up music from the shoes as far away as 30 feet.

So as the gift giving adult you need to know that these imaginative creatures fall more into the fine art category than a toy and they should be handled gently. Make them part of a special quiet time, allowing them to come down from the shelf to join in interactive storytelling. These will become some of the few childhood mementos that won't get packed away with the baby clothes.

The Constant Gardener star Rachel Weisz may have fit her pregnant figure into a sleek black Narciso Rodriguez gown when she accepted her Best Supporting Actress Oscar last week, but her face belongs to Burberry. The British actress, 35, who is seven months pregnant, is the new face of the British fashion house's fragrance, London, which is described as light and floral with a rich undertone.

Weisz, whose companion is 37-year-old director Darren Aronofsky, tells the Associated Press: "I'm British. I grew up with Burberry being the ultimate brand in chic, elegance and history. My granny, the chicest lady I ever knew, had a Burberry raincoat. Now it's a cool and edgy fashion house, too."

Weisz, admitting she's particularly fond of perfumes with a sandalwood base, says that that her sense of smell has been heightened by her pregnancy. She also says that she is craving cheese.

Known as the Black Orlov or The Eye of Brahma, the jewel's curse allegedly began when it was removed from a Hindu shrine in southern India and then claimed to be responsible for the violent deaths of two Russian princesses.

Legend tells of a monk removing the original rough 195-carat diamond from the eye of the Idol of Brahma at a shrine near Pondicherry, India. This sacrilege allegedly cursed all future owners of the precious stone to a violent death.

In 1947 Princess Nadia Vyegin-Orlov and Princess Leonila Galitsine-Bariatinsky - both former owners of the Black Orlov - leapt to their deaths in apparent suicides. Fifteen years earlier, J.W. Paris, the diamond dealer who imported the stone to the USA, had jumped to his death from one of New York's tallest buildings shortly after concluding the sale of the jewel.

In an attempt to break the curse, the diamond was re-cut into three separate gems and has since been owned by a succession of private owners, all of whom seem to have escaped the curse. The 67.5-carat Black Orlov is set in a 108-diamond brooch suspended from a 124-diamond necklace.

In her opinion, [Judge] McVeigh took a rather dim view of the trial testimony of some Amazon executives, including that of the company’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos, saying she had "no doubt his knowledge and understanding (of the Toys "R" Us agreement) went much deeper than revealed."

When pushed on the witness stand, "certain information 'just came back to him'" she said in the ruling, while another of Bezos' explanations was referred to as "rather childlike."

McVeigh also rejected Amazon’s efforts to defend itself by asking her to throw out e-mail evidence that may have included hearsay. She said she found it "incomprehensible... that a corporation dealing primarily in Internet commerce finds Internet communications to lack reliability."

And she repeatedly complained about the ambiguous use of language in memorandums, contract agreements and discussions, concluding that "the language as drafted whether intentional or inartful gave Amazon the words to play the game their way." Although the ruling does not include monetary damages, the loss of Toys "R" Us as a partner could have a significant financial impact on Amazon. The toy retailer, which was sold to a private investment consortium last year for $6.6 billion, says it is the nation’s largest online retailer and had been paying Amazon a base fee of $50 million annually plus a percentage of its sales.

As Japanese waistlines expand, so is the market for girdles -- for men. A new line of male underwear that flattens the stomach and lifts the hips proved so popular when introduced on a trial basis last month that some stores quickly sold out. "Men are getting so much more fashion conscious these days that they're starting to pay attention to the lines of their body and their silhouette, just like women," said a spokeswoman at Triumph International Japan, a leading underwear firm.

Triumph marketed two different types of "long girdle" -- one from the navel to the knees, and the other a "hip hugger" version to be worn with low-waisted pants. Both sold so well that it plans to raise production and develop new variations, including a version for summer wear. Other firms intend to launch similar products, according to business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun. One even plans to start selling underwear that lifts and shapes the upper body as well.

One factor behind the boom, which has made the girdles popular not only among middle-aged men but also those in their 20s and 30s, is likely to be a growing weight problem among once slim Japanese.