Beyoncé Knowles is one elegant lady, so I was a little surprised when House of Deréon -- the line she created with her mother Tina -- was all about denim and sportswear. But now the ultra-fabulous diva is a creator clothes that seem more in keeping with her personal sense of style. She's even re-launching her fashion label with a focus on more formal occasions -- like prom, for instance.

Apparently, the inspiration for the new direction came from Tina, who says: "Girls literally stop me on the street and ask me to personally make them a prom dress." Obviously, she couldn't accommodate all those random strangers, but this new move should give them a little something to look forward to come prom season.

Look out for the dresses this January in high-end stores like Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale's. They wholesale for $120 to $300, so you can expect to spend a little on your dazzling new threads -- but to have a dress hand-picked by Tina and Beyoncé, it's probably worth it.

Last night I found myself in a fashion trance while watching Marc Jacobs' spring 2008 runway show online. I am not sure if it was the show's music that had me in a trance or the funny looking hats the models were sporting. Whatever it was, it got me thinking about hats.

I love hats. They have the power of pulling a hopelessly boring outfit together, and they can definitely hide bad hair days. Over recent years hat styles have ranged from the baseball cap, the fedora and occasionally the beret. Where is the excitement? Where is the art, the pizzazz?

In the 1920s hats were a big deal amongst the flapper crowd and were nothing close to ordinary. Perhaps there is a 1920s comeback in the making because Neiman Marcus is selling a $1,795.00 flapper hat in their 100th Anniversary Christmas Book.

The hat is absolutely breathtaking and would look lovely for a black-tie affair, but I would love to shock everyone by wearing that hat with jeans and a white tank top. 1920s flapper meets 2007 L.A. fashionista.

Typically after a big red carpet ceremony like the Emmy's you see designer knockoffs -- for humans. This year the knockoffs have gone to the dogs, literally to the dogs. Doggie fashion label Little Lily carries designer inspired gowns for your pooch. For $88, your dog can wear America Ferrera's Monique Lhuillier gown. If blue is not really your dog's color, perhaps she will look better in Katherine Heigl's white Zac Posen gown for $120.

Honestly, I don't get it. I am not opposed to people dressing up their pets (in fact that is the one of the reasons I want a pet), but where do you take a dog in doggie gown? Out for a night on the town or to a nice steak dinner?

It's sick really. I still can't figure out what bothers me more -- dressing up your dog in a gown or paying $120 for that gown. I have human dresses that cost less than $120. Am I alone here? Does anyone out there think this is okay?

If you're old enough to vote, then you don't watch the MTV series The Hills. Unless you're me, in which case you do.

People ask me why I like the show. Usually I try to pass it off as some anthropological interest in the youth culture of Southern California, but that has nothing to do with it.

I like The Hills because I like Lauren Conrad. Yeah, she's spoiled, and she doesn't have a clue, but so what? I like her clothes -- especially the outfit she wore to the Teen Choice Awards.

The Teen Choice Awards might be a low-budget pony version of the Oscars, so the fact that Lauren was able look age-appropriate without rocking some awful disgruntled adolescent angst outfit (yes, I mean you, Avril Lavigne) makes me admire her taste all the more.

So well played, Ms. Conrad. You might have terrible taste in boys and bad luck with friends, but you sure can come correct.

For the record, Lauren's the one on the right. Audrina, her floozy roommate is in the shiny frock on the left. God help that girl....

Fashion designer Valentino Garavani announced Tuesday that he will retire in January from the company he started 45 years ago. The news came as a shock to the fashion mavens in Rome. Some have speculated that his decision to leave could have been motivated by the tumultuous takeover of Valentino Fashion Group by the private equity firm Permira. Rumor has it that Permira was not thrilled with the idea of funding Valentino's luxurious lifestyle.

Valentino will still present his two remaining collections, the first in October at the Ready-to-Wear shows and the second at the January 2008 Haute Couture shows in Paris. Garavani will be replaced by Alessandra Facchinetti, a former ready-to-wear designer for Gucci.

When asked about his departure, Valentino remarked, "I would like to leave the party when it is still full." And full it is.

Keira Knightly is a human hanger. That is the only way I can describe this. When I first looked at this picture, I swore I had somehow entered a boutique and was about to flag down the clerk to ask for that gorgeous dress in my size. Then realized there was a head on that hanger and it belonged to Keira Knightly. It also struck me that I was not in a boutique, but that this was actually a red carpet picture.

Oh my stars. Eat something, Keira. Anything. Please.

This is the same actress that says magazine "airbrush the *%$&" out of her, but I have seen this image in many places on the web and this picture is not doctored. Girlfriend is frail. I think what she meant when she discussed her extreme airbrushing was that they airbrush some weight on her, not the other way.

She looks deliriously happy in this picture, but something is telling me she is just delirious (and hungry). Keira, please get some help. This look just isn't natural.

On a more positive note, the dress is gorgeous. It would look even better if it were filled out a bit more. Don't you think?

I have never been pregnant (thank goodness) so I can only imagine how hard it is to keep up appearances while toting around a 7-8 lb baby in your belly. That is why I applaud apparel retailers like Pea in the Pod and all of the designers that design maternity wear.

That being said, I have to hold my applause on this look and instead hold the rim of my toilet. My goodness, this outfit is bad. I saw the ad in Vogue's September issue and immediately felt badly for all of the poor defenseless pregnant women out there who saw it.

Out of 840 pages of fashion I am sure that was the only pregnant lady selection in the whole magazine, and that is what they got. A sparkly mess of an outfit topped with a furry parka and latex leggings. It's just too much shine, its even too much shine for someone who isn't pregnant.

Women of the world, would you wear this look? Or am I just biased because children and pregnancy aren't my cup of tea? There are some other great maternity looks for Fall 2007 on A Pea in the Pod's website, so take a look.

Fur is out.

Feathers are in.

This Fall, the runways are ready to take flight with all of their feathery looks. Maybe birds are pissing off fashion designers as much as they are pissing me off, because it seems they have decided to take action by plucking those suckers bald and applying their pretty little feathers to your clothes. Whether it is a feathered details in your hair (as seen in Nina Ricci's runway show) or the off -the-shoulder feathery mini dress as pictured here by Ohne Titel; feathers are hot.

Feathered frocks are also not very practical to wear in your everyday life, so if you like the look you are going to have to work it in subtly (and hope your co-workers aren't allergic). Try working in feather details to your headbands or even a small amount of feather trim to the bottom of a dress or top. As this look "takes flight" retailers will find a way to work synthetic feathers into your garments in a way that won't have you looking like Big Bird.

If there's a style from the movies that is recognizable the world over, it's that from Breakfast at Tiffany's. More than 40 years later, the upswept hair, the black sheath dress, and a strand of pearls is a classic "look" that can never be bad. Don a pair of oversized sunglasses with your evening ensemble, and you're ready to go, Holly.

A cigarette holder and long black gloves might be overdoing it a little, though.

You've seen her. She's the one in line two customers in front of you at the grocery store wearing this season's Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress, a matching pair of Manolos, carrying whatever It bag hasn't even hit the stores yet, and hair swept up without a strand out of place. She's one of those women. All-too-perfect, all the time.

Or maybe you haven't seen her because those women wouldn't even do their own grocery shopping anyway.

Either way, whether you've actually witnessed this type of woman, or she exists in your imagination, you're making fun of her, because these days, according to a story in the Washington Post prompted by the movie "Nanny Diaries," being too perfectly dressed is "seen as shorthand for self-absorption, vapidness and thoughtlessness."

What do you think? Is being perfectly polished something fearless, or now faux pas?

As you know, we at Styledash love sharing style blogs with our readers as we come across them in our daily (hourly?) jaunts through the fashionweb, so we could hardly contain ourselves when we found out that design blog NOTCOT had branched out into fashion with Notcouture (excellent play on their original name!).

Not quite a blog, not quite a social site, Notcouture allows fashionistas to sign-up and submit images that link to sites, blog posts, and stores. The result is a gorgeous gallery of clothes, handbags, jewelry, and just about anything else that looks good. Because they launched recently, they've partnered with various stores and brands for discounts and giveaways, so it's definitely worth a peek.

Looking for a way to keep your wedding cheap but still totally original? You might be able to save yourself a major expense by making your own dress...from toilet paper.

I know -- it sounds awful -- but check out these photos. The women featured in them created wedding dresses made completely of toilet paper, tape and glue. All of the dresses are surprisingly beautiful -- complete with origami roses, pleats and weaves.

If this is something you'd like to try, be sure to enter your design in the annual contest held by cheap-chic-weddings.com. The winner gets a $500 prize, and there's smaller prizes for runner-ups. Not too shabby for something you made for less than $20 in TP and masking tape.

[via Origami Resource Center]

Summer is almost over -- sad isn't it? Try not to get too upset because the best part of August is beating the heat by staying inside and planning your Fall wardrobe. With all of the 500 plus page fashion mags out there, runway recaps on the web, and hundreds of fashion blogs throwing information at you, it's hard to know where to begin. I like to start with color. Planning your palette can help you get inspired for the season, and where better to start than the Pantone color report.

Pantone is is the world-renowned authority on color, so what they say goes. Their Fall color report is actually really interesting, it even has designers like Tracey Reese, Nanette Lepore and Catherine Malandrino's color palette and inspiration for their upcoming collections.

The hot colors for Fall are as exotic and have a lot of culinary influences in them. The colors range from browns all the way down to purples. Starting at the top, here are the colors to following this Fall.

• Carafe, is a deep espresso brown.
• Burnt Ochre, a nice earthy autumn orange.
• Chili Pepper, puts a little fire in your wardrobe.
  
• Stargazer, takes the turquoise from the summer and intensifies it.
• Shale Green, is a green that pretty much anyone can wear. It takes what could be murky and gross and infuses a touch of blue/green in it.
• Dusk, is a dusty shade of gray that is kicked up with a touch of blue.
  
• Green Moss, looks just how it sounds.
  
• Lemon Curry, walk on the exotic side and take summer's favorite shade of yellow into new territories.
  
• Cashmere Rose, this color is so soft, romantic, and delicious you will want all of your fall dresses in this shade.
  
• Purple Wine, much softer and easier to wear than a harsh red wine color.

We've been talking about styles that stick here at Styledash, and have covered a range of styles that have endured (sometimes longer than necessary) for whatever reason. However, when I think of classic styles, one thing is so salient that it's hard to believe we haven't mentioned it yet.

The little black dress.

There's a whole history surrounding the little black dress, with differing opinions about when and where it began its status as a style icon. In my mind, however, the little black dress, or LBD, started with Holly Golightly in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' The simple sleeveless black shift is the one that started a timeless trend of dresses that eventually enveloped a whole wardrobe of different styles and shapes, but in the end, are all little, and all black.

Clearly, the reason that the little black dress is a classic piece in any woman's wardrobe is two-fold. On the one hand, the LBD is the ultimate in versatility. A woman can get pretty far with a fairly basic LBD. My favorite is a black tank minidress that can take on all sort of accessories to go from work to cocktails to dinner to the club.

On the other hand, you can never have too many LBDs!

Can I get an "Amen!"

For women's fashion this Fall 2007, we wear the pants (or menswear inspired dresses) because having a bit of "man" in your wardrobe is a total must have.

In Elle's September issue they have fashion maven, Lindsay Lohan, dolled up in daddy's finest. Menswear inspired pieces are a fall fashion staple and can be worn in a very literal way or can be added in small doses to update a casual look.

Some great ways to incorporate menswear into your wardrobe this fall is with silk, sequins, pin-tucks, bow-ties and hats. Key pieces that Elle suggest are:

• Velvet blazer
• Sequin pants
  
• Vests
• Shoe-boots
• White button down shirt

Nothing is sexier than adding a slick fedora to a simple tee shirt and jeans. But if you decide to go all the way with the men's trend like LiLo here; avoid looking like a dude by making sure you show a little cleavage and sexing up your make-up. Those little touches will have the real men all over you.