It's Ok Not to Wear Gray Award: Hillary Clinton. Sadly, Hillary has to deal with a lot more scrutiny than male candidates on the way she dresses. On the plus side, she doesn't have to wear the same ol' conservative business suit everyday. I'd like to see McCain pull off canary yellow!

Get the look: Carolina Herrera. Unless in the hands of a professional like Herrera, the pantsuit can be a dangerous thing.

Marlboro Man Award: Barack Obama. Sure, smoking leads to lung cancer and yellow teeth. But look what it did for Obama! He remains rail thin and has a cool, gravelly voice. Although, ultimately we're glad he quit, because no one wants the Oval Office to smell like Parliament Lights.

Get the look: Duncan Quinn. Stylish, cut thin, and perfect for hobnobbing with celeb endorsers like Scarlett Johansson and Oprah.

Most Fashionable: The Coop! He's the son of Gloria Vanderbilt, was photographed by Diane Arbus for "Harper's Bazaar" as a baby, and later modeled for Ford Models. Even today, scientists are unsure of how his hair achieves that perfect silver sheen despite the fact he's only 40 years old.

Get the look: Thomas Pink. Professional with a bit o' flair. Appropriate for fancy press parties and nodding with a look of serious concern on your face.

Frumpy Von Frumperstein Award: John McCain. Kind of slouchy, not too tall, a little out of shape; basically, John McCain is a vision of our future selves. Which is why he seems oddly likeable. Maybe in France presidents are thin and wear designer suits and marry former supermodels, but not here in the US of A!

Get the look: Bergdorf Goodman. Lots of options for your assistants to look through, because let's face it, you don't know anything about fashion.

Almost Too Perfect Award: Mitt Romney. Presidential candidate, or time-traveling Terminator? The Romneybot looks like what our future robot overlords imagine we humans want in a president after researching hours of "The West Wing."

Get the look: Brooks Brothers. Imagine the most conservative outfit you can think of, and then make it 10 times more conservative.

Find your polling place and vote today! You have until 9pm to make one of these people the next candidate for their party, except for Cooper. You can vote for him with your TV remote.

Don't forget to check out our "What Would the Candidates Drink?" feature.  

So everyone knows that Fashion Week starts this weekend, but did you know that there is also an event called the ... um... Super Bowl? I'll be rooting for the Giants in between fashion shows, and I'll also be rooting against the Patriots for a very specific reason--and it's not Spygate.

Back in the Vince Lombardi days, coaches dressed like professionals. Look at ol' Vince: sharp coat, snappy hat, serious glasses. He looks like a man who studies his football, who spends hours upon hours preparing for games. He looks like a man who could draw up a brilliant play and then answer a question about tax returns.

Now look at Belichick. The only thing he looks like he's prepared to do is watch a "Law & Order" marathon on TNT. I mean, it's not like NFL coaches today are going grace the cover of "Vogue" anytime soon, but most at least wear an athletic jacket and some slacks. Belichick's standard uniform of rumpled sweats makes him look like he's about to crack open a bag of Doritos instead of be the first coach to have a perfect season since Don Shula.

Granted, he is one of the most succesful coaches in NFL history, so I guess he can do whatever he wants. It still wouldn't hurt him to visit some of New York's fine men's shops.

Walking down the streets of Paris, it is hard not to notice the ubiquity of cigarettes. Old men, fashionable women, even children walk down the street puffing away on Gauloises. And now, as reported in a recent New York Times article, France has joined the fight against smoking by banning it inside of all public places. Everyone from Coco Chanel (above) to Jean Cocteau, Brigitte Bardot and Albert Camus were avid smokers, making some French worry about a post-smoking brain drain:

At Le Musée du Fumeur (The Museum of Smoking), there is concern that the French may not be able to think as well without their cigarettes. "All our great writers seem to have been smokers," said Michka Seeliger-Chatelein, one of the curators.

Yes, France has a Museum of Smoking. Although perhaps not good for creativity, the ban will be good for health, as 70,000 people die every year in France from smoking-related illnesses and secondhand smoke.

So, all you fashionistas dreaming of smoking in a Montparnasse cafe come Paris fashion week, you might want to bring a pack of gum instead.   

Eco-friendly is the trendy word in fashion today. Designers are using organic cotton, hemp and soy to market to the Al Gore set, and it's working. The truth is, the best way to help the environment is to buy no new clothes (go vintage!), but obviously this isn't going to happen.

I obviously support the new eco-friendly trend, but I'm afraid designers will dilute the meaning of the word until consumers have no idea whether their purchase is actually helping the earth. Just like the word organic has supermarket shoppers scratching their heads, it's hard to tell just how eco-friendly those new organic cotton jeans really are.

A new article in the NY Times explores this dilemma. A few valid points it brings up:

Fabrics made from bamboo or hemp, for example, are promoted as having been raised without pesticides and also for growing much faster than cotton. But the downside is that bamboo or hemp fibers are naturally tough and are typically softened before being woven into fabric by using chemical treatments, which cause more pollution.

and

... organic cotton is not always used in its pure state. The Department of Agriculture's standards do not regulate textile production once cotton has been harvested, so as a fabric it may be chemically treated, or printed with toxic dyes, and still be labeled as organic.

The bottom line is don't always trust the label. Do some research on the brand if you really want to know if it lives up to your standards. Buy vintage, mend those old clothes, read Treehugger and look for products made from recycled materials like the Urban Renewal line at Urban Outfitters.

More:
A World Consumed by Guilt [NYT]
Eco-Chic [Citysearch]
Vintage Clothing [Citysearch]

Name: Ashley and Tom
Spotted: Union Square Station
Occupation: Pastry Chef and Hairstylist
Lives: Out of town

You guys are looking swanky! Where are you headed to? Chinatown, we're going to Nam Son for some traditional Vietnamese pho.

What have you guys been doing in New York? Eating and shopping--is there anything else to do? I did get my hair cut at the The Beehive, and Prune and Momofuku were some of our favorite dining spots.

Where have you been shopping? Ashley loved H&M and Soho for shopping but I usually shop at thrift stores and couldn't find anything to compare to the bargains down south. I did get this shirt from Atlantis Attic in Brooklyn.

What's the latest trend for pastries and hair? Savory desserts are all the rage and the free form, razor, windblown look with a subtle splash of color is really hot right now.

Last year around this time, Fashion Geek's Keith Wagstaff wrote a fun little piece on the men's party blouse. Nice to see the Onion do a companion piece on the party sweater, if you will. A choice quote:

The mannequin had on a pair of jeans with a couple small rips in the denim, and a button-down white shirt that wasn't tucked in. Now, you see these two pieces of clothing on their own and you think, "This guy's a d*ckhead." But throw in that navy blue V-neck, and suddenly we got an interesting f**king dichotomy going on. Did this guy wake up, throw on some clothes, and just happen to look awesome? Or—or—is he about to go out to a bar and be the envy of everyone who is too dressed up or not dressed up enough? Either way, the guy's golden. He cares, but he doesn't. Two levels.

And just like that, I can't wait for the fall bar scene to get into full swing ...

As much as I love flip-flops, sun dresses and shorts, the fall fashion season is one of my favorites. From thin sweaters to loose scarves and boots worn with shorts, fall fashion in New York is learning how to layer fashion from every season. After picking up the 840-page September Vogue (check out New York Times review of the magazine here) and scouring the websites for the "top looks," I've decided these are the five fall trends I'll be following.

1. Sweaters are always a necessity for the cold weather, but chunky knits will be big this fall. Pick up a sweater coat like this one (photo, above left) by Richard Chai at TSE Cashmere.
2. Things are suiting up this fall. Pick up a traditional tailored suit or a relaxed knit ensemble like this one (photo, above center) from Nina Ricci.
3. Gray is everywhere next season, in every shade or form. This gray Neil Barrett coat (photo, above right) would be a wonderful addition to any wardrobe.

4. Add a bit of detail to your clothes this Fall by picking up something with embroidery or sequins, or by exploring a bold or colorful print. This Chole dress (photo, above left) has just the right amount detail to stand out. 
5. Don't bother with an elaborate hair-do this fall, it's all about hats! Pick up something small and shinny with feathers for the evening or a simple knit beret like this one (photo, bottom left) from Marc by Marc Jacobs for the day.

(Photos courtesy of Style)

Yesterday was the first of the McCarren Park pool parties, and I was glad to see that all my favorite aspects of last summer's parties were back for another year: inflatable slip 'n' slide, burgers and beer, free music (Superchunk, Oakley Hall and DJ Todd O-Phonic Todd). It is now sponsored by Helio, meaning you couldn't go anywhere in the pool without being reminded that you should be purchasing something from Helio, but otherwise the layout of the event remains the same. In terms of style, yesterday's showing looked more like your standard outdoor concert (shorts and T-shirts for dudes, sundresses, jeans and flouncy tops for women) instead of last year's hipster fashion show. Perhaps--Dare I say it?--Williamsburg is becoming a bit tamer?

It looks like the generational regurgitation that defines fashion today has unearthed a new decade to emulate: the 60s! The New York Times ran a feature on how the Summer of Love is back, minus the drugs, politics and anti-materialism. Groovy!

My favorite highlights from the story:

It is a streetwise amalgam she describes as "an urban hippie thing — sort of Bob Dylan, but, you know, today."

Bob Dylan would be rolling in his grave, if he were dead.

Vibrant with promise, the hippie era promoted the upending of conventions, improvisation, a frugal, laid-back way of life and an appropriation of the influences of a rapidly globalizing society. "The concerns that emanate from that era are still pretty much with us," Mr. Lee said. "We are engulfed and surrounded by them. That extends to fashion, too."

Frugal and laid-back is exactly the kind of lifestyle that a $600 dress caters to.

In contrast, the current revival has little of the impetus that drove the original hippies. It is likely nothing more "than a cyclical fashion thing," Mr. Wolsky suggested, "part of the endless recycling of styles that has been with us since the '70s."

Well said.

Two of Fashion Geek's editors partook in the Renegade Craft Fair extravaganza in McCarren Park Pool this weekend, and we break it down for ya.

Erin: One of my friends observed that squid and baby chicks were out, while smiling vegetables were in. I still say you can't keep a cute animal down, and, in my book, the most oft-reproduced beast at this year's fest was the owl. My favorite booths include Twigs and Heather for its silver-cast oak-tree twirlers (so annoying in your backyard, so fun on a chain), GirlyPants for putting the humor back into panties, and Wheelhouse Pickles for selling such tasty pickles. I snapped that top photo of a mustache-on-a-stick booth, but I can't remember the name of the makers.

Keith: The thing I noticed was the abundance of baby clothing and accessories. I guess the trend towards baby products makes sense, since the DIY craft community embraces cuteness to almost Tokyo-like levels. In non-baby related observations, I really liked these caps from Knit-Head, but the 90 degree weather prevented me from actually purchasing one. Also, I was curious as to what type of sandwich the dinosaur on this quirky Seibei T-shirt was craving. The event had a great turnout, and I hope it happens again next year.