We always love so many pieces from the collections of Belgian maestro Dries Van Noten – and his clothes have finally caught up to celebrities, thank goodness (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Cate Blanchett, Julia Roberts). The fall 2010 collection includes some pieces that are THE trend items of the season, but Dries does them in a far less typical or obvious way than most designers. For instance, his army green “skinny” pants are a little bit looser – and his man tailored jackets all have very feminine wasp-waists. He did an army green a line skirt that is a very new shape and look. His full “fifties” skirt is very full and would great with t-shirts or little tops and blouses – and you only need one of these. (The Louis Vuitton versions are amazing – and very very expensive). And leopard is back in a big way, and Dries did it as a jacket to toss over everything – dresses, skinny pants, blouses – the works. We’re thinking that even grabbing 3 of these pieces will make your whole fall wardrobe come together in a very easy and chic way. – Merle Ginsberg

We adore Dries van Noten, the Belgian based design who shows in Paris – his clothes are always colorful, boho and always have an edge from India. Often, they’re in interesting and exotic prints, with mixes of unusual colors. Yesterday, we showed you a silver print dress Julia Roberts wore of Dries – and it didn’t fit and looked awful. Julia never looks awful, so it was a real shocker. Last night, she wore Dries again to the Tokyo premiere of “Eat Pray Love.” This dress doesn’t fit SO badly – it’s a loose fit so it can’t be terribly unflattering. Probably her new “Dries phase” relates to his influences from India – ?? We like that she paired the gold striped dress with Jimmy Choo ‘Clue’ leopard print heels – leopard shoes, clothes and bags being a huge trend for fall. Still – Julia – we think you should leave the Dries-wearing to Maggie Gyllenhaal and Cate Blanchett.

Julia Roberts always looks good in her simple black dresses, and lately, slim pants with classic jackets that are mixed and matched. The simpler the better for this actress/mom. But at the Tokyo press conference for “Eat Pray Love,” she wore this silver printed Dries van Noten dress with belt – and you gotta admit, she looks TERRIBLE! It fits all wrong! We know she’s got a good figure – but not in this dress! It’s funny, because Dries is one of our favorite designers, and we love his Belgian avant garde clothing (sold at Barneys in LA, Satine and Fred Segal). His clothes look terrific on Maggie Gyllenhaal, who wears them a lot – and they look good on Cate Blanchett. Julia – this is way too exotic for you, and at least one size too small! Maybe two! – Merle Ginsberg

Most of America watching the Oscars on Sunday night probably didn’t “get” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s blue, white and black column print gown by Belgian designer extraordinaire Dries van Noten – it wasn’t tight. It wasn’t solid. It didn’t have a long train. It didn’t have ruffles or tulle. It wasn’t sexy. And it was PRINT, for God’s sake! When was the last time we saw a print at the Oscars – or anywhere on a red carpet? Maggie’s a fierceless fashion girl – she wears a lot of Dries, whose collections always sell out at Barneys – and she didn’t repeat herself this awards season at all. Her RM Roland Mouret peach tight gown at the Globes was sexy. Her Lanvin at the Spirit Awards was chic, albeit it needed some kind of bra or corset to really make it work. And now the strapless blue print Dries, which we KNOW she KNEW wouldn’t be what critics would expect – and of course, she was a nominee for “Crazy Heart.” Okay, so maybe it WASN’T REALLY an Oscar style gown – who gets to decide what an Oscar gown IS, anyway? We applaud its unusualness – as did the New York Times today – and we applaud her always being different. She was wise to put her hair back tightly with this look, wear splendiferous little bell earrings, and pink lipstick. Maybe she didn’t look exactly like what we expect an Oscar nominee to look like – but she looked exactly what we expect a NY fashion girl to look like.

Maggie Gyllenhaal did attend the major award shows this season because of her role in “Crazy Heart” – but she herself wasn’t a nominee. Now she is officially an Oscar nominee in the best supporting actress category, and we’re very excited to see how this affects her fashion choices for the next month. After all, Maggie dresses outside the Hollywood rule book – she lives in NY, works with NY stylist Leslie Fremar, and wears exceptional designers like Dries Van Noten from Belgium and Albert Elbaz for Lanvin. We loved the RM by Roland Mouret peach colored fishtail gown she wore to the Globes, with her hair up and red lipstick. So this adds a real high fashion element to the Oscars. Of course, we expect Carey Mulligan, Penelope Cruz, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick to wear amazing looks – and both Mo’Nique and Gabourey Sidibe have shown their fashion moxie in the last few weeks. But Maggie is a serious avant gardist – and we have a feeling she will wear an unusual label and really go for a visual statement. After all, she just doesn’t play it safe. – Merle Ginsberg

Dries Van Noten will be in New York City this fashion week, the first week of September – but of course, he’ll be back in Paris for his own spring 2010 show in early October. But he’ll be in NY to be honored by The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT’s at their pre-Fashion Week traditional luncheon will still go on as planned with the Award for Artistry of Fashion. The council’s committee includes Bazaar’s Glenda Bailey, Vogue’s Andre Leon Talley, designers Isabel and Ruben Toledo and Diane von Furstenberg. Barney’s Simon Doonan will  emcee the ceremony, which means it will be both reverential – and hilarious.

And L.A.;s major Dries fans should know that some of the fall 09/10 pieces have already arrived in Barneys Bev Hills and there’s a full Dries fall window already, including this interesting print dress. Fall is full of solids, and so is Dries’ collection – filled with slouchy trenchcoats, pencil skirts, blouses and jackets in dusty rose, violet, tan and gold. So this is the one print, outside of leopard, that we’ve even seen anywhere. It’s on a blouse and skirt, and of course still animal print, but in black and white with violet and gold – so chic. Check out those windows.

Barneys Beverly Hills has some good markdowns now – lots of shoes (including Louboutins) and spring clothes by Marc Jacobs, Derek Lam, loads of Marni, Thakoon and more. There’s even a small window of Givenchy on sale on the second, designer, floor. BUT the really big exciting sale starts on June 4, next Thursday, when the Dries van Noten, Lanvin and Nina Ricci go on sale. First markdown for these brands is forty percent off, and many of the pieces do go fast, so set your blackberries and iphones for next Thursday. Early. We particularly love the metallic brocade Dries pieces for spring – those can go right into fall, which is all about shine and lurex.

People: this is serious. Many many pieces from the fabulous Dries van Noten fall collection 2008 – printed chiffons on incredible fabrications and colors in very boho shapes  - are at the Maxfield discount designer store on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills – for something like two to three hundred dollars apiece! These are dresses and skirts and blouses that all started at $1200.00 and above. We HIGHLY recommend you check out these pieces, because Dries is classic, and the fall collection might have been his most classic yet. Even when Barneys sold them at 80% off, there weren’t deals this good to be had.

These days, trunkshows are the new window shopping – but closer, and even, hands-on. If you love, love, love clothes - like we do, you can visit with the fall collections just off the runways via trunkshows, where the pieces are shipped from store to store.

There, you can touch them, hold them up against yourself, and see if your craving is real. You can also ask that the look in your size be shipped to the store, and that you be phoned when it shows up, in July or August. (Maybe times will be better then and you can buy it!) But there’s no obligation to buy – so you can have fun and spend no money.

Tomorrow, Monday March 23, Barneys will present the Dries van Noten fall trunkshow on the second floor in the Beverly Hills store. The Dries fall collection was unusual for our favorite Belgian – it had few prints, and had a palette of pinks, oranges, yellows, burnt siennas and rusts – and was comprised for 1940′s style slouchy trenchcoats a la “Casablanca,” and great looking pants, dresses and tops. Dries is a modern classicists, so his pieces really can be worn for all time, and they are priced much below other designer pieces. And remember – at the trunkshow, you don’t HAVE to buy anything. It’s from 11 to 6 at Barneys tomorrow. Oh, and Style.com called Dries fall one of its top ten collections for fall (Lanvin, Bottega and Balenciaga were all in there – our faves).