The BET Awards at the Shrine brought out some very short but elaborate dresses – Ciara in a black and gold Balmain, switching to a red DSquared short dress later – and Keri Hilson also donned a very short animal print mini. And, as you can see her, Fergie also went for short, tight and cleavage – the triple perfecta – in this black and white cling-on that leaves little to the imagination. (And it’s all over the net she wants to be a mom now? Not in this dress!) Jada Pinkett Smith also went severely mini in black and white. But when two of red carpet walkers: Nicki Minaj and Ashanti – attempted floor length gowns – it just looked SO old school. Is there any in between between mini and maxi anymore? – Merle Ginsberg

There’s certainly sports action at home right now, but most of the world’s attention to sports right now is shifting to Johannesburg, South Africa, where the World Cup Games – played only once every four years – are about to get under way. Even in Israel, where Fashionrules is studying the culture – and the fashion culture – there’s a huge amount of excitement about the World Cup Games, and giant tv’s are being set up on the beaches of Tel Aviv, which city residents can see for blocks on end, even in the middle of the night. And just to let you know the magnitude of the event we’re dealing with – sort of like the Olympics of Europe – the opening night acts included Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas, Shakira, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Amadou and Mariam, Angelique Kidjo – all in some pretty extreme and sexy looks, because there obviously playing on the world’s stage. With this amount of talent sharing a stage in the same evening, you’ve got to realize the amount of largess and energy the World Cup is about. It’s worth watching in America, even though it doesn’t really relate to our culture.

If you caught “Idol Gives Back” the other night, Fergie’s outfit probably stood out a bit more than her looks usually do – and she wears a lot of creative pieces. This was a bodysuit, skirt and thigh high boots by famed costume and fashion designer Michael Schmidt, who is most famous for creating costumes and clothing out of metallics for performers like Cher, Tina Turner, Tina Turner, Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith – and the list goes on and on. Schmidt, a former New York club kid who now resides in Los Angeles made Fergie’s look out of 8500 handsewn pieces of aluminum scales, embellised by Swarovski crystals and it took him 3 months to make it. Well, given the many millions who watched “Idol Gives Back,” it was no doubt worth it for both Schmidt and Fergie to create this museum-worthy look. This is rock n’ roll fashion at its finest. Michael, by the way, designs jewelry, clothing and accessories these days for the iconic label Chrome Hearts. – Merle Ginsberg

Fergie was out and about this weekend at the Santa Monica Red Cross Red Tie Affair Fundraiser Gala wearing a floral print mini cocktail dress by Dolce & Gabbana – very cute. We love a classic Dolce print in bright florals for warmer weather. We already showed you two great dresses at the ACM Academy of Country Music Awards this weekend – Nicole Kidman in L’Wren Scott and Faith Hill in Kaufman Franco. These ladies were defining chic on the red carpet, in a sea of old looking gowns. But our ABSOLUTE FAVORITE dress of the weekend awards activity in Los Angeles this weekend – while a volcanic cloud kept any stars from going to Europe, and is putting the “Iron Man 2″ premiere here in L.A. at the end of this week, since now Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow can’t get to London for it – was Drew Barrymore in a pink chiffon Oscar de la Renta with pink and silver pailette embrodiery. at the GLAAD Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century City Saturday night. She accepted the 2010 Vanguard Award for increasing visibility and understanding of the gay community. During her acceptance speech, (more…)

There’s a huge amount of heat emanating from Park City Utah right now – who knew icy snow covered mountain slopes could handle so much Hollywood heat? Katie Holmes is in town, and leave it to this fashionista to be wearing a Derek Lam-designed JP Tod’s black down jacket and Tod’s Aspen boots. The look might appear casual – but it’s nothing if not designer generated! Katie’s been hanging out with pals Josh and Fergie at Sundance, Fergie in the popular fur vest look. Even L.A.’s brow queen Anastasia was waxing brows in her ski Chanel outfits, in the Gen Art Lounge. Over at Fred Segal Fun, the premiere shopping destination at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, celebrities, musicians and pro-athletes came together at the Village at The Yard for the second year in a row. The lounge offered celebrities and VIP’s access to some of the most exclusive and sought-after brands in the country. In addition, for each item given away, a donation will be made to a not-for-profit Sundance Institute. Celebrity attendees were an amazing array of names like America Fererra, Jessica Alba, Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard, Kate Mara, Simon Rex, Rebecca Hall, John Legend, Terrell Owens, Wilmer Valderrama, Malin Ackerman, Donovan Leitch, The Fray, Ian Ziering, Shane West, Aaron Rogers, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Lisa Edelstein, Josh Radnor, Kelly Monaco, Leah Thompson, Ricki Lake, Marisa Tomei, Tilda Swinton, Kerry Washington, and Joan Rivers.
And here’s an amazing announcement that came from the Creative Coalition today: “Rain Man” and “Diner” and “Wag the Dog” director Barry Levinson will collaborate with the CC to make a major documentary on America’s obesity issue. This is an amazing topic. And if that weren’t enough ski fashion/beauty news, Emilio Pucci is opening a pop up store in Aspen Colorado, selling Pucci collections of course, Pucci ski wear. Emilio Pucci actually started his collections in 1947 when he made ski wear for the mountains of Switzerland.

We’ve been telling you the Emilio Pucci, which is what Pucci is being called now – under designer Peter Dundas – is hot, hot, hot. So hot, in fact, that Fergie wore this silver blue-ish mesh wrapped burn out long sleeved mini by Pucci resort to ring in the New Year in Times Square. And while the rest of New York City was shivering its buns off in giant furs on New Year’s Eve, here’s Fergie onstage, letting it all hang out with no coat or fur or anything – and with full leg exposure! Well, you gotta love it. Here’s a look at the dress as it was shown on the runway for resort, and expect to see a lot of resort looks – where are shorter collections, with less looks – turning up from now till February or March, when spring looks really kick in.

One would hate to be standing next to Nicole Kidman in a fashion competition. The Oscar winning actress has proved again and again that when it comes to fashion, she’s in a class by herself. Even in a cast of femmes as provocative as the cast of “Nine,” Nicole rules. Sure, Penelope Cruz can look amazing, she’s got the goods – but she inevitably almost always wears something simple and black. That’s not a negative – unless you’re standing next to Nicole Kidman, who’s in an amazing shade of dusty rose, with a small feathery cape in the same shade over it. Even Fergie in her tiny cut out dress, super sexy, dulls in comparison to Nicole. So that’s the story, ladies. Black is fabulous for looking slim -and color is what to do when you want to stand out! Meanwhile, where was Kate Hudson? She was in New York, shooting the David Letterman Show – in this chic black tuxedo coat and killer legs.

If you’ve seen the Black Eyed Peas’ new video, “Meet Me Halfway,” you might be wondering what that semi-nude dress is that looks like it practically got painted onto Fergie. Well, it’s a nude skintight emballished side-slit gown by Alberta Ferretti – and it’s so skintone that it looks like Fergie is only wearing some shiney jewels – and that’s the point, really, isn’t it? It is nice to see Fergie wearing something other than her usual black mini.

Canadian-by-way-of-Milan, designers extraordinaire Dean and Dan Caten – the DSquared twins – are really moving into other media. They’ve already appeared on camera in major client Fergie’s video for “Clumsy,” and now it’s been announced they’ll do a show for Sirius Radio, their BPM satellite channel. Turns out, they’re heavily influenced by music – not that surprising since they dress Fergie, Lady Gaga and did the costumes for Britney Spears’ recent tour – and mix and choose all the music for their own runway extravaganzas, both for their mens and womens’ collections. The Sirius monthly show is called “Dean and Dan on Air: Style in Stereo, and they’ll explain their runway music, then talk, then more music. It should be a nice mix of music and style, which we’ve never heard on the radio.

This is all part of the DSquared invasion of America. The twin designers, best known for killer jeans and t shirts, are in Saks Fifth Avenue in the US, but have 500 stores in Europe. They just launched their new eyewear at the Cannes Film Festival with a big international style, and it’s already been announced they’ll host a fashion competion show for Bravo in the fall. And of course, their Milan men’s runway show will take place the third week of June – look for some American male celebs to “surprisingly” show up in the audience!

Now, how you tell twin voices apart on the radio, we’re not sure – but they’re both wildly entertaining, so it may not matter!