It was like one big weird-off between Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, and Samantha Barks. I don't understand.

Oh, what's that? A bunch of actresses swanning about in gowns on a red carpet?

The odds of actresses wearing anything interesting on a red carpet are generally pretty slim. But let's just humor ourselves and zoom in on this trinity of Les Mis-ies.

Image by Stuart Wilson / Getty Images

Why, there's something ragingly weird about all of these dresses!

Let's examine each one individually.

Image by Stuart Wilson / Getty Images

First: Anne Hathaway.

Weird outfit elements: The batwing sleeves; the dotted lines running up and down the dress, making her look like a kid's crafting project.

Image by Stuart Wilson / Getty Images

The dress is from Givenchy's spring 2012 couture collection.

And as you can see, Anne could have gotten MUCH weirder with it. I can't fathom why she didn't want the bejeweled pacifier. When batwing sleeves fail, that kind of thing really gets people talking!

Source: style.com

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It's a video/GIF spectacular!

This is what happened when Juicy Couture tried to shoot a video using cat models.

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The infighting and misbehaving amongst the cats (the real MEAT of this shoot, in other words) was edited out for the actual video, which still turned out pretty cute.

So here are some things to keep in mind when doing a cat fashion shoot of your own.

Do not assume even ultra-professional, super-gorgeous cats will do what they're supposed to.

Shorthairs may be prone to jealousy when luscious Persians are present.

Buffer cats don't always work.

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Or no, because she's just one of many child-bearing celebs who have now been rendered irrelevant by Kate Middleton's pregnancy?

Congrats to Gisele!

Image by Sergio Moraes / Reuters

She gave birth to a baby girl she and Tom Brady decided to name Vivian Lake.

Here's a photo of her holding the baby's hand, which she posted on Facebook with a message that reads, "Vivian Lake was born at home on December 5. She is healthy and full of life."

Source: sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net

What could Kate Middleton possibly be thinking about this happy news?

Source: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lutj8oCpGX1qhxg9co1_500.jpg

If you're sick of the sweater/jeans/boots combo you wear every day, freshen up your chilly-weather wardrobe with these ideas.

You can't go wrong with a great-fitting black leather jacket.

Source: media-cache-ec3.pinterest.com

Layer a leather jacket with button-down shirts, and cuff sleeves to reveal an arm party.

Source: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbxvyczWtJ1qkpq4vo1_400.jpg

Layer a denim shirt under a chunky black cardigan or blazer.

Source: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mc9rg6MmhC1qhegr1o1_500.jpg

Layer a denim shirt under chunky Fair Isle knits.

Source: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mapyk4C6Qv1rhpu87o1_500.jpg

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The vast majority of the population has no medical reason to shun gluten other than a seemingly fancy way of going “low-carb.” Because it's not like Atkins is still cool.

Gluten is just a simple protein derived from wheat and other grains like barley. But it's become the year's most ghettoized protein.

Of course people would find a reason to be against it, because nothing resides in food purgatory quite like carbohydrates do.

Source: images.wisegeek.com

Gluten-free diets were the big weight loss fad of 2012.

No one goes around bragging about being on Atkins and gloating about having had bacon eight times in a week while still losing weight, these days. Now everyone's all about gluten-free (and green juice, but that's a whole other Thing). You can now buy all kinds of processed foods that normally contain gluten without gluten thanks to the proliferation of gluten-free eating plans. But remember that gluten-free processed foods are still processed foods and therefore usually not any better for you than their gluten-containing counterparts.

Source: shape.com

The 1% of the population that has celiac disease really needs to cut gluten from their diets.

People with celiac disease experience a host of uncomfortable gastrointestinal issues caused by adverse reactions to gluten in the small intestine. Prescribed gluten-free eating plans are not glamourous for people suffering from celiac disease.

Source: scientificamerican.com

But ANOTHER 1% of the population — select celebrities! — are going gluten-free for what seems like purely self-indulgent glamour.

Because when you go gluten-free you can't have cake, cookies, bread, pasta. In other words, you go LOW CARB which makes you skinny. Miley Cyrus, Victoria Beckham, and Gwyneth Paltrow are all about the gluten-free life, according to the Daily Mail, which helpfully cautions that you can still go gluten-free and end up consuming a ton of calories. Like Atkins!

Source: images.askmen.com

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A new year is upon us, meaning it's time to find NEW ways to be ironically fashionable. Update your closet with this handy trend guide.

Trend to retire: Navajo print.

These aren't really sweaters as much as huge carpets with arm holes. Navajo print was a fun flash in the pan, but it was never meant to be a long-term commitment, like colored pants or tee-shirts. Now that it's had its moment, navajo print seems best used on a couch throw, not a sweater coat. Let's let navajo prints return to their God-given duty: separating cats from no-cat furniture.

Instead try: dark/moody florals.

The Cut turned me onto this trend. Finally you can wear flowers in the winter without looking like a person who is obnoxiously cheerful about long periods of cold, depressing weather.

They even make it for bros! Isn't this a really an interesting alternative to plaid???!!!!

Source: images.asos-media.com

Trend to retire: feather accessories.

Kidding! No one really goes around like this outside of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show! I'm more concerned with...

Source: media-cache-ec4.pinterest.com

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Saks is no longer carrying the line in stores — but this isn't necessarily the sign of failure everyone's making it out to be.

In 2011, celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe launched the Rachel Zoe Collection with an unprecedented reach for a debut clothing line. On such a grand stage, the line had no opportunity to experience growing pains associated with any new business. Now, it seems to be going through them.

The line hit stores in conjunction with the premiere of the fourth season of Zoe's Bravo show, The Rachel Zoe Project, in July of 2011, landing in all 41 Neiman Marcus stores and online, as well as at Bergdorf Goodman, Shopbop, Nordstrom, Saks, Intermix, Kirna Zabête, and Selfridges. But now, a Saks rep confirms that the line has not been available on sales floors as of the 2012 collection. You can still buy the collection from Saks, but online only.

Rachel Zoe, wearing a dress from her line.

Image by Getty Images

In Bloomingdale's, Zoe's line launched with a gorgeous, gigantic shop-in-shop, the creation of which was the subject of a considerable chunk of The Rachel Zoe Project's fourth and most recent season. However a visit to the Manhattan flagship store yesterday revealed just four racks and change of clothes belonging to the Rachel Zoe Collection. A salesperson in the store said Zoe hasn't had significant space on the floor since last year. "She had a full shop," said the employee. Now it's "just a couple of racks." Bloomingdale's, which declined to comment for this story, seems to have more of the Rachel Zoe Collection for sale online than on sales floors. Zoe's reps also did not comment.

In late August, "Page Six" wrote, "we hear the line isn’t doing well at stores including Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, with industry insiders snipping that interest in the line has 'peaked.'" Shortly after that item came out, the press got in a tizzy over Selfridges's decision to drop Zoe's clothing from their lineup (though the store still sells her shoes).

The Rachel Zoe Collection's launch was unusually huge — most first-time designers fail to ever get their lines off the ground, much less in a single major retailer or a ton of major retailers. But Zoe had an unusually spectacular platform for launching a line: She was a known tastemaker in fashion — something not all other very successful celebrity designers, like Jessica Simpson, are — and had her own show that raked in 1.26 million viewers for its fourth season premiere. But new episodes of the show haven't aired since October of last year, contracting the spotlight on Zoe and her empire.

Maren Hartman, trend forecasting company WGSN's east coast director of US content, tells BuzzFeed Shift, "There has been lots of discussion regarding the loss of floor space for the Zoe line. Issues with fit after a change in fit model have also been mentioned by industry insiders." But this might not be that big of a deal for the long-term health of her brand or line. "I think that due to Rachel Zoe's celebrity and the large initial interest by the media and retailers some of the typical 'start-up' issues haven't been ironed out yet," Hartman continues. "She's just simply getting a lot more attention than most new designers." And most designers with new lines aren't tabloid fodder whose every move is scrutinized. Alexander Wang isn't going to make headlines, for instance, when his clothes end up on a sale rack.

Though Saks would not comment on what prompted the move of Zoe's line to online-only sales, it might just be that her line sells better on the Internet, where it can reach multiple demographics, as opposed to physical stores that attract a very specific kind of shopper. "Perhaps they're going to stick with that and see if the online sales continue to grow before they give her a presence on the floorset again," Hartman says. Even without the show, Zoe has a great social media presence, including 1.4 million Twitter followers and hundreds of thousands of subscribers to her newsletter, The Zoe Report, with which to promote the line.

When season five of The Rachel Zoe Project starts up again, whatever minor lull her line might be having right now seems sure to dissolve.

Victoria's Secret model: “Is it 'fa la la… la la la?'”

People have done some really gross things to lose weight over the past two centuries. Please, don't eat tapeworms or baby food to fulfill your New Year's weight-loss resolution.

1087: The Alcohol-Only Diet

According to Time, William the Conqueror went on his alcohol-only diet in 1087. But rather than losing girth, "he died later that year after falling from his beleaguered steed, leaving his subjects to struggle with finding a coffin big enough to fit the corpulent king." Don't let this be you! Getting around by horse is difficult enough these days, much less doing it drunk.

Source: 4.images.spike.com

1820: The Vinegar and Water Diet

These got more delicious-sounding through the ages, right? The poet Lord Byron popularized the vinegar and water diet in 1820. Byron was anorexic and bulimic and consumed large amounts of water and apple cider vinegar (sometimes also red cabbage), which is said to have caused diarrhea and vomiting. So you might look at this as one of history's first (and least healthy!) cleanses. Scientists agree that drinking vinegar will not lead to weight loss.

Source: poetryfoundation.org

1829: The Graham Diet

Invented by Sylvester Graham, this vegetarian diet consisted of fruits, veggies, and limited amounts of dairy, especially butter. Graham also invented the Graham cracker, which was also to be consumed on this diet. The main point of this diet was to "cure" masturbation, which Graham thought caused blindness.

Source: cdn-www.cracked.com

1864: Low-Carb Enters the Scene

Source: covers.openlibrary.org

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It's the latest craze in fashion photography.

Fashion photography used to be all about toplessness.

A hot lady, no shirt, maybe some pants or bikini bottoms — this has been the essence of sex appeal for ages.

Source: faystyle.com

Now fashion photography is all about bottomlessness.

Source: assets.nydailynews.com

Flip through some fashion mags on newsstands, and it won't be long before you come along a crazy-looking model wearing bunny ears, a blazer — and no bottoms.

Source: i.models.com

The trend arguably began with Gisele.

She modeled a backpack without wearing pants in the April 2011 issue of Vogue Paris.

Source: i315.photobucket.com

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Assume he'll be wearing a Speedo. Also, assume scary fangirling will be strictly prohibited.

Source: s3.amazonaws.com

Ryan Lochte is auctioning off swimming lessons to raise money for the CFDA and Vogue's Fashion for Sandy Relief Initiative. You can bid on this experience on Charity Buzz, where the minimum bid is $10,000. The lesson is only one hour, but you also get to eat lunch with him. If you win, note that you'll have to travel to Gainseville, Florida, and that acting like a lunatic fan will not be tolerated:

We expect all winning bidders and their guests to conduct themselves appropriately when attending an experience won at Charitybuzz. Polite manners and respect for the generous donor and adherence to any rules or parameters are a must. Winning bidder and guest(s) subject to security screening.

Not that this gift (?) is filed under the "For Her" section of Charity Buzz. Just think, if you win you can not only see Ryan's muscles in the flesh, but also tell him to never wear this again:

Image by Isaac Brekken / Getty Images

Which in itself is worth quite a lot.

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He's always worn ladies' things on occasion. So let's not get our panties in a twist about his “skirtgate” of 12-12-12.

At the 12-12-12 Sandy relief concert Wednesday night, Kanye West performed wearing a leather a-line skirt over his leather pants.

To go with his manly gold statement bracelet and wrist warmers, of course. Anyway, after this skirt appeared on stage, slung low on Kanye's hips over a pair of slim-fitting leather trousers, it took on a life of its own — via a fake Twitter feed full of uninventive jokes about him raiding Kim Kardashian's wardrobe. Yet Kanye has been perfectly open about his attraction to women's clothes in the past. In 2010 at New York Fashion Week, he told me he decided to wear a women's blouse to sit front row at the Philip Lim show: "This is a women's shirt [Phillip] had, and I just felt this color would be really, really nice on my skin."

Image by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Clear Channel / Getty Images

Kanye wearing ladies' Phillip Lim:

Source: upscalehype.com

Kanye also titillated the fashion community when he wore this women's Celine blouse in January.

With shiny mardi gras beads and bike chains around his neck.

Here's how that blouse looked on the runway.

Source: style.com

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It's a nice change from always having to stand next to that guy she's married to.

Image by David Davies, PA / AP

The duchess wore a green Alexander McQueen dress to present with David Beckham at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards in London on Sunday. This is her first official appearance since leaving the hospital, where she was treated for hyperemesis gravidarum. This is also her first official appearance as a pregnant duchess — and made for the perfect opportunity to set her unborn child up with Harper Seven. If they can't date, they at least ought to be best friends.

Two worlds… meat ?

What could happen when you the man famous for dressing Lady Gaga, Nicola Formichetti...

And have him dress... THIS WOMAN?

Image by Marco Ugarte / AP

This. THIS IS WHAT COULD HAPPEN!!!

Meat. Peplums. The end.

Photo illustration by John Gara.

Burberry hired him to act like he's kickboxing two other models in their new ads. The 10-year-old spawn of David and Posh is so cute!

This is Romeo Beckham in the new Burberry ads.

He poses alongside two other models who do not share blood with the Beckhams.

Source: burberrybrand.com

Apparently he wears Burberry just to walk around and be the spawn of super-fame that he is.

Here's Romeo wearing Burberry in London recently.

Source: burberrybrand.com

And here's a video of him working his stuff, which suggests he was the only one allowed to, like, EMOTE on this shoot.

Search “thigh gap” on Twitter and a promotional Levi's tweet appears, atop a list of mostly pro-anorexia tweets. This is probably not what Levi's wanted.

If you search "thigh gap" on Twitter, an advertisement from Levi's awkwardly tops the feed.

"Thigh gap" is a term used in the pro-anorexia community to refer to a space between the upper thighs coveted by girls who want to lose weight. Of course it's not great branding for a fashion company to be associated with the pro-ana community, even if it's unintentional.

Levi's has not returned BuzzFeed Shift's request for comment, but we can probably assume they did not sign up to advertise on Twitter wanting to be associated with the term "thigh gap." So, how could this happen with their ad?

Being a pants company, maybe they wanted to be associated with the word "thigh"?

Except a search for just plain "thigh" reveals no promoted Levi's tweet, so they probably didn't request to be associated with that or other leg words.

But if you search "gap" on Twitter, the promoted Levi's tweet appears again.

It would make sense for Levi's to advertise against its competitor, the Gap, which appears to be what's happening here — Levi's is using "gap" as a keyword to associate its ads with in the hopes of driving customers away from the Gap, its competitor, and straight into their arms.

Last Thursday, Twitter introduced a feature to its advertising that allows advertisers to input negative key words — terms they don't want to be associated with. So if you're a bacon brand and don't want your ads appearing on searches for "Kevin Bacon" you can make "Kevin Bacon" one of your negative keywords, and you won't have to worry about appearing every time someone searches "Kevin Bacon," the results of which are currently free of bacon-related ads. Levi's and other advertisers can make "thigh gap" (or whatever bad term they wish to remain distant from) one or their negative keywords to avoid the awkward ad placement I found today.

Levi's isn't the only advertiser topping a pro-eating disorder stream of tweets. Staybridge Suits appeared today on the top of a search for "pro mia" (short for "pro bulimia"). Probably something to do with the "MIA" part of it, which vaguely relates to travel?

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Or, when you look at this, do you just see another creepy fashion ad?

The latest campaign for Givenchy features a model holding a baby.

The baby is naked, I guess, because Givenchy does not have a kids' line (unlike Beckham-tastic Burberry). Is the implication that "having it all" includes high-fashion Givenchy? A hands-free backpack that affixes to the body with with metal hooks instead of straps, leaving you free to tend to a wee one while you wear a four- or five-figure outfit?

Source: wwd.com

Because everyone knows this isn't going to work.

But Givenchy's baby ad probably had little to do with an explicit reference to The Atlantic's "having it all" cover story. The campaign's stylist was Carine Roitfeld, the renowned fashion editor and new grandma who put lots of babies in the inaugural issue of her new magazine, CR Fashion Book.

Source: s3-ec.buzzfed.com

Roitfeld's work doesn't question whether women can "have it all" as much as it seems to accept that they will.

Source: i.models.com

"Having it all" to Roitfeld, of course, includes fabulous outfits.

Source: i.models.com

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It's the pageant that puts every other pageant ever to serious shame. Victoria's Secret Fashion Show WHO?

Miss Venezuala — Best "Chocolate Rave"

This is amazing.

Image by Miss Universe Organization L.P., LLLP / AP

Miss Panama — Best Use of Christmas Colors

Image by Handout / Reuters

Miss Bolivia — Best Use of Christmas Colors and Yellow

If lions had cat toys, they'd look like these sparkly pepper vine things.

Image by Miss Universe Organization L.P., LLLP / AP

Miss Slovak Republic — Least Shiny

At an event like this, shunning all diamonds, crystals, and sequins is truly radical. Bold move indeed.

Image by Miss Universe Organization L.P., LLLP / AP

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Research shows people are happiest when they get exactly what they ask for. So we shouldn't be ashamed to do just that, even as adults.

In November, Deadspin published a highly detailed Christmas list by an anonymous 21-year-old woman that included links to everything she wanted with intermittent commentary about how some of those things were expensive. Deadspin called the list "insufferable" and "infuriating." But that woman is actually doing her loved ones a favor. If you know people are going to buy you things, everyone's better off when the receiver does what she can to help givers spend their money wisely.

Studies show that people would rather get something they've explicitly said they wanted than something surprising they don't want — even though gift givers mistakenly believe that, well, it's the thought that counts. In a 2011 study in the Journal of Experimental Social Sciences, the researchers wrote [PDF]:

In gift exchange, gift givers may fail to pay close attention to what a gift recipient directly requests. Instead, they may believe that purchasing an unrequested item will signal a sincere concern for the recipient because of the effort they have made to identify a seemingly appropriate gift, thus rendering the gift more personal and thoughtful. Yet gift recipients may be frustrated when givers do not take note of their explicit suggestions.

Of course it's hard to come out and say "this is the stuff I want," because we don't want to seem materialistic, shallow, or immature. But how does it elevate one's character to deny that people are buying you gifts? The National Retail Federation reports that holiday sales will increase 4.1% this year, to $586.1 billion. And the average shopper will spend $749.51 on gifts, cards, and holiday decorations.

Yet we're obviously not getting what we want. The NRF has also reported that 40 to 50% of people expect to return or exchange a gift. Another survey showed that shoppers plan to spend an average of $139.92 on presents for themselves, which they might not need to do if they just ended up asking other people for that stuff.

Then there's regifting. Etiquette advisors tend to agree that the practice is fine — probably because we always end up with so much stuff we don't want — but why go through this crisis of conscience at all? On occasions like weddings and baby showers, we have no problem telling people exactly what we want. We go to stores and register to make it easy for them. Should it be any less acceptable to compile some links to things you want, whether on Pinterest or in an email?

A recent survey of 3,000 women aged 18 and older who regularly use the Internet conducted by product review-focused social network SheSpeaks and marketing agency Lippe Taylor revealed one in four would use Pinterest to make wish lists. But 47% said they wanted gifts they've only hinted at wanting and require the giver to make "the final selection." Only 12% said they want the exact thing they've said they want. So these women want gifts they actually want, but they still want the people giving them stiff to them to read their minds a little bit. Mind-reading, however, is an impossible task and an unfair thing to expect of the people closest to you. Set people up to succeed by not expecting them to read your mind about what you want.

If people are looking for things to buy you, it's not materialistic or shallow of you to take the guesswork out of it for them. If my sister had a Pinterest board of gifts she wanted, I'd use it to shop for her without question and save myself an aimless trip to the mall to try to come up with something else. And if you really don't want any gifts, ask family and friends to make a donation in your name to charity.

But don't assume that just because you have a wish list on Pinterest, everyone who needs to see it will see it. "I cannot think for a second my husband is going to look at my Pinterest to see what I want," Jessica Seinfeld told me recently at a toy drive for the Baby Buggy charity at an Alice + Olivia store in New York. Seinfeld, who admitted to being in a "deep, full obsession with Pinterest," said that she and her husband don't buy each other holiday gifts, but noted, "Men don't use Pinterest, so you have to print it out and put it on their pillow."

“I'm probably one of the luckiest transsexuals in the world — I have the same size shoe as my wife so I can steal her shoes,” says Laura Jane Grace, lead singer of the punk band Against Me!

This is Laura Jane Grace.

She's the transsexual lead singer of the punk band Against Me! MTV's House of Style dispatched model Joan Smalls to visit her at home and check out her closet.

This black Mossimo for Target dress is the first thing Laura Jane wore into the world as a woman.

She was on her way to a meeting with her therapist.

In high school, Laura Jane struggled to keep her hair super-spiked in her native Florida's humidity.

Even though she mostly wore dirty jeans, she says, "I was still going home at night and washing my face with Clinique. There's no reason you can't be punk and have good skin."

Now, Laura Jane lives with her wife and daughter in suburbia.

"I'm overwhelmed by the amount of support my wife gave me," she says. "It's awesome."

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