Meghan McCain, daughter of presidential contender John, has a new memoir out about the campaign, "Dirty, Sexy Politics." Though there's not much dirt or sex (she says she swore off the latter for the duration), there are, All the Rage is happy to note, some style and beauty insights of a political nature. For instance, image consultants redid her "stripper"-blond hair and dulled down her wardrobe, then billed the campaign. During the convention, Meghan was turned away by a makeup artist busy with the Palin offspring, whom she was told would "get more air time."  She thought Sarah Palin was the most beautiful politician she'd ever seen but also that she seemed to be interested in her own ambitions more than McCain's. OK, maybe that is a little bit of dirt! [Washington Post]

It's 90210 Day. Really. (Sept. 2, 2010, if you're still one cup shy of your morning caffeine.)  And it's giving die-hard fans of the show set in the Beverly Hills Zip Code some giggles. Now, guys, if the girl in your life is hooked on the modern version of the show, you can find the perfect gift for her, thanks to the CW, which, like some other smart networks, is selling some of the characters' "looks." This morning, for instance, I found Adrianna's snake bracelet on sale for $95, Naomi's gray Bridgette purse for $599 and Silver's chain lariat necklace-and-earring set for $20. [The CW]

Brow expert Anastasia Soare, among red-carpet beauty experts featured in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, also is marking 9-02-2010 by appearing on HSN to sell her brow kits. She is scheduled to air at 10 a.m and 2 and 8 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time. [StyleList]

Looking forward to the holidays, fashion house Lanvin has announced a onetime collaboration with fast-fashion retailer H&M, due to hit stores in November. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

Madame Tussaud's [updated 11:33 a.m. Sept.2] Washington museum just unveiled a wax figure of Rihanna, clad in a glamorous peekaboo black outfit with plenty of bling. They nailed her style! [FabSugar] 

A host of designers have won nominations for the British Fashion Awards, including Christopher Bailey of Burberry, Erdem Moralioglu and Victoria Beckham. [WWD]

French Vogue is putting out a plus-sized issue in October, marking it's 90th anniversary. Ad pages are up 100% over last October, and the hefty magazine will come bundled with archival photos on heavy stock as a little extra for buyers. [NY Observer]

-- Susan Denley

Photo: Meghan McCain  Credit: Matt Sayles/Associated Press

A previous version of this post misspelled Madame Tussaud's name as Toussaud.

As inspiration for the Spring/Summer 2011 menswear collection, Burberry's chief creative officer, Christopher Bailey, turned to a perennial bad-boy icon -- the biker.

In doing so, he was able to continue exploring the notion of protection in ways that didn't directly involve the element-shielding properties of the trench coat. Last season, Bailey went woolly-bully with a Burberry cocooning collection, this season he gives his man a second skin -- protective leather jackets in military and biker silhouettes (some studded, others studded and quilted and still others tumbled into a permanent swirl of wrinkles), as well as leather vests, leather trousers and even leather shorts (which, as an aside, would do precious little to prevent road rash). 

Several non-leather pieces ended up with leather accents, too, including trench-coat epaulets and shoulder patches on pullover sweaters.

Bailey's love of leather in the Spring/Summer collection was apparently matched only by his zeal for zippers and other manner of metal hardware -- riveted leather detailing, metal military belt loops, eyelets, and studding that ranged in size from nail head to nearly half-grape.

The larded-up leathers and heavy metal felt a bit heavy handed, and the whole collection seemed to be moving in the opposite direction of the easy-breezy, light and luxe looks being shown by the rest of the designers here in Milan this week. But if Bailey is trying to make the point that Burberry's got you covered -- from the trenches to the turnpike -- he's now hammered the point into our forebrain with a thousand tiny studs.

-- Adam Tschorn, in Milan

Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer menswear collection 2011 photo gallery

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Photos: Looks from the Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2011 men's collection, shown on June 19, 2010, during Milan Fashion Week. Credit: Peter Stigter  and Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times

Count London-based luxury brand Burberry among the winners of Season 9 of "American Idol." The label was the exclusive provider of the host's on-air wardrobe for all 48 episodes of the season, according to the show's stylist Miles Siggins, the first time any brand has had an exclusive lock on Seacrest's closet door.

"We've done other [wardrobe] deals in past seasons, but they haven't been exclusive," said Siggins, who has been dressing Seacrest for the show's last eight seasons. "And this is the first time everything’s been custom made for him."

The "deal," Siggins refers to is basically this: Burberry kits out Seacrest for the duration of the season, and

There are few things as cliche as England's weather. So, after seasons of paying homage to that country's photographers (Fall 2009), filmmakers (Spring 2009) and artists (Fall 2008), Burberry creative director Christopher Bailey decided to mine meaning from the meteorological, taking his inspiration from the British rain and sun -- which makes sense given the brand's DNA.

That meant diamond-quilted featherweight nylon jackets (quilting was a key look in last season's Dolce & Gabbana runway collection), seersucker fabrics that created the illusion of rain-dappled dress shirts, and a dab print knit pullover shirt that did the same thing (though at first glance it looked a bit like a leopard print). There were also lots of weatherproof waxed cottons, waxed linens, double collars, Velcro closures and outer wear pieces in "uniform red" and  "sou'wester yellow."

What we could have done without was the multiplicity of what Bailey described as "trench straps" -- strips of webbed fabrics that crisscrossed the chest, harnessed the shoulders and hung loosely at the waist, making the models look as if they'd just parachuted in from on high.

Not only were the straps a flourish we've seen before (most memorably in Prada's Fall 2008 "bondage chic" men's collection), in this environment of new austerity, going all strap happy with an otherwise strong collection felt like a case of gilding the gabardine lily.

-- Adam Tschorn in Milan

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MILAN -- With the economic news growing more dire by the day, fashion in the lightning speed form as we have come to know it is in danger of becoming a dirty word. Even its most ardent supporters, glossy editors, are staying out of the stores. So it's no wonder many designers are banking on nostalgia to pull on the heartstrings and the purse strings this fall.

Few people have as much to draw from as Christopher Bailey at Burberry Prorsum. Gone were the hyper luxe (and hyper expensive) warrior studs and gilded feathers that have made the brand a fashion front-runner in the past few seasons. Instead, the classic wardrobe of British country life took center stage -- a wise business decision perhaps, but a bit disappointing aesthetically.

Comfort came under the cloak of oversized, blanket-like outerwear -- trench coats in doeskin, bonded cotton, or tweed, some with full skirts.

Underneath, there were white cotton bibbed shirt dresses, twist-front tweed dresses, Aran sweaters worn over faded plaid kilts, and menswear-inspired pinstripe pants and oversized white shirts. Lug sole wedge desert boots added an outdoorsy feel. 

Evening looks were very covered up -- paneled plisse dresses in regal shades of ink blue and plum, full-skirted dresses in gold tapestry florals or aristocratic-looking portrait prints.

Dormant for several years because it had become so copied, the Nova check reappeared like a long-lost friend, on large satchels and the inside of mink snoods. And when the models took their final spin, of course it was to Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill." 

-- Booth Moore

All the Rage's Milan Fashion Week coverage

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Photo: A look from Burberry Prorsum women's fall runway collection at Milan fashion week. Luca Bruno / Associated Press
 

For Burberry Prorsum, creative director Christopher Bailey continued his short course in British contributions to the arts, after last season's Derek Jarman-inspired collection with a nod to renowned UK photographer Bill Brandt and the idea of "modern nostalgia" evoked by his photographs of England.

Like Dolce & Gabbana's trek back to Sicily earlier the same day, Burberry looked back fondly, playing up the idea of roots and connectedness. (No small wonder the company used the occasion to announce it had finally consolidated offices to Horseferry Road in the heart of Westminster, "home of the English, subsequently British and United Kingdom Parliament since the 13th century.")

But, the 153-year-old company hardly had to relocate its HQ to evoke the past; all Bailey needed to do was pull out and dust off the instantly recognizable Burberry check pattern -– which had been pretty much absent from the runway for the last few seasons.

Seeing the scarves -– as well as a few shirts -– in the heritage plaid was like old-fashioned comfort food being ladled in among the peasant-y looking garb: string ties, cloth newsboy caps, herringbones and chunky cable knits (although Bailey himself strikes me as the sort Brit that might actually appreciate a good shepherd's pie). And it was just the prescription to calm an anxious stomach.