Players in the fashion and beauty world love collaborating to bring you the freshest accessories and chicest clothing. Check out these noteworthy collaborations that have the style world abuzz.

Polyvore and Cover Girl: Polyvore Live

Two big names in the fashion / beauty world — Polyvore, an online fashion community, and CoverGirl Cosmetics — have come together to create a fashion show at this year’s Mercedez Bens Fashion Week.

The February 13 show takes place at La. Venue and will feature prominent fashion bloggers as the models. As for what the Polyvore Live models will be wearing, get ready for some emerging — and very talented — designers. Four FIT alumni who submitted their designs to the Polyvore community have been chosen and they include: Dana-Maxx Pomerantz, Luaren Balgiore, Sergio Guadarrama and Vengsarkar “Ven” Budhu.

For those unable to go to Fashion Week, watch the models strut their stuff in real time on the Polyvore Live catwalk at Polyvore.com.

Read more about Polyvore Live at WWD.com.

Closet Groupie

Here’s a commandment any fashion-forward femme can get behind: Thou shalt covet thy stylish neighbor’s closet. Thanks to Closet Groupie, a website launched late in 2011, that should now be an easy thing to do. The website is essentially a buying/selling platform with a focus on high fashion duds and accessories. Women can sell their gently used, vintage — or even new — garments and accessories for others to buy. And, of course, they can buy other womens’ items, as well.

“Some of the best clothes in the world are hanging in your closets, not in stores,” says the website. “Closet Groupie is going to change the way we live by letting us shop in closets we love, and sell what’s in our closets to people who love our style.”

Check it out at ClosetGroupie.com.

Pamela Love and Shopstyle

Jewelry designer Pamela Love and online shopping mega-store ShopStyle have partnered up to bring shoppers an exclusive collection of funky jewelry. The three piece, limited edition jewelry collection has very tribal-meets-edgy-meets-modern. Pieces include a rose-gold plated tribal spike necklace, a red resin tribal spike cuff and silver plated diamond pendant necklace. Prices range between $175 and $225 a pop.

Check out the jewelry yourself and learn more about the designers in this WWD article.

Beauty Bar and Allure Magazine: Sample Society

Love trying samples before you invest in the full size product? Meet Sample Society, a beauty sampling program brought to you by two beauty household names: Beauty Bar and Allure Magazine.

This sampling program is different from other sample subscriptions sites (such as Beauty Fix, Birchbox and Test Tube) in that it’s reserved for Sample Society’s elite members. It delivers five “carefully curated, deluxe-sized samples” to its members on a monthly basis along with a monthly issue of Allure magazine for $15 per box. Members also receive a special code for $15 off any $50 purchase on their Beauty Bar website.

Learn more about Sample Society here.

By Wendy Rose Gould

Flocks of women and just about every single style blog on the Internet has, at some point, talked about the Jason Wu for Target collection within the past several months. Though the talks were long and the sneak peaks left mouths salivating at the thought of Wu’s clean lines and chic prints at a mere fraction of their typical high fashion prices, the 53-piece collection sold out in a mere 24 hours, making it all seem like nothing more than a whirlwind fashion dream.

Many expected things to sell out quickly, just like they did for the Missoni for Target and Versace for H&M collaborations. Sunday morning, though, took some shoppers by surprise. Target doors across the United States opened and after oohing, ahhing, grabbing — and perhaps some clawing — took place, only a few straggler pieces were left for the late arrivers to pick through. Even the exclusive pieces online are nearly all sold out, with only one or two items left for the taking, including the Long Sleeve Sheer Blouse in White with Black Ribbon ($34.99) and Collared Cap-Sleeve Pleated Blouse in Gold ($26.99).

Though most items seemed to disappear in a Wizard-of-Oz-style POOF!, I was lucky enough to check out the clothing and accessories in person. I even tried a few garments on.

My verdict? While most of the accessories are chic, modern and appropriate for a variety of ages, the actual garments were disappointingly sub-par.

Perhaps it was the post-shopping frenzy, but a number of garments had untrimmed thread strings hanging down and nearly every piece — aside from the coats, shorts and some skirts — were made from fabric that was simply too sheer. A lot of the Jason Wu for Target pieces look like they’d be ideal as stand-alone garments, but because of the sheerness, layering is almost necessary.

I also found that a number of pieces were ill-fitting, and after browsing through other post-sale online gossip, realized I was not alone in thinking so. Most of the dresses are quite boxy, so a narrow belt is necessary to create a more flattering silhouette. In addition, many of the T-shirts are constructed from a clingy fabric that requires perfectly fitting bras/undergarments. Unless, of course, highlighting unsightly bulges is your mission. I suppose less-than-quality products are what you should expect when paying $46 for a designer dress. Still, it’s disheartening after all the hoopla.

Quality aside, the actual design of the garments are clean, sweet and ultra feminine. That said, the majority of these pieces seem to be best suited for the 30-and-under crowd. Many of the garments have a “granny-esque” look to them, which 20-somethings may be able to pull off, but can date those who are older.

In short: Thank you, Target, for bringing designer duds to budget-conscious Americans. And Thank you, Jason Wu, for your chic designs. To improve your go next time around, let’s work with higher quality fabrics and perhaps bump up the collection from 53 pieces to at least 100. I’d happily pay an extra $20 for better fitting garments in materials that aren’t prone to ripping (and that you can’t see through).

P.S. Missed the sale but still want the look? Check out eBay, where hundreds of garments are now being sold. You’ll find some at decent prices, but a large majority now have price points at least triple the MSRP.

By Wendy Rose Gould

It’s tax season, and you know what that means: Numbers running amok in your head while dining, during your favorite TV shows and perhaps even while you sleep. Chances are you’ve spent the better portion of the new year frantically scouring bank records and shuffling through the Mount Doom of personal receipts you stuffed into a folder throughout 2011.

I’m here to invite you to a brief break from the number crunching. Instead of worrying about your own taxes, let’s reflect — if only for a moment — on the kinds of numbers that rich celebs have to sort through with their CPAs come tax season. Even the most trivial, every day occurrences in celebrity’s life may have to be claimed on their taxes.

Tweeting Celebs

If you were a celebrity, how much would you expect to get paid for a single, solitary, 140-character count tweet? Now multiply that number times at least 100.

According to an online report by New York Magazine, celebs get paid a ton of money just for tweeting. For example, Kim Kardashian gets paid $10,000 for every Twitter endorsement she makes, including those for ShoeDazzle. And if that number wasn’t mind-boggling enough, get this: 2011’s most notorious winning celeb, Charlie Sheen, was paid a whopping $50,000 for his Twitter tweets. The kicker? He didn’t even write them himself, but still relished in the sweet, sweet green.

Making Party Appearances

Imagine getting paid big bucks just to show up at a party and have fun. Now that’s truly the American dream. Celebs get paid anywhere from a few thousand per appearance to over $100,000. The amount paid, of course, directly relates to the celebrities fame.

For example, top celebs such as Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Fergie all earn over $100,000 for their appearances and “it” girls, such as Zoe Saldana, Leighton Meester and Lea Michele, earn around $25,000 for their presence. Even celebs who haven’t acted since the ’90s and hot reality stars (e.g. Real Housewives) get paid around $5,000 just for being at a party. As for minor reality stars, including The Biggest Loser participants and former MTV’s The Real World contestents earn roughly $500 for showing up at car dealerships, salons, malls and even university speaking gigs.

Read more about the crazy financial lives of celebrities on New York Magazines series, “The Celebrity Economy.”

By Wendy Rose Gould

Since it’s April like weather here in New York City, Scoop is taking note and throwing a “Cleaning Out Our Closet Sale.” With 50% off already marked down prices, the registers have the potential to ring up your merchandise at up to 90% off the original tag amount. Scoop NYC is known to house some great brands, and in true fashion, they offer them at the aforementioned discounted prices within their Meatpacking District store.

The two floor clothing palace hosts the best part of the sale within the main entrance. And with no further ado, let the listing of fabulous finds and great deals from top designers commence! A lavishly long Missoni Blue Silver Cardigan ($379), Joseph Grey Cashmere Sweater Vest ($104), T by Alexander Wang Military Wang Thin Sweater ($48), Helmut Land Asymmetrical Charcoal Tee ($94), Madison Martin Margiela for Opening Ceremony Beige Zip Vest Cardigan ($284), Zac Posen Brown Silk Blouse ($164), and a Marc Jacobs Sleeveless Ruffle Blouse in Ivory ($179). If you’re a fan o’ fur, as you walk in there’s a great What Goes Around Comes Around Rabbit Fur Vest ($179), as well as a Scoop Rabbit Fur Vest ($384).

Aside from the sweaters and blouses, jeans line the walls from designers such as 7 By All Mankind ($79), Acne ($74), and Sold Designer Lab ($34).

Unfortunately, as enforced by Scoop’s Marketing Director Judy O’Keefe, I am not allowed to share photos from the sale. In addition, given the indistinguishable year of production, I am also unable to locate an exact photo match to my selections, so you’ll have to take my word for it. While basking in recommendations, be sure to check out the Helmut Lang Beige Cropped Motorcycle Jacket ($350) and the BARK Off While Sweater Jacket w/ Toggles ($259). I hadn’t paid attention to Scoop’s brand much before, but their line Beyond Vintage for Scoop is noteworthy.

Downstairs contains a mediocre selection of resort wear and designer shoes. The clothing selection seems to be thrown together, perhaps some here and there leftovers from surrounding sister stores. There were, however, some great hippie blouses by Aiko.  Shoe highlights include Belle NYC Oil Rich Suede Booties ($69) and Mall Benson Cognac Wrinkly Wax Flats in Grey and Brown.

If any of the brands mentioned tickle your fancy then this Scoop sale will be worth your time. No need to rush, the sale lasts until February 20^th and will be receiving a mix of new pieces and new sizes daily so mosey on in whenever you feel the need for some new designer duds!

WHEN: 2/2 - 2/20

WHERE: 430 West 14th Street
(at Washington Street)
212-929-1244

By Caitlin Colford