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Alexander Wang's genius knack for whipping up night-crawler clothes that make level-headed women go wild was on display at last weekend's White Party. Cassie pulled off Wang's dangerously sexy slashed white dress, pairing it with a bikini instead of the black bodysuit it was shown with on the fall 2009 runway. The fashion and beauty risk-taker (she recently shaved off half of her hair) put a young and sexy spin on the look by drastically shortening the hemline. What do you think: Does this look translate from catwalk to cocktails? Click here to shop Wang's latest looks.
—Violet Moon Gaynor
Runway photo: Imaxtree; Red carpet photo: Retna
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ImaxtreeAdvertisement - Continue Reading BelowWhen working with hairstylist Duffy to develop the hair look for their fall 2009 show, English designers Amy Molyneaux and Percy Parker were inspired by a fellow Brit. Based on a 1970s David Bailey photograph of Twiggy, tresses on PPQ's runway tended toward the side—twisted into a singular thick braid. To create the plaited style, Duffy blow-dried hair with L'Oréal Professionnel Tecni.art Pli Heat Activated Setting Spray to give it clean, soft texture and parted it on the side. A premade braid of extensions was then sewn onto models' real hair and spritzed with Tecni.art Crystal Gloss Long-Lasting Shine Spray for a lustrous finish.
View more side-braids from PPQ's fall 2009 show here.

GettyThe myth that career women have trouble attracting men is just that: a myth. According to new data from Match.com, single men overwhelmingly said they'd love to pull a George Clooney and find a high-achieving, brainy woman to settle down with.
Match.com's annual Singles in America survey asked 5,675 single people questions about their lives, their values, and what they want in a partner. The results are surprisingly optimistic. Forty-four percent of men said they're looking for a woman who's independent and career-driven. A whopping 87 percent of men said they would date a woman who makes more money, is better educated, and is more intellectual than they are. Forty-three percent said they want a woman with a similar education level, and almost half said they wouldn't date someone who was less educated.
Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowBut even though men are willing to date "up" when it comes to brains, women aren't so keen on dating "down." More than half of single women surveyed said they wouldn't date someone who's less intellectual than they are, and 86 percent said they want a partner who's equally intelligent. But money is less of an issue; about half of women said they don't care if a man makes as much as they do.
Match.com calls this "The Clooney Effect," since George married Amal Alamuddin, a lawyer who's insanely smart and accomplished. But perhaps the Clooneys just represent a new kind of celebrity power couple. After all, Joseph Gordon-Levitt married a literal rocket scientist last year. Here's hoping the trend continues.

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Do you have a favorite smell memory? That scent that takes you back in time? Mine is Calvin Klein's ck one, the iconic unisex scent that first made waves in the mid-1990s. I remember purchasing the eau de toilette in high school and being so excited to finally trade in my body splashes for a "real" fragrance—and when I smell it now, it brings me right back to the football games, the parties, and those nerve-wracking first dates.
More From ELLE Since the Kate Moss-emblazoned, "fragrance for a man or woman" ads, unisex perfumes have taken a backseat to more gender-specific scents. But lately, the idea of either/or fragrances is making a comeback. Take Karl Lagerfeld's success with his trio of unisex eau de toilette sprays—Kapsule Light, Kapsule Floriental and Kapsule Woody. And though it doesn't have the unisex label, Prada's Infusion d'Homme is equally as popular among men and women.
I love the idea of scents being gender-neutral (you already rock your boyfriend's jeans, so why not his cologne too?) which is why I'm planning on revisiting my high school years with a fall 2009 limited edition bottle of ck one. The model-fabulous design just debuted exclusively at Macy's. The question is will you pick up a bottle, or are you more of a female-fragrance-only gal?
—Kate Cavanna
ck one's fall 2009 limited edition bottle is available at fine department stores, while supplies last. Photo: Courtesy of ck one
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Courtesy of GapAdvertisement - Continue Reading BelowThe Gap's new head of body design, Mireille Gindrey, has whipped up must-have laser-cut color-block swimsuits for summer, mixing hot hues such as Miami turquoise and powdered lavender. gap.com
Click here to view more 2009 Gap fashion

Imaxtree Photo: Imaxtree
Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowDAY 7: SOAK UP MOISTURE
Always follow an exfoliation session with a moisturizer. Once skin is polished and free of sluggish cells, pores are more receptive to deep hydration and nourishment. Reapply face lotion every morning and evening (or as needed). When shopping for a moisturizer, look for brightness-boosting ingredients like hydroquinone, kojic acid, azelaic acid, mulberry extract, and grape-seed extract.

Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowIn ELLE's November issue, features director Laurie Abraham wrote a trenchant, honest essay about her abortions. Here, we share stories from other women who had abortions, to show that different women have different reasons for having an abortion, and that the procedure inspires all sorts of feelings—all of them, valid.
S., 22
I found out that I was pregnant when I was in Colombia on vacation with my boyfriend at the time and my family. It was unexpected. I was 19. It was something that I wish I could have spoken about to my family, but they're religious and I wasn't sure how they were going to take it. Abortion is illegal in Colombia, so I didn't know where to turn. I had to contact a friend that I had known that had an abortion in the U.S. I had to ask her, "How do I do this? What do I do? I can't have a kid right now. I have college, and I work, that I have to do first." She basically guided me and let me know that there's Planned Parenthood, and there's this other clinic that also does it normally, and that's where she had it done. She said that at Planed Parenthood there were a lot of protestors so she ended up not going there.
More from The Abortion Issue9 articles How Ruby Rae Spiegel's Play 'Dry Land' Confronts... What Abortion Was Like in the 19th Century This Woman's Little-Known 1972 Case Could Have... Ending the Silence That Fuels Abortion Stigma I had to call from Colombia to schedule the procedure for after I came back. I always considered myself pro-choice, even though I was really religious around that point in my life. I was like, "I don't think I would personally get an abortion, but I don't think they should be illegal." That was always my mentality. I came back from vacation, and I went to have the medical abortion. You take pills you insert either by mouth or vaginally. I didn't really feel guilty about my decision, but I felt like I couldn't talk about it. That got to me because I tell my mom basically everything. To have this sense of judgment that I felt coming—like if I spoke about it, someone might look at me differently, someone might think I'm a horrible person just because of a personal decision that I made with my body— impacted me and I felt silent.
My mom ended up finding out about my abortion in the end. She found the paperwork because I never threw it away. Then, she confronted me about it. This was two years after the fact. I was like, "Yeah, I had an abortion." She, surprisingly, took it very well. I feel like she didn't really know what to say. She was kind of like, "Ok, why didn't you tell me?" and like, "It's ok." She didn't yell or anything, so that was good. Basically, she just told me, you know, like "Be safe." It's hard, because I come from a Hispanic family so they don't really talk to their kids about sex or anything like that, so it was nice to know that she was willing to, you know? Especially because she ended up taking it pretty well.
I come from a single parent home and there was no way that I would be able to continue my education and raise a child. My mom barely had enough to support both of us at the time. I needed to make the good decision that I made.
Dr. J., 66:
Both of my abortions happened in my late 30s or early 40s, when my kids were under the age of ten. They happened two years apart. I felt annoyed when I found out. It just felt like a hassle. I knew I was pregnant extraordinarily early in the pregnancy. I went to the obstetrician who delivered my two children to get the abortions. He was able to do it in his office. He just did a medical D&C. Quite frankly, I never thought I'd end up getting an abortion. I mean I was surprised that that would happen to me because I was careful, but birth control fails.
I knew immediately I did not want more kids. It was really tough for me to be a parent of young children. I think that's the hardest thing for me personally, that I ever did. Much harder than medical school and all that. For all the big things, I think I was suited to be a reasonable parent. But for the day-to-day of a child between the ages of 2 and 6, I was very ill-suited. Because I desperately needed internal space. And you don't have it with a kid that age. When I got pregnant for the third time, I was already stretched to my limit. And actually my husband said the same thing. I was surprised, because I thought caring for little ones was more bothersome to me. But we started talking about it, and he felt the same way. We felt we had nothing left to give to another child. Now, if we'd had to, we would have made the best of it. But we had no internal resources left for another child. That's how we felt.
I think medical school forces you to just put medical issues in a box, and medical problems in a box, and to be able to disengage emotionally. Like when my mother-in-law had Alzheimer's. And I think that's how we felt about it. These days, every once in a while I think–we're so involved with our adult children, and they give us so much pleasure, and we're so proud of them–that it would have been nice to see who these other people would have been. But that's it. It's truly not a saga in our lives. It's not even a chapter. It's a blip. Which probably would enrage somebody who's pro-life.
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