Five things we learned today

- At Apple's Jobs-free Macworld, Phil Schiller went with a blue button-down and jeans. And, oh, yeah, he also introduced a new $2,800 MacBook and DRM-free iTunes. (Less official: This "Steve Jobs Lives" T-shirt.)
- Looking for something tasteful to put inside your pinup-girl wallet? Try Roberto Cavalli's new MasterCard.
- Of course, given the times, this might be more important news: Topshop's first U.S. store is now rumored to be opening on March 26.
- Slate just launched its annual Movie Club, wherein a handful of critics review the year in film over e-mail. (Early consensus: '08 kind of sucked.) Be warned, gents: For the first time, the club is written by ladies only.
- And finally, Alfred Shaheen died. The late designer helped popularize the Hawaiian shirt, thanks to colorful prints like the one sported by Elvis in Blue Hawaii.

As the blog mentioned yesterday, Jerrod Cornish and Keith Richardson of Los Angeles brand Corpus were just honored with the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award for menswear. I couldn't think of a better recipient for 2009—while the duo has been in business since '02 (and are contemporaries of past winners like Trovata and Rag & Bone), they haven't enjoyed those brands' level of success. But one gets the distinct feeling that their profile (if not fortunes) will rise now, in part because (in my humble opinion) their Spring/Summer '09 collection is easily their best to date. They've finally reached that elusive point where brand identity, seasonal concept, and wearability are in perfect balance. (In the past, they have strayed too far in one direction or another.) The clothes are refreshingly unpretentious, combining West Coast ease with nautically inflected details. (As you might guess, their ideal customer is a guy who's equally comfortable in NYC or L.A.) And while there's never a bad time to celebrate a collection that's well designed but not lavish and well made but affordable, it feels particularly right in 2009. Congrats, guys.

In the least surprising automotive news of the year so far, sales of Hummers tanked by more than 50 percent between December 2007 and last month, while Mini sales jumped by more than 28 percent during the same period. When it comes to cars, annoyingly small is the new obnoxiously big. But that still doesn't mean I'm going to be putting down a deposit on a new Audi S1, renderings of which just went up on Auto Express.

Sure, the car's specs are as impressive as we've come to expect from an Audi "S" model—thanks to both super- and turbocharging, the 1.4L engine cranks out 200 horsepower yet is expected to return a combined 35 mpg—but I'm having trouble getting past the angry-gnat front fascia. Oh, I get it, tiny cars can be tough too, except—they can't. If I may be permitted a sports analogy, think back to the late-eighties NBA, when grinning mini-warriors like Spud Webb or Muggsy Bogues could actually serve as point guards. Those guys survived on speed, craftiness, and wit. What's more, they knew that when you're 5'6" or 5'3" (respectively), running around with a big, cartoony smile on your face doesn't make you look tough, it makes you look like Marvin the Martian. That's something Audi's design team might want to take to heart as they get to work on the S1 2.0. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm putting my name down for one of those smiley little Mini turbos, either.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times: It takes a peculiar economic moment to make price-slashing clearance sales a ho-hum event, but that seems to be the moment in which we find ourselves. Still, the announcement of Oak's biannual 40/50/60 sale deserves special mention. The three-week sale starts most merchandise at 40 percent off, some at 50, and less at 60, and with each week that goes by, knocks what's left into the subsequent discount level. (If, that is, the clothes make it a full week—and, as you might expect, most don't.) One caveat: If the goods on offer look familiar, well, they are—we've covered some of them (like the 3.1 Phillip Lim windowpane cardigan, pictured) in the course of our usual fashion rounds this fall. If you've been patiently waiting for the prices to drop, consider your virtue rewarded.
3.1 Phillip Lim hand-knit high-collar sweater, originally $646, now $323, available (at press time) at oaknyc.com

Though he made his reputation with maximalist womenswear, more recently Christian Lacroix has turned his attentions to designing men's clothes. But until this spring, the line hadn't been available in the United States. (We know: good timing.) Happily, his menswear is a little more restrained—particularly the suits, which sport a slim cut, peak lapels, and clean detailing. Less restrained? The jackets' lining, which comes adorned with sixties-style psychedelic patterns and/or Victorian drawings, pictured. (Those patterns are repeated a bit less subtly elsewhere in the collection.) I really get a kick out of this touch, which adds a little secret color and cheer to the suits—especially nice in these dour times. Another reason to be cheerful? Despite the well-known name and the quality, they start at a reasonable $1,000.
Christian Lacroix two-button suit, $1,000, available at Christian Lacroix, 36 E. 57th St., NYC, (212)753-2569; 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas, (702) 731-0990.

It's a bit outside our usual realm of coverage, but I wanted to point out today's Times piece about coked-up bees because, as you might expect, it's very funny (if not as hilarious as I originally hoped). In short, the scientists doused the bees in liquefied freebase cocaine to study the effects of the drug on humans. The researchers' observation? Drugged bees "danced more frequently and more vigorously for the same quality food" and circled "about 25 percent faster" than their drug-free counterparts. Their data was collected in a lab (in Australia, no less), but it seems a night out at just about any Manhattan club might have led them to the same conclusion.

Five things worth knowing today

- Nip/Tuck has its winter premiere tonight on FX. Elective surgeries may no longer be in your budget, but no reason you can't enjoy them (and, given the series' macabre tilt, their grisly after-effects) on TV.
- Apple gears up for its last keynote at the Macworld Expo today, delivered—for a change—not by Steve Jobs.
- Scotland's Glasvegas, whose brand of Wall-of-Sound jangle landed them on many best-of-'08 lists recently, release their self-titled album in the U.S.
- Today in 1870, Vienna's Musikverein—home of the Vienna Philharmonic and renowned for boasting some of the world's very best acoustics—was inaugurated.
- And today in 1986, Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner was born. Below, he Mod-rocks his way through "Standing Next to Me" with his stylish side project, the Last Shadow Puppets:

Five things we learned today

- John Galliano has been appointed a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. Well, there's one thing he has in common with Giorgio Armani.
- L.A.'s Corpus won the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award for menswear.
- PTLD ME posted Rogues Gallery's spring collection. Fans of yachting caps, fear not: Nautical looks abound.
- Burton's Playmate-emblazoned Love snowboards have inspired protests in the brand's native Vermont.
- And Steve Jobs has a hormone imbalance, which is why he's skipping Macworld. (Get well soon, Steve.)

A new year, a new set of designer collaborations. The latest iteration of footwear from France's Pierre Hardy and the Franco-Japanese Kitsuné is now available at Colette, which carried the brands' codesigned desert boot last year. For that previous attempt, it seemed as if Kitsuné (and its minimal aesthetic) took the lead; now, perhaps, it's Pierre Hardy's turn. (Hardy has never been afraid of wild colors.) The new pair's shape is both handsome and classic, but the bright blue leather requires a provocateur's daring—in other words, I can't think of a better home for them than Colette. (Only the unretiring Miss Colette herself, Sarah Lerfel, could deem the descriptor "Smurf shoes" a compliment.) Those bold enough to buck the present moment's back-to-basics trend should enjoy them; as for me, I enjoy them at a comfortable distance (i.e., a few feet from my feet). But then, I'm not in the habit of taking fashion tips from a blog called "Think Silly."
Pierre Hardy x Kitsuné shoes, $429.85, available at colette.fr

[via blog.think-silly.com/colette]

The highlight of Johnny Cash's famous At Folsom Prison album is, of course, the rip-roaring performance of "Folsom Prison Blues," complemented by the knowing whoops from the audience. But the singer's iconic look was in full bloom, too. He was 35 when he recorded the album, and so had lived long enough (and hard enough) to look as beaten down as his trademark all-black ensemble would suggest. This was already evident in Columbia Records' official photos from the show, but additional proof has arrived in a handful of newly surfaced images. They were discovered by a newspaper reporter who accompanied Cash to the concert, along with photographer Dan Poush. The record label originally forbade Poush to take pictures, but the singer overruled Columbia, saying simply "These are my friends." The photos had been buried ever since, and provide additional confirmation (as if any were needed) that the Man in Black was eternally cool. Read the full story here; check out a slideshow here.

[via Newser]