Penn Badgley

Before Penn Badgely acquired his sarcastic smirk, before Leighton Meester had a stylist, before Blake Lively's breasts became the lead characters on Gossip Girl, before Taylor Momsen's '80s glam hair, and before Ed Westwick mastered the Chuck Face, the young actors on the CW show were, shall we say, not quite as polished.

Digging through old photos of the cast, the Daily Transom discovered that the group of twentysomething lead actors--or teenage actors in Ms. Momsen's case--that have become the beautiful young fixtures on red carpets over the past year were once just goofy teenagers with bad skin and terrible fashion sense.  read more »

The label Juicy Couture is perhaps best known for outfitting young girls (and sometimes their moms who should know better) in cotton candy-bright velour sweatpants with the word "Juicy" written across the buttocks. Its clothes are often decorated with rhinestones and lots of hardware, combining the image of daddy's uptown little girl with a little bit of punk. Or, as Cintra Wilson wrote in the New York Times last month: "The girl for whom Juicy Couture is designed, I determined, is Lady Veruca Salt: the imperial tween in the candy store who screams: 'Daddy says only weak people have recessions. I want an Oompa Loompa NOW!'"

The organizers of Thursday evening's opening party for the label's new, 12,000 square foot flagship store at Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street had taken  Ms. Wilson's words to heart. Outside the store, a small army of male models dressed in tight black Levi's, tuxedo shirts, ripped blazers, marching boots, bowler hats, and pink flowers in place of bow ties stared at guests through their emo eye-liner with monotone facial expressions. Inside, professional ballerinas in tutus twisted into ballet moves along the steps leading upstairs. Violinists scratched away at their instruments. Colorful little cakes were passed out. A gospel choir performed. And the publicist Leslie Sloane Zelnick was nearly responsible for a few broken limbs when she entered with her client Penn Badgley, accompanied by his Gossip Girl co-star and real-life girlfriend Blake Lively, Sex and the City hunk Jason Lewis, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Gretchen Mol, sending gaggles of lip-glossed tween girls in a stampede towards the door.  read more »

Paris Hilton's flack is denying reports that the heiress left two of her many dogs outside to be mauled by coyotes, insisting that the Chihuahuas are "healthy and happy" in their "doggie mansion." [People] 

Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley said that Jessica Stroup and Shenae Grime of rival high school soap opera Beverly Hills 90210 should "eat a double cheeseburger or something" and praised his female co-stars for not being "bone-thin." [US Weekly] 

Reportedly, a first-class passenger on a flight with Ivana Trump offered to switch seats with the socialite after she was given a coach seat due a flight change. Her rep insists that this had nothing to do with her pouting or complaints about nearby children, but because the concerned stewardess, "asked someone to switch because Ivana always travels in first class.  read more »

Model Agyness Deyn and Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. are engaged. [Us]

Woody Allen's new film Vicky Cristina Barcelona premiered Wednesday night at the Hotel Plaza Athenee on East 64th St.; stars Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall didn't show up. [WWD]

At the screening, Vicky Cristina Barcelona star Javier Bardem gloated over his sex scenes with Ms. Johansson, Ms. Hall and real-life girlfriend Penelope Cruz. [P6]

Mariah Carey is paying $125,000 to rent the Stone Meadow Farm in East Hampton for one week to celebrate her recent marriage to Nick Cannon. [P6]

Someone has been RSVPing for events under Gossip Girl stars Blake Lively and Penn Badgley's names, and now people are wondering who's playing a joke on Serena and Dan. [Rush & Molloy]

Blake Lively is reportedly jealous of Penn Badgley's new love interest on Gossip Girl and is making everyone uncomfortable with some territorial PDA. [P6]

Shia Leboeuf, was arrested early Sunday and charged with a DUI after his Ford truck hit another car, flipped and landed on its roof in West Hollywood. No one was badly injured. [NY Daily News]

Oil heir Balthazar Getty and Sienna Miller have gone public, visiting the "Bodies: The Exhibit" in South Street Seaport and Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel. Ms. Miller kept her top on the whole time. [P6]

Silda Wall Spitzer is unimpressed with young women that come over to her husband during dinner and compliment him on his work.  read more »

In an effort to name promising newcomers so that they can later say, "We Told You So!" Vanity Fair has come out with its Bright Young Hollywood package for its August issue.

The spread of young men and women features their answers to a hard-hitting questionnaire about their lifestyle preferences: Levi's or J Brand? BlackBerry or iPhone? Jimmy Choo or Christian Louboutin?

And what do we learn?

They love shoes!

Seventeen year-old Emma "Julia's Niece" Roberts, tells the magazine that she owns a little under 50 pairs of shoes and hopes to imitate the Olsen twin look.  read more »

Chloë Sevigny has turned into an "Eco-Nazi" with her anti-plastic-bag ways. [The Cut]

Gossip Girl News! The guy who plays Dan's father, Rufus, thinks Dan and Serena make a "a very hot couple" in real and Gossip worlds, which is kind of ew. Meanwhile, GG's lead torturer Michelle Trachtenberg was in fact the torturee in her private Los Angeles high school. [People, Daily Intel]

Arthur Sulzberger Jr. has moved into an apartment on West 66th Street after getting separated from his wife, Gail Gregg, who for now occupies the home they shared together on West 64th Street. [P6]

Eliot Spitzer will be issuing campaign contribution refunds to his top supporters. [P6]  read more »

Amanda Peet can't get enough room for herself and her stroller on the Philly-New York Acela train. [P6]

When resourceful socialite Lydia Hearst can't get a little champagne, she simply mixes white wine with club soda. [P6]  read more »