Cindy Crawford

Madonna, Julia Roberts, Michele Pfeiffer, Kim Basinger, Richard Gere, Cindy Crawford – all of them owe their fame in some measure to the late Herb Ritts, the renowned photographer whose portraits for the likes of Vanity Fair, Vogue and various fashion houses in the '80s and '90s helped turn many of his subjects into icons. A new book by Charles Churchward, Herb Ritts: The Golden Hour, is a lavish scrapbook / oral history looking at both Ritts' life, legacy and work. Along with some of the well known celebrity and supermodel poses the book's 200 images include intimate portraits, images of extravagant Hollywood parties, travels to exotic locales, and other unforgettable moments from an extraordinary career, many from Ritts' personal archive and previously unpublished. Richard Gere provides an introduction and there are scores of interviews from Ritts' friends including Annie Leibovitz, Elton John, kd lang, Helena Christensen, L'Wren Scott and more.

Charlie and his chocolate factory have nothing on new author, candy expert, and sweets purveyor par excellence Dylan Lauren (above, left).

Scarlet balloons hugged the ceiling of Dylan's Candy Bar, her sugary eponymous department store in Manhattan. Lilanne Becker, an adult dressed as a fairy princess with a satin gown, white gloves and tiara, stood beside a table stacked with books and brandished a colorful copy of Dylan Lauren's new coffee-table tome, "Dylan's Candy Bar: Unwrap Your Sweet Life" (Clarkson Potter). Downstairs, Aundre Seals, a Halloween Dracula with some white face paint skewered Rice Krispie treats and marshmallows shaped like ghosts, drenched them in a triple-tier chocolate fountain, and handed them to salivating onlookers.

For adults, cocktails with lime rock-sugar swizzle sticks and gummy spider garnishes were spiked with VeeV, an açai-based spirit and tonic water. Red licorice decorated yet another cocktail made with raspberry liqueur.

In a basement brimming with vintage candy, including a bathtub filled with gumballs, a line of adoring fans snaked towards a cheery Dylan Lauren, wearing an acid green shirt with candy-tone Rep tie and signing books.

Sure I'm proud," said designer Ralph Lauren, Dylan's famous dad (above, right), wearing a blue-and-gold bomber jacket. "I'm so happy for her. She created something she loves and is happy to share it with many people who love candy!"

Last month we reported that top fashion brands were once again bringing back the supermodels of the 1990s to star in new fall ad campaigns for the likes of Prada, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton.

Vanity Fair has now picked up on the trend, with an eight page story in the new September issue and a photo shoot by Mario Testino (right) featuring Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell.

Though they're all obviously in great shape, Testino somehow makes Seymour look as if she's made entirely of plastic, while the gorgeous Schiffer looks more like a hausfrau than a supermodel. Perhaps the lighting and make-up is to blame. The shoot was originally rumored to be for the magazine's cover, but we can see why they went with Carla Bruni instead.

From the Real Estalker:
--The Desert House, the sleek and modern prototype for the deluxe prefabs created by starchitecture firm Marmol Radziner in Desert Hot Springs has been listed at $1.85 million.
--Did Scott Baio move to a five-bedroom house in Encino? The Real Estalker Mama reports that Baio and his wife, Peaches Renee Sloan, still occupy Baio's home on Royal Oak Road in Encino. It looks like the couple "bought" the new home on the show for reality drama's sake.
--Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford are renting out a beach front four-bedroom home in Malibu for $22,500 a month.
--Rumors have been swirling that Britney Spears bought a new house in Hermosa Beach before she went into the hospital. The home in question appears to be owned by professional photographer Dani Brubaker (who recently took pictures of Britney and her children for OK Magazine) and it seems unlikely that Britney actually bought this home.
--Has billionaire Ron Burkle helped Michael Jackson save Neverland Ranch? Roger Friedman at Fox News has reported that Burkle might have intervened of Jackson's behalf to provide an extension to give Jackson time to refinance.
--Jennifer Aniston has moved out of the Malibu cottage she's been renting since 2005.
--Jermaine Dupri has listed a five-bedroom home in Atlanta, Georgia for $1.5 million. The listing is here.
--Melrose Place actor Grant Show has listed his three-bedroom house in the Beachwood Canyon for $1,995,000. The listing is here.
--Singer Dido has listed her house in the prestigious Bird Streets area of Los Angeles for $4.6 million. The listing is here.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--A Parisian home that once belonged to Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir is on the market. It is out estate of the day later today.
--NBA point guard Baron Davis of the Golden State Warriors has sold a pair of adjacent condos in West Hollywood for $2.66 million.
--Investment banker Warren Woo has paid $20 million for a house in Los Angeles, plus $2 million more for furnishings.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--A two-floor penthouse at 530 East 72nd Street which was lived in by Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow and then by Andy Warhol's physician, Denton S. Cox is on the market for $5,995,000 and it's a real fixer-upper. The listing is here.
--Ex-F.B.I. Special Agent Ali Soufan, who now works for Guiliani Partners, and his wife just paid $1.7 million for a new Manhattan apartment.
--Stephen Drucker, House Beautiful's editor, and real estate agent Frank Newbold closed this month on a two-bedroom co-op at 125 East 74th Street for $1.45 million.
--Parker Posey, who late last year listed her apartment in an 1845 brownstone on East 10th Street near Third Avenue for $1.175 million, is in contract to buy a $1.35 million one-bedroom co-op at 30 Fifth Avenue.
--Salman Rushdie's ex-wife, 37-year-old Padma Lakshmi, the model-turned-Top Chef hostess paid $1,651,111 for a long, full-floor loft in Alphabet City.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Wilmer Valderrama has sold a home in Tarzana for $1,750,000 after it had been listed for $2,250,000 and later reduced to $1,950,000.
--Rupert Murdoch has taken $2,000,000 off the asking price of his Long Island, N.Y. mansion, Rosehearty, reducing its listing price from $14,800,000 to $12,800,000. It was our estate of the day back in July.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--A new record residential price has been set for the North Fork of Long Island. A 135-acre estate that includes a 19-acre vineyard has been sold for $19.5 million. The original asking price for Indian Neck Farm was $22 million when it went on the market in 2006.
--Edgar Bronfman Jr. and his wife, Clarissa, finally have taken possession of their 11-room co-op at 1040 Fifth Ave.
--Author and interior decorator Regina "Gigi" Mahon has paid just over $14 million for two condo apartments on the fifth floor at the soon to be completed Plaza.
--Polo-playing communications mogul Adam Lindemann has found a new oceanfront Hamptons hideaway in Montauk for $21.5 million.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Keith Yamashita, a high-powered business consultant, has listed his contemporary Manhattan Beach home at $3.449 million because he and his partner, Todd Holcomb, are planning to return to San Francisco, where their 10-year-old company, Stone Yamashita Partners, is based. The listing is here.

From AOL Real Estate:
--A list of America's richest counties.