Your dress may be an inexpensive LBD from a discount shop, but no one will notice if you're wearing fabulous designer tights.

This holiday season, times are (ugh) still tight, but the opulence and flashy glamour of the 20s and 30s speakeasy culture are in. The way to follow the trend without breaking the bank is to focus on your accessories: make them as eye-catching as you dare. Textures, dark jewel tones, and all things that sparkle are your friends, and we just love these Cynthia Rowley tights.

Also, as with other accessories, you can get them for a far more frugal price than, say, a Cynthia Rowley dress. The tights range from just $15 for Antique Dot Tights to $250 for the breathtaking Embellished Tights shown. It's a smart way to buy into a designer who might otherwise be out of your budget.

Now, go spend your money on presents!

One of our favorite young designers is no stranger to fusion lines. Christian Siriano has teamed up with Payless to design several lines of edgy shoes and Victoria's Secret to create a line of makeup in Mediterranean hues. But now the star designer is bringing fashion to the public in a completely new way. In just another testimony to Siriano's business savvy and creativity, he recently released a line exclusively sold on his website, with six limited edition pieces all under $200. Now, finally fashionistas everywhere will have an opportunity to own their own authentic Christian Siriano piece. What makes the line truly luxurious, other than the delicate silk fabrics and gorgeous drapes, is that the line was inspired by his own Spring/Summer 2010 collection, which had models walking on water in seafaring colors and swaths of oceanic prints. By creating high-quality, affordable pieces taken from his same runway fabrications, Siriano is clearly out to revolutionize the fashion industry.

We spoke to Christian more about this in depth, and why he decided to incorporate these shapes. "The collection is very similar to my ready to wear collection," Siriano tells Luxist. "The fabrications are the same but the shapes are simple and very easy for women to piece into an existing wardrobe. Also these shapes are a limited collection and are not available anywhere else. Therefore the price is able to target the younger and fashionable Christian Siriano Fan."

Siriano says that he created the lower-priced collection for one reason alone: "We receive e-mails everyday, all day from fans who cannot afford anything over $200. It is my way to have my brand more accessible to women everywhere. That is the main goal at the end of the day, to have women wearing my clothes, feeling fabulous."

Our favorite piece is the Oceanic Scarf, a print taken straight from the runway, which is sure to add a fabulous pop to any monotone outfit this season. Check out the rest of the line in detail below. Click here to shop now, because these pieces won't last long.

The packed social calendar around the holidays can confound even the most organized shopper. Dress codes can range from casual low-key family gatherings to business attire for company parties and all-out black-tie New Year's Eve soirees. It's enough to make the most seasoned glamazon reach for a glass of Veuve Cliquot. The bleak economy notwithstanding (or precisely because our spirits desperately need lifting), fashion designers have given us plenty of ways to ring in the new decade. Here are five hot looks for the holidays.

DRAPING: Draping has come a long way from the time of Madam Gres, the haute couturier who introduced the Grecian gown to French society in the 1930s. Today's pleats range from subtle to on-steroids. Donna Karan placed so many pleats in one of her evening gowns, it drenched the model liquid metal. Balenciaga's draped skirts have a strength and structure that bring to mind the Statue of Liberty. And Los Angeles designer Juan Carlos Obando's draped white gown is pure Hollywood screen siren.

ORIGAMI: The Japanese art of paper folding begins with a square that folds and creases into geometric patterns. In fashion, pleats and folds create texture on everything from bodices on Donna Karan gowns to stiff structure at the necklines on an emerald cocktail number by RM Rouland Mouret and kick up the waist of a Christian Dior frock. The look is sculptural and artistic.

WHITE: Perhaps inspired by Michelle Obama's wedding-white inauguration gown by Jason Wu, white gowns are everywhere for the holidays. Polo Ralph Lauren offered a one-shoulder white silk bombshell and ingeniously uses a boyfriend's blazer to tone down the white sugary froth of ruffles and frills (pictured above). Givenchy went a little bit Halston with a jersey gown tied at the waist.

VELVET: This was the year velvet came out of mothballs. As I reported earlier this year, Gianfranco Ferre, Lanvin and Elie Saab blew fashion watchers away with their long, black velvet gowns with structured cap sleeves a la the '40s. And Aquilano.Rimondi came out with a bright red velvet belted cocoon coat that Neiman Marcus The Christmas Book calls the stuff of fairy tales.

SHINE ON: Whether it's jeweled-colored beads on embroidery at Marchesa or a gold metallic Grecian dress at Tadashi Soji, shine always works for the holidays. If you don't want to go head-to-toe, do an accent or two. Gunmetal and copper sequined skirts and leggings will have you giving the Christmas tree a run for its money.

The talented Luella Bartley, anointed Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2008, is the latest fashion victim of the recession. Her label, Luella, is being forced to close down following the loss of one of its main suppliers and has stopped trading. Last month Luella's Italian production company Carla Carini shut down which meant that the orders for the spring/summer 2010 collection could not be fulfilled. This started a chain reaction in which the company in charge of distribution, VSQ, announced it was withdrawing its backing.

Luella's punk-meets-pretty aesthetic has been much beloved by England's young and fashionable including Alexa Chung, Lily Allen and Pixie Geldof. Bartley launched Luella in 1999 and opened her flagship store on Mayfair's Brook Street in 2007. In a statement she said that she hopes the Luella girl aesthetic can go on in some form and is considering ways to keep the brand alive.

Being able to rent a couture gown for a special event is nothing new but a new service, Rent the Runway, hopes to streamline the process and become, as the NY Times describes it, a Netflix for haute couture. The site was founded by two recent Harvard Business School graduates, Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Carter Fleiss. A four-night dress rental can cost from $50 to $200 depending on the value of the gown. Pieces can be rented for either four or eight days.

The gowns bear some well-known labels: Diane Von Furstenberg, Hervé Léger and Proenza Schouler are among the offerings and Christian Siriano will be offering his new collection on the site. To begin the process you choose a gown and reserve your dates. A dress will arrive within a couple days of your event. Dresses come with a Fit Kit which includes double-sided tape,deodorant wipes, and a bra converter. The services also promises that stylists will be available by phone during normal business hours to offer advice and help. After wearing, you send it off in a pre-paid, pre-addressed return envelope. The service handles the dry cleaning.

The NY Times profile on the service says that more than more than 20,000 women have joined. The service has only been shipping dresses for only a week. Part of the risk of this business it requires a constant rotation of fashionable dresses which will only be in play for a season or two. Several services including Avelle (formerly Bag, Borrow or Steal) already offer accessories like handbags, sunglasses, jewelry for rent. Adorn Brides offers high-end jewelry featuring diamonds, pearls and colored gemstones for brides and bridesmaids.

This holiday season two unique luxury brands Catherine Malandrino and Cointreau, both brought to the States via France, have teamed up to deliver the ultimate gift bottle. Malandrino chose the symbol of the Statue of Liberty, arguably the best thing the French ever gave us, to mark the limited edition Cointreau bottle.

The Cointreau bottle has remained remarkably unchanged for nearly 160 years, making this one of the hottest collector's bottles of the season. Malandrino's romantic bottle remains true to the silhouette, but is dressed in stars and lace, calling to mind the signature detailed cuts and handicraft trims of her ready-to-wear collection.

Cointreau is a must to give our favorite cocktails that slight edge of "Je ne sais quoi" sweet and bitter oranges, making for the most perfect margaritas or cosmopolitans. Bring this luxury gift to your hostess this holiday season to spice up any cocktail hour.


Cointreau Cosmopolitan Recipe
2.5oz Vodka
1.5oz Cointreau
1oz Cranberry Juice
0.5oz lime juice
Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with twist of orange to bring out the flavor of Cointreau.

The battle to save Escada continues. The NY Post reports that the owner of Faconnable may buy the German fashion house. Beirut-based M1 Group purchased Faconnable from Nordstrom for $210 million in 2007 and Escada's similar upscale fashion demographic would make it an excellent companion brand. But there's more than one suitor at Escada's door. Others interested in the brand include Megha Mittal, daughter-in-law of Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire Indian steel magnate, Sven Ley, the son of Escada's founder Wolfgang Ley and Vestar Capital Partners which owns another comparable brand, St. John Knits.

Ley is working with the former head of Gucci, Giacomo Santucci, and Italian investment group Borletti. Reuters says that Ley's consortium, ZSL Partners, has offered to pay almost 80 million euros for the fashion house and would bring Santucci on as the chief exec. putting a man with some serious fashion experience at the helm. Borletti also owns the Rinascente and Printemps department stores in Italy and France.

M1 Group's plans for Escada would involve combining the back-end" operations of Escada andFaconnable to create a single lean, mean fashion machine behind the scenes while keeping the creative on the brands separate. M1 Group and Mittal are both said to support current CEO Bruno Salzer, formerly of Hugo Boss. Insolvency proceedings over Escapa opened Sunday at the Munich Municipal court and a decision could be forthcoming within the next few days.

Fashion historian Caroline Rennolds Milbank examines the history of warm weather wear in a beautifully illustrated new book called Resort Fashion from Rizzoli. From the first "beach pajamas" designed by Coco Chanel and Lilly Pulitzer and Pucci prints, to sailor stripes and the Kennedys' laid back yachtsman style, to Michael Kors and Tory Burch's beach-inspired designs and of course the evolution of the swimsuit, Milbank crosses continents and generations. The seven chapters break the looks down by category: At Sea, Stripes, Prints, White, Playclothes, Summer Dress and Bathing Suits, with photos from destinations like Palm Beach, Montego Bay and St. Tropez by legends like Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Norman Parkinson, Helmut Newton, and Scavullo.

Versace has been a brand in transition for a while now but new CEO Gian Giacomo Ferraris has been shaking things up lately. His latest move is an announcement that the Italian fashion house will lose 350 jobs worldwide by the middle of next year as part of a cost-cutting initiative that also includes a thorough evaluation of Versace's store network. The brand recently decided to close stores in Japan, formerly one of the biggest luxury goods markets.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is expected to post a pre-tax loss of €30 million ($44.4 million) on revenue of €273 million. This is a sharp contrast to 2008 when Versace posted a net profit of €9 million on sales of €336 million. Part of the decline is due to a fall in sales in the company's wholesale business and the financial collapse of IT Holding SpA, which produced clothing for Versace under brand licensing agreements. Versace re-launched the secondary line Versus at Milan Fashion week earlier this month.The brand will move forward with new runway designs and will instead focus its fat trimming in the areas of production, distribution and logistics. That's good news for Donatella Versace, the brand's designer who also holds a 20 percent stake in the company. Her daughter Allegra Versace Beck has a 50 percent stake bequeathed to her by her late uncle Gianni Versace and her other uncle Santo Versace has the remaining 30 percent of the company. Ferraris came aboard this spring after Donatella Versace's repeated battles with Giancarlo Di Risio.

Sometimes we all need a reminder of the basics of good style. InStyle is releasing the latest new edition of its top-selling classic, The New Secrets of Style (Time, Inc. Home Entertainment, $29.95) on October 27, 2009. This comprehensive style resource features expert guidance for looking fabulous with confidence and ease. The book uses celebrity examples to discusses the finer points of effortless and timeless dressing. Each chapter analyzes different aspects of a wardrobe, from lingerie to coats, and features "flattery" charts arranged by body type. Written by the editors of InStyle, The New Secrets of Style includes chapters on shoes, bags, jewelry and shows how to combine the various types of accessories with specific outfits to create an elegant, unfussy look.

We received a copy of this book to give away to one reader. To enter leave a comment with your own style tip below.

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Montreal is a fantastic destination, but like any city, it can be hard for a visitor to get to know. To that end, Tourisme Montreal has engaged five in-the-know locals to basically blanket social media from Facebook, to Twitter, to blogs, sharing all of their knowledge about their city -- and answering questions from travelers in town. Katerine Rollet is one of these insiders, and she recently selected these 12 can't-miss experiences in Montreal for Luxist.

1- Go for tea at the St. James Hotel. This chic boutique hotel is where the likes of the Rolling Stones and Madonna stay when they're in town, and the tea at newly renovated restaurant XO is a a great way to experience a proper British tea with a modern twist. UPDATED: The St. James no longer serves afternoon tea, but the new Salon XO is worth a visit.
2- Experience the spa at Place D'armes -- one of the best places in town for a mani-pedi, not to mention one of the few places in Montreal to experience a hammam, or Turkish bath. Wrap up with a drink on the terrace.
3- For men: at Québec's own Phillipe Dubuc -- the place for a man to fill his closet with stylish, business appropriate clothing with an edge.
4- For women: fill your suitcase at Montreal's achingly stylish, unfailingly feminine Marie Saint Pierre.
5- For everyone: visit Oglivy, a lovely shopping mall filled with charming boutiques, great book stores, stationary shops, international designers and more.
6- For the shopping-shy: Engage the style hounds at Les Effrontes to have your own guided tour of Montreal's up and coming designer's ateliers.
7- Dine at Joe Beef, on raw bar and steak in up-and-coming neighborhood Little Burgundy ("Petite Bourgogne") .
8- Or, hit Toque -- widely considered one of the best meals you can have in Montreal. Try the tasting menu.
9- Or reserve the chef's table at Europea, and dine in the kitchen of charismatic Chef Jérôme Ferrer. 10- After dinner drinks: check out Hotel St Paul's bar for cocktails with Montreal's chicest.
11- Sweet treats: visit Point G for waffles, artisanal ice cream, and most importantly, macarons.
12- Brunch the next day: La Cantine in the Plateau neighborhood, for a traditional Québec brunch revisited.

British photographer Norman Parkinson's name may not be terribly well known today, but his influence on a subsequent generation of fashion photographers is obvious from a new survey of his work just published by Rizzoli. Norman Parkinson: A Very British Glamour is a lavish portrait of Parkinson's long career from the 1930s through the 1980s, produced in a unique collaboration with the Norman Parkinson Archive in London. Parkinson got his start at Vogue in London, was a protégé of the great Alexander Lieberman at American Vogue when he came to New York, and did some of his most innovative work in the Diana Vreeland years there. In a career that spanned more than four decades, Parkinson worked with the greatest models, from Carmen Dell'Orefice, often called the first supermodel, who was Parkinson's early muse, to the young Jerry Hall, whom Parkinson shot for her first Vogue cover as well as in an historic 1975 shoot staged in the USSR. His iconic photographs for the likes of Vogue, Queen, and Harper's Bazaar are reproduced in the volume alongside a trove of previously unpublished fashion work.

Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto recently presented his black, white and edgy designs at Spring-Summer 2010 fashion week in Paris but things weren't so rosy behind the scenes. The brand has filed for bankruptcy protection listing debts of six billion yen, or $67.8 million. The firm is planning to continue to operate while in bankruptcy. The brand Yohji Yamamoto was formed by the designer in 1984 and he is part of an influential group of designers from Japan, including Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake, who gained influence in the 1980s. The brand's moderately priced Y-3 line with Adidas is set to continue.

The economy is being blamed for the financial situation. Japan's luxury market appears to be less robust lately, especially in light of the recent announcement by Versace that it is closing its Japan boutiques. But Yamamoto's popularity extends beyond Japan. The minimalist line, which offers easy-to-wear clothing with unique cuts, has a small but devoted following. Other nIche brands like Escada and Christian Lacroix has faced similar financial woes. As in other industries smaller fashion businesses often don't have the resources or name recognition to compete once overall spending goes down. Another determining factor for many of the smaller brands has also been the decrease in orders from department stores. As stores and boutiques trim their orders many of the less well-known brands are being left behind.

UPDATE:Yohji Yamamoto Inc. has found a new investor. Integral Corp., a Japanese private equity fund, will finance the company's restructure. WWD says that pending court approval, Integral plans to create a separate company to acquire the Yamamoto business and assets which will become the new Yohji Yamamoto Inc. with Yamamoto himself retaining a minority stake.

Luxury publisher Assouline and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) have come out with a new book called American Fashion Menswear, billed as "the most authoritative and exciting book to date on the evolution of menswear in the United States over the past century. " The book begins by noting that the individualists and adventurers who settled America required garments that were functional and well-designed in order to survive the challenges of a new environment; those qualities continue to endure at the very heart of American menswear. Author Robert E. Bryan has divided the volume into seven different sections based upon the diverse identities of the American man, covering everything "Levi Strauss to the Ivy League, lounge suits to Zoot suits, and cowboys to counterculture," with cameos from the likes of Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando, Ralph Lauren and more.

A lavish new coffee table book from Rizzoli titled Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion and Architecture is a seductive anthology of the famed French fashion house's collaborations with an international group of elite artists, architects, designers, and photographers, including Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, David LaChapelle, Annie Leibovitz, Takashi Murakami (whose updated LV monogram is featured on the cover) Richard Prince and Stephen Sprouse. Beautiful images are interspersed with critical essays that examine and position Louis Vuitton's patronage, under the guidance of Artistic Director Marc Jacobs, during "one of the most fertile periods of contemporary art and design." The book is divided alphabetically so as to serve as a sort of encyclopedia of the many collaborations, commissions and sponsorships Vuitton, a cornerstone of the LVMH luxury goods empire, has engaged in over the years.