Valentino

Last night's Directors Guild Awards played host to yet another round of slick red-carpet cocktail attire. While not quite the stuff of black-tie affairs, our two favorite looks certainly held enough intrigue to supply ample (sleeveless) styling inspiration. Jennifer Garner opted for an Antonio Berardi LWD that, once again, proved her ability to find the balance in sexy cuts and glamorous finishes. And for us, the combination of a body-conscious silhouette, embellished top, and a crisp Winter white hue made this the kind of monochromatic outfit that never veers toward boring. To counter the sleeveless shift, she accessorized with muted metallic pieces, namely a Salvatore Ferragamo box clutch and matching satin peep-toe pumps, then added just a hint of sparkle via Cartier jewels. Jennifer's look is the perfect solution to your "how to wear white at night" question. But if you're not a fan of the peep-toe look in Winter, try a pointy-toe pump in the same neutral tone instead.

This award season's wild-card styler, Anne Hathaway, went for a punchier print look, donning a sleeveless pink-and-blue beaded Valentino Couture dress with navy blue Casadei vegan heels. Because the dress offered up a serious textual statement, the Les Misérables actress didn't do much else in the way of add-ons. Her diamond studs, tennis bracelet, and wedding ring served as the outfit's only accents, and in this case, it totally worked. Anne's playful choice is the kind of dress you should wear on the next night out with the girls — it's fun, festive, but doesn't feel overdone in the least. Which look would you wear? Tell us in the comments.

All the bits fit to print here, in our daily news roundup.

• Miuccia Prada's sketches of the dresses she designed with Baz Luhrmann for The Great Gatsby have been released. This is the third time Prada has worked with the director; their most recent project was the 1996 film Romeo & Juliet. [Telegraph]
• Move over, eBay: there is a new generation of online resale sites hitting the Internet. [Business of Fashion]
• Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery says that her character, Lady Mary Crawley, influences her personal style. [InStyle]
• Mark your calendars: the Valentino Spring 2013 couture show will be live streamed this Wednesday at 12 p.m. EST. [Valentino]
• Newly relocated John Galliano isn't wasting any time hitting New York's fashionable haunts: he was recently spotted having lunch at Sant Ambroeus with Grace Coddington. [Page Six]
  

• André Leon Talley loves that Michelle Obama is a first lady who isn't afraid to put her hair up in a ponytail. [Vogue]
• Cara Delevingne and Mark Ronson were just a few of the guests spotted at Georgia May Jagger's haunted 21st birthday party. [FabSugar UK]
• Nina Garcia will debut her style makeover web series, Decoding Style With Nina Garcia, tomorrow on Aol on Style's YouTube channel. [Racked]

All the bits fit to print here, in our daily news roundup.

• Harley Viera-Newton is the face of Whetherly's Spring 2013 collection. [Nylon]
  

• Valentino plans to expand its menswear line with dedicated boutiques in Paris, London, and Milan. [Vogue UK]
  

• Meanwhile, the Republic of Azerbaijan has acquired the building in Place Vendôme that houses Valentino's headquarters for $178.4 million. [WWD]
  

• H&M has tapped Czech tennis player Tomas Berdych to codesign and represent the brand's first tennis collection. [Telegraph]
  

• Shoegasm has launched ecommerce. [Fashionologie Inbox]
  

• If you were thinking about buying something from Maje's Fall line, now's the time to do it — its seasonal collection just went 50 percent to 60 percent off both in stores and online. [Fashionologie Inbox]
  

• In case you've been missing the hot men of Game of Thrones, this one's for you. The show's Richard Madden stars in Mr. Porter's just-released Issue 97. [Fashionologie Inbox]
  

• Photographer Ryan McGinley's digital short for Mercedes-Benz stars Karlie Kloss, a white horse, and one very mischievous car. [Nowness]
  

  Mind of Its Own on Nowness.com.

Before he met his partner Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino says he was a freewheeling 26-year-old who just wanted to have a good time.

The Daily Telegraph asked the designer to describe a photo of himself working in 1958, when he'd just come back to Rome to set up his first atelier on the Via Condotti. He'd just spent several years in Paris, going to clubs with Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent after class at the Ecole de la Chambre de la Mode. Before heading back to Italy, he worked for designers Jean Desses and Guy Laroche.

"At this time, I just wanted to have fun, drive a sports car, sunbathe at the beach, wear leather pants, and dance," he said. "But not long after this photograph was taken, I went to have drinks with friends and met Giancarlo Giammetti. It was Giancarlo who started to grow the business [he dropped out of studying architecture to look after the financial side of Valentino's fashion house from 1960]. We moved to Via Gregoriana, where we had 100 people in the atelier. Giancarlo decided that I should show my collections in Florence as it was a very important market. It all took off for me when the buyers of the American department stores Bloomingdale's, Saks, Macy's, and Neiman Marcus discovered me there."

Giancarlo Giammetti and Valentino at a party in 2006.

All the bits fit to print here, in our daily news roundup.