style.com

>> It seems the Derek Blasberg and Style.com saga may have come to a close.  After being accused of taking money from brands in exchange for posts, Blasberg (who was named editor-at-large at Style.com last December), saw his byline quietly drop off the Style.com blog roster. Although he's still listed as a "contributor," his last post for the site was in June, just before the accusations of misconduct (which Blasberg fiercely denies, and which Style.com has never confirmed).

Now comes a memo from the Hearst PR department that Blasberg — who is also editor-at-large at Harper's Bazaar — will be a permanent Fashion Week fixture on Bazaar.com.  According to publicist Michael Volpatt, who handles Hearst Digital PR, "Blasberg takes site visitors front-row, backstage, and into the most exclusive Fashion Week parties, reporting daily on the trends, the faces, the hot spots, what everyone’s wearing and of course, the season's news-making fashion.  This can be found right on the home page."

>> Candy Pratts Price Named Creative Director of Vogue.com —Candy Pratts Price, who was laid off last year from her position as executive fashion director of Style.com, has been named the new creative director of Vogue.com. Pratts Price — who Anna Wintour dubbed "Queen of the Internet" in 2008 — has been a contributing editor at Vogue in recent months. Vogue.com is expected to relaunch on Sept. 7, and Pratts Price's appointment is certainly notable, now that Style.com and Vogue.com are expected to co-exist and compete. [@womensweardaily]

>> Instead of shuttering Style.com, as many speculated would happen after Vogue.com's big relaunch — which comes right after Labor Day — Drew Schutte, SVP and chief revenue officer for Conde Nast Digital, is ready for the two to take over the web together: “In my mind, why not have two of the leading brands in the online space? There’s lots of competition coming up, so instead of letting someone else become the number-two competitor, I’d like to make one ourselves and have the number one and two in the space.”

Style.com was once the online home of both W and Vogue, but all three are now entirely separate — no pooling of resources. Style.com will send its own reviewers (Tim Blanks, Nicole Phelps, Meenal Mistry) to the upcoming fashion shows, as will Vogue.com (Jessica Kerwin, former Style contributor Sarah Mower, as well as Vogue senior staffers Mark Holgate, Hamish Bowles, and others).

There's good reason to keep Style around »

>> After reports came out alleging that Style.com editor-at-large Derek Blasberg (who is also Harper's Bazaar editor-at-large and a V contributor) had received compensation for consulting on a Yves Saint Laurent party that he covered for Style.com last week, Eleanor Banco, spokeswoman for Style.com told Jezebel today: "We are reviewing this matter (referring to Derek Blasberg) internally. For the record, it is not our policy to assign writers to cover events if they are receiving any other financial remuneration in connection with that event and we have no further comment on the subject."

Blasberg conceded that he "had a conversation with a senior member of YSL Beauty's corporate office about social networking and building a buzz for the event" and worked with Alison Brod PR on the party's guest list. Before the event, a media alert was sent out asking party attendees "to tweet from the event with the hash tag #YSLparty." And at the event, an Yves Saint Laurent spokeswoman mentioned to the Wall Street Journal that Blasberg "helped start the 'Twitter party,' so to speak."

Payment was discussed »

>> It's been almost two weeks of rolling layoffs at Conde Nast — including at Vogue and W — which have mostly been done without releasing names, but now comes news that Style.com has let go two contributors: executive fashion director Candy Pratts Price, who Anna Wintour last year dubbed "Queen of the Internet," and senior features editor Laird Borrelli-Persson.

Pratts Price's Style.com contract will not be renewed after it ends in Spring 2010, though she will remain listed as a contributing editor at Vogue, where she is rumored to have spent as much time as she did at Style.com's offices. She will likely make the magazine and its counterpart her primary outlet after her Style.com contract ends; Borrelli-Persson, meanwhile, is expected to remain at Style.com through the end of the year.  The layoffs may have to do with Style.com being folded into the new-and-improved Vogue.com, although there has been no confirmation of that possibility.

Unfortunately, these cuts aren't the last at Conde Nast — word is, more are coming today.

>> Style.com Moves On From The Sartorialist with Jak & Jil's Tommy Ton —Earlier in the week, we questioned the whereabouts of Scott "The Sartorialist" Schuman's Fashion Week blog of Style.com, which he's done for the last six seasons, but now we have our answer: Jak & Jil's Tommy Ton has taken over duties this season.  His first installment from New York Fashion Week went up today, and he's supposed to be in London — which Schuman usually skips — now. [Style.com, Jak & Jil, Styledotcom Twitter]

>> The Sartorialist No Longer Fashion Week Blogging for Style.com? —Style.com rolled out a Twitter aggregator of fashion notables, "The Fashion Feed," to amp up it's Fashion Week coverage, but one of its other usual Fashion Week staples seems to have fallen by the wayside.  Scott "The Sartorialist" Schuman, who contributed to a special Fashion Week version of his blog on Style.com for the past six seasons up until last March, doesn't seem to be updating this time around, even though he's been out and about shooting at shows. 

>> Plans have been in motion to spin Vogue.com off from Style.com for a while now; last month, the move was postponed to next year.  This morning, Vogue.com — which was already redesigned once this year — rolled out a new, white backgrounded layout to cap off the magazine's increased blog content of the past few months — the Vogue Daily blog, for which Anna Wintour approves all images that are published.

Already, there has been talk that Style.com may be folded into Vogue.com — much like it was announced that Men.Style.com would become part of GQ.com and Details.com in October — although it was said then that Style.com would continue to stand alone, and a spokesperson reiterated a week ago that the company's current plans wouldn't affect Style.com.  But only time will tell — Conde Nast is making a move away from its web-only brands to print brand names online.

Marc Jacobs' new muse: Miss Piggy.

Jean Paul Gaultier stepping down at Hermes.

Style.com to become Vogue.com?

Models seeking movie roles.

Sweatpants get a chic makeover.

>> Men.Style.com Closing; Vogue.com Spinoff Pushed Back —Conde Nast is closing Men.Style.com in favor of GQ.com and Details.com in October, marking a move away from its web-only brands like Style.com and Epicurious.com to print brand names. Style.com is safe, says Conde Digital president Sarah Chubb, because its users consume more of the site's content than they did on Men.Style.com, but when Vogue.com is spun off — a move which has been postponed to next year — it might be more of an issue, as media planners say Vogue.com would be more desirable to advertisers than Style.com. [AdAge]