Love For Sale: Scarlett puts herself up for auction on eBay, meaning it’s only a matter of hours before our PayPal bill dwarfs our student loans. [Gawker]

Hip To Be Square: The Roots of American Prep. [Men’s Flair]

“Most Females Lie More Cleverly and Successfully Than Men”: Or at least that’s what they want you to think. [NYPost]

Wedding Bells?: Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Marc Jacobs. [NYMag]

Transition of Power: In his first appearance as Russia’s new President-elect, Dmitry Medvedev greets the nation in a turtleneck and jeans apparently from Sears. Weep for the Motherland. [Reuters]

Trading Sideways: Geeks fighting to replacing hipsters? Let’s settle this one at the playground during recess. [Scrawled in Wax]

Bloggerati: Rising fashion blogger Kanye West is shut out of Balenciaga, says he doesn’t really mind and declares that his “first love is for fashion.” Jesus, it’s Faran Krentcil all over again. [The Celebrity Truth]

To The Brim: Ain’t ya heard? The Hat Is Back , y’all.

The style arbiters at the New York Times’ T Magazine have revealed what was behind the artful dishevelment of recently deceased pundit William F. Buckley Jr.: dressing up was simply beneath him.

Buckley adopted the blueblood uniform of The Millbrook School, the sort of upper crusty institution where the preppy look was born back in the day, they write, and never grew out of it.

More on the origin of Buckley’s style»

The Great Pants War: Two competing revolutionaries, Bonobos and Cordarounds, square off against the “Soviet Bloc” of vertical corduroy with the introduction a horizontal variation on the classic fabric. Watch out for the crossfire. [VanityFair.com]

The Long Haul: Back off you vultures. Giorgio Armani ain’t going nowhere. [WWD, 2nd item]

Russian Male-Order Bride: Iron-fisted autocrat beloved legally elected Federation President Vladimir Putin tries his best to emulate Nicolas Sarkozy’s recent marital success. Fails. [Gawker]

Wigging Out: Unofficial Kempt mascot Rachel Bilson plays blonde for a day. [Egotastic]

Loop de Loop: Harajuku t-shirt maker does it oldschool. [PSFK]

More Celebrity Stink: James Franco, who we actually like, will be the face for Gucci’s latest scent. [Luxist]

Boob Tube: Because he hasn’t reached complete market saturation, Tommy Hilfiger will soon have his own TV channel. [DNRNews]

Madras Explosion: Ahh! Our eyes! Our eyes! [A Suitable Wardrobe]

A Continuous Lean clued us in to this early instance of Sartorialist-style fashion photography. Photographer T. Hayashida took a tour of the Ivy League circa 1968, snapping pictures for posterity. Given that preppy style of that era is a touchstone for everyone from J. Crew to Shipley & Halmos, there’s more than a few pointers to pick up if you’re watching closely.

More pics from the bygone era»