Back in—what?—November, we told you that we expected Valentino to wait a couple of seasons before picking a full-time designer.

Well, turns out we were wrong… ish.

*Fop Fight: *Dandyism’s Sophistocrat lays some well-coiffured smack down on fake “Bobo Dandys” Patrick McDonald, Fonzworth Bentley, Sebastian Horsley and Pete Doherty. Oh snap! [Dandyism.net]

Departure: Graydon Carter’s former assistant and current Departures Associate Articles Editor Matt Trainor will look to transform Ralph’s site. In other news, polos will still be available in many colors. [WWD, second entry]

Internal Promotion: No major superstar hirings to come at Valentino menswear after he retires—give it a season or two. [Reuters UK]

Suspending Judgment: A dissenting opinion on the current popularity of braces forwarded through exemplars like Urkel. [Casanova Peasant]

A Waist of Money: Speaking of keeping your pants aloft, this belt will set you back a cool $18,000. [NYMag]

Classic Cut: 501 jeans, the collector’s edition. [Retro To Go]

Imitation of Life: If you thought Zac Posen was already a little Stepford creepy… [Fashion Visa]

Cut Corners: Small-time hood Wesley Snipes breaks some lesser laws. [Manolo for the Men]

Image Maker: Valentino’s new men’s line will take direct inspiration from the house’s founder. Shocker. [DNRNews]

Cutting Edge: At Hong Kong Fashion week the models are fully trained in the ancient arts of self defense. [Monsters and Critics]

Buyers Beware: It doesn’t matter if you’re a buyer for Bergdorf Goodman with millions of dollars of purchasing power, the ability to save or destroy fashion labels and a lifetime in the industry—if Beyonce needs to sit, they’re making you stand. [The Observer]

A Match Made in Heaven: Rumors are swirling that the bombastic, unpredictable fashion diva Naomi Campbell and bombastic, unpredictable semi-fascist dictator Hugo Chavez are now are getting all Nic and Carla. Lovers of democracy beware. [Fashion Mag Daily]

Clean Sheets: Lenny Kravitz, who has bedded about half of everyone you ever wanted to, has become inexplicably chaste. Go ahead and hate. [NY Post]

Big Deal: Emerging designer Alexander Wang signs with Japanese megastore Uniqlo. [Mpdclick]

Don’t Go Away Mad: Vice founder “Don’ts” himself out of a job, trains his jaundiced eye back on the streets. [Gawker]

Peace Out, Suckers!: Valentino disses his fellow designers, takes his basketball, goes home. [NYMag]

The Ride: The Maybach in your garage is soon to be obsolete. [Jalopnik]

Bye Week: Perfect human Tom Brady continues to do opposition research in our fair town. Doesn’t this guy have a home or something? [NY Observer]

Generation Gap: Zac Efron is on the cover of Details leaving us to ask, “what’s a Zac Efron?” [Details]

We don’t want to be unkind - oh, fuck it, why not? - but doesn’t this snap of weather-beaten couture king Valentino clutching a radiant and youthful Keira Knightley have more than touch of the Nosferatu about it? The knockout Knightley bore up well we have to say, at a screening of her new flick The Duchess hosted by Vogue and Chanel the other night.

In the flick she plays the randy snob Georgina Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, the latest in what seems an unending streak of period roles. After yet another version of King Lear, she’s set to star in an adaptation of one of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s worst books, The Beautiful and Damned - which come to think of it makes a pretty good caption for this photo.