STYLE FILE

Denise Flaim; Joseph V. Amodio; Anne Bratskeir; The Associated Press
April 28, 2008

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Birkin on the brain

Few handbag lovers are unaware of the fabled Birkin bag, that luxe Hermes beauty first photographed on the arm of British actress and singer Jane Birkin in 1984. A Birkin crocodile job retails for $32,000 - but with the supposed three-year wait list, it's going for somewhere around $55,000 on eBay. The lore and the hunt are all part of a witty new book by Michael Tonello, "Bringing Home the Birkin, My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World's Most Coveted Handbag" ($25.95, William Morrow). Tonello parlayed his search for the pocketbook and other Hermes items into a great business, spending millions on Hermes goods and reselling them on eBay. To add to the fun, there's the "Bringing Home the Birkin Sweepstakes," which runs through May 29. And, yes, the grand prize is a Birkin (worth $9,000) along with a signed copy of the book. To enter go to harpercollins.com/birkin sweeps.

- Anne Bratskeir



So fab

Get ready - here come the Fabbies, the first-ever awards for fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers. Blog fans will pick winners in 12 categories, with the toughest choice probably being for Best Newbie. There are nine nominees, including TheThoughtfulDresser

(a Brit author blogging on fashion, art and books), Shopaholic (a Madrid college student's blog en español), StyleNotes (a hot sales hot line), and iCiNG (from New Zealand-born, tattoo- and hair-dye- addicted Gala "yes, that is my real name," darling). Voting ends Wednesday, with a ceremony in September before New York Fashion Week, reports Fabbies co-creator and vet blogger Lesley Scott of Fashiontribes.com. To vote, go to fabbies.org.

- Joseph V. Amodio



WHAT THEY'RE WEARING

Far from naked

It's "Spinal Tap" for the "Hannah Montana" set. "The Naked Brothers Band," a 2005 mockumentary about a kiddie rock band that last year morphed into a Nickelodeon series, stars real-life brothers Nat and Alex Wolff (13 and 10, respectively). The two - whose mom is Polly Draper, best known as Hope's best friend, Ellyn, on that '80s-issue navel-gazer, "thirtysomething" - showed up at Wal-Mart in Farmingdale recently to greet the faithful.



She's a smidge too young for Nick at Nite, but Alyssa Bourquin, 5, of Wantagh, got the T-shirt and CD anyway.





Gabrille Cruz, 13, and her cousins, Jasmine and Marisa Ramos, 13 and 10, all of Glendale, show their support - oaktag style.



One of the "Naked Brothers" wrote a ballad called "Boys Rule, Girls Drool." We don't know if Billy Mohr, 6, of Glendale, concurs.



Best friends Deanna Ward, Lydia Taylor and Shannon Tapia - all from Bay Shore, all 11 years old - put in a few good words for the teenybopper band.

- Denise Flaim

NO TIME FOR NEUTRALS

If you're going to take the leap and experiment with spring's big, bold colors, the next order of business is to find the makeup that complements it.

Your inclination might be tone down your cosmetics, says Rick DiCecca, global makeup stylist for Estée Lauder, but it could be the time to be daring."The colors are bright but the textures are sheer. It's not as scary as it was in the '70s."

Ashunta Sheriff, the makeup artist who put Alicia Keys in a bold fuchsia Christian Dior lipstick at the Grammy Awards, says the season is all about strong, bold lips. "They could be red, boysenberry, coral or hot pink," she says.

But, she cautions, don't match lips to the color of your outfit. "If the dress is hot pink, go with neutral lips and play up the eye - maybe a smoky green eye and lots of mascara." It's OK to pick up the same color for your eyes and your outfit, though, according to DiCecca. If you're wearing a lemon-yellow top, he recommends using a sheer yellow eye shadow right at the center of the lid.

The same goes for all the other candy-colored clothes out there. A sea grass green and a sea breeze blue are his favorite new eye shadow colors. Finish the eyes with a mocha brown eyeliner and black mascara.

To deliver deep hues on the lips, he uses gloss pencils that have intense color but are lightweight and shiny. The rest of the face should be kept natural-looking, DiCecca says, maybe with just a hint of flirty peach or rose on the apple of the cheeks.

- The Associated Press

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