If you watched the Academy of Country Music Awards show recently, you may have been slightly stunned by the enormous — and we mean enormous — burgundy gown that Carrie Underwood swished up to the microphone in. The dress literally filled the stage.

It was made by designer Rafael Cennamo, and, to be honest, we’d never heard of him. After some investigating, we’re betting a lot of you haven’t either. He’s not on the big-name radar. Working out of Miami, he creates couture gowns that are detailed, complex, striking and, a bit over the top.

A couple of celebs who have worn his designs are Audrina Patridge and Rosario Dawson, but neither of those dresses were as wild as what Underwood wore, or what we found on his Web site. 

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Did you hear the opening salvos?

Last week a WWD.com story (subscription only, sorry, you’ll only get a peek) with no small amount of slant held forth on the fact that Michelle Obama is championing the cause of little-known American designers and ignoring the big players: Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, to name a bunch.

With the fashion industry in an economic crisis of its own, it’s not a surprise that the bastions of American style are wondering why the First Lady won’t deign to don some of their beautiful clothes. We can feel — and appreciate — their frustration. Still, most of the designers quoted — Wang, Hilfiger, Karan, Herrera – tempered their comments with support for a fashionable First Lady breaking boundaries.

Another story, in the New York Times, took issue with the fact that Mrs. Obama is relying apparently exclusively on the design choices of retailer Ikram Goldman, the owner of Michelle O’s favorite Chicago boutique for years (a picture from the store below).

Arnold Scassi (hmm, we remember that name from somewhere) chided her, (more…)

There’s not much to say about this. We think you had to see it.

Carrie Underwood, country music star supreme, was one among many glittering gals at Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards. She won big honors: Entertainer of the Year and Top Female Vocalist, and that meant she got to change clothes several times.

Yes, Taylor Swift looked great in a red one-shouldered Angel Sanchez gown (left),  Nicole Kidman was stunning in a glittering black backless gown by L’Wren Scott (right), and Kellie Pickler looked like she is vying for the Dolly Parton award in a skin-tight, fishtail, gold glittering Zuhair Murad gown (below).

But Carrie changed outfits five times! She started on the red carpet in a delicate pink one-shouldered floaty Randy Rahm gown, then she performed in a sort of one-sleeved white short dress (more…)

The Europe fashion show continues, with Michelle Obama donning a rather bold look for a visit to a cathedral in Prague. Her white blouse — by Moschino, according to Mrs-O.org — has a very large bow at the collar. The shirt is from Moschino’s spring ‘09 collection (although on the runway it was deep navy), and it definitely pushes the style envelope. She tones it down with a simple black cardigan, a black skirt and her omnipresent Azzedine Alaia belt.

The Style Insider has been all thumbs up on Mrs. O’s wardrobe choices throughout this trip to Europe, but we’re pursing our lips a bit at this one. Maybe the bow coincidence with Michelle and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy yesterday (both had delicate bows at the neckline of their outfits) made her feel like upping the bow ante, but we’re hoping this shirt doesn’t get trotted out of the closet too often.

(Photos from The Huffington Post and Style.com)

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Reason to live: Project Runway Season 6 will actually air. On television, even, now that NBC (which owns Bravo) and Lifetime have settled their multi-million-dollar legal spat.

Reason to worry: The show is moving to Lifetime. So things are changing, after all, and The Style Insider’s anxiety level about whether (more…)

We noticed a whole lot of fur — many coats, but also in the form of random strips, some short, some long  — all over the Europe runways for fall ‘09. There was so much of it, we were thinking the designers had all been talking amongst themselves.

Then the Times Online of London reported that British designers were being lured with sponsorship deals and expensive trips in the hopes they would put fur into their fashion. Two big furriers, Saga and Kopenhagen, provided free furs to British designers, the site said. We don’t know if the same was true of Paris and Milan, but there was a lot more fur than we’ve seen in quite a while. (more…)

Modelinia is a Web site where you can learn all the details about your favorite fashion models. For example, did you know that deep inside, Chanel Iman is a shy girl? Coco Rocha is not just beautiful, but she’s a good dancer, too! And Hanne Gaby Odiele, the young hot model from Belgium, really liked the breakfast backstage at the Balenciaga show.

We couldn’t help but linger over a 5-part video series titled “High Heel Boot Camp,” hosted by the natty creative director of Barney’s New York, Simon Doonan.

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