Vogue UK

>> Sarah Burton started working for Alexander McQueen when he was based at a "tiny studio," she tells British Vogue in its February 2011 issue: "At the interview, I remember Lee asking me, 'Do you believe in UFOs?'"

She owes her design knowledge to McQueen, she says: "Everything I know, I learned here. If you didn't know how to do something, Lee made you take on the challenge and would teach you how, or leave you to figure out how to do it yourself. He once handed over a bias-cut houndstooth dress and said, 'Now, put a zip in it,' then left for the weekend!"

But despite that, and the fact that McQueen CEO Jonathan Akeroyd, Gucci Group CEO Robert Polet, and PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault all implored her to take the head job at McQueen's label after he died in February, 36-year-old Burton spent weeks deliberating the decision. "For quite a long time I didn't want the job," she explained. "I thought: how would I ever even begin to begin? Lee's mind was so different to everyone else's. I knew there was no way I could pretend to be him; but I had to ask myself, what did Lee work for? For all this to close down? I thought about what I wanted. What was best for me. Like many women my age, I do want children, but I came to think that that's not a reason not to take up a challenge. In the end, I decided to just get on with it: do my best."

There will, of course, be pieces of the McQueen legacy that will remain McQueen's alone. "I could not take on the shows!" Burton laughs. "But I wanted the catwalk to be intimate, to be about the craftsmanship, the designs. People ask: what's Sarah about? But I've worked here so long, there's been a big part of me in those collections all along the way. I'm not going to wipe the slate clean. That would be wiping me away. There will always be McQueen elements, but at the same time, you can never stay still and have to stay true to yourself. That's what Lee drummed into me: you have to be able to stand behind your work."

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>> Over the weekend, Teen Vogue held its annual Fashion University in New York for budding fashion industry followers, and Anna Wintour gave a seminar in which she was surprisingly frank. A few highlights, relayed from the Twitterverse:

When previewing the cover of the "Vogue's Best Dressed" bookazine, which is out in November and features Blake Lively in a gold dress, she shed some light on why Vogue cover subjects tend to repeat: "We pick girls we can go back to. It was hard to ignore Blake when she came on the scene . . . I told Tonne [Goodman, Vogue fashion director] to 'Vogue her.' We did her hair, gave her glamorous clothes . . ."

On the controversial Lebron James and Gisele Bundchen April 2008 Vogue cover: "It got me in a lot of trouble. Uh, that was an interesting experience."

On working with Andre Leon Talley: "[He] used to write me color-coded letters. If they were blue, he was depressed. If they were gold, I was golden"

On casting models: "Gisele Bundchen, along with Kate Moss, is a phenomenon. I wish models knew they have to have a personality."

On turning down jobs: "I was offered the editorship at British Vogue. But London felt small-time."

And, on losing jobs: "I worked for American Harper's Bazaar . . . they fired me. I recommend that you all get fired, it's a great learning experience."

>> Lara Stone had more free time than usual this show season — she walked exclusively for Calvin Klein — and she tells British Vogue in the magazine's November 2010 cover story that she's not interested in raising her profile. "I don't think people on the street recognize me ever. And I like that. If I wanted to be recognized every five minutes, I'd hire a publicist." In fact, the British press has kept a reasonable distance from Stone and her new husband David Walliams lately — "We've got a court order," she explains.

Stone says she's happiest "vegging out in front of America's Next Top Model." When asked if the show has taught her any modelling tips, she deadpans: "Smizeing," referring to Tyra Banks's abbreviation for "smiling with your eyes." "I'm good at that," she adds.

She's been alcohol-free for a year and a half now, and as for smoking: "I'm planning to quit tomorrow, I've had enough!" She plans to kick it "through willpower. It's a bit worrying though — if you don't drink and smoke any more, there's nothing . . . " And now that she's married, are children in the future? "Not yet. But I would love to have children some day. I'd like little gay boys. That would be good. I'm terrified of having a little girl. Girls are more evil than boys. And then they have boyfriends." She corrects herself: "Of course, I'd be happy to have a girl."

>> Kate Bosworth's Stylist Cher Coulter on Being Snubbed by Peter Pilotto —In a feature on stylists in Vogue UK's June 2010 issue, British stylist Cher Coulter, who went to Central Saint Martins and regularly works with Kate Bosworth, Sienna Miller, Liv Tyler, and Emily Mortimer, noted of her red carpet choices: "I like to support the British designers, I do. Like when we put Kate in that pink Preen dress it helped them, I mean, beyond with sales. But I get frustrated with some of them. Like with this dress I'd called in from Peter Pilotto. It didn't work on Kate, so I asked if I could use it on one of my other girls who was going to all the [Oscar] parties. They said no, that didn't work for them, and I felt like saying, get over it boys!" [TFS]

Gwyneth Paltrow is Vogue UK's May cover girl, photographed by Mario Testino.

Natalie Massenet initially wanted to name her Net-a-Porter website What's New Pussycat.

Kate Moss's Vogue Hommes issue is out.

Stella McCartney returns to the pineapple print for her Adidas collection.

Glamour UK's best- and worst-dressed list, voted on by the public, includes Alexa Chung, Blake Lively, and Kate Moss at the top, while Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Lindsay Lohan hit the bottom.

Hugo Boss launches a revamped website with e-commerce today.