Photo: WireImage

Dr. Who is a TV show on the BBC that's wildly popular in the U.K. Producers are looking for a new female sidekick to act along Matt Smith, who will play the Doctor in 2010 (the actor who plays that role changes periodically, as does the sidekick). The Telegraph reports that Lily Allen is a likely contender but also names Agyness Deyn as a "possible choice":

Producers are looking for someone who is famous outside the world of acting — replicating the success of former Doctor's assistant Billie Piper, who was better known as a teenage popstar and the wife of DJ Chris Evans when she landed the role but proved a hit with viewers.

"Someone terribly exciting like Billie Piper, who was at the beginning of her acting career but who had a profile for other reasons, would be great. We are looking for someone whose light can burn brightly."

If anyone's light can burn brightly, it's Aggy's. She's been taking on small acting gigs for a short while, and we think she's ready for the big leap. Besides, she's not as big now as she was a year ago. And as Gossip Girl taught us once, no light shines as brightly as that of the repressed girl, who isn't really repressed at all.

Search for new Doctor Who's partner begins [Telegraph]

As we mentioned this morning, the January issues were thin. Like a cross between a regular magazine and an Us Weekly. Not pretty, but, as when Lindsay Lohan suddenly drops fifteen pounds, impossible not to obsess over. The New York Times reports that though the average ad-page decline across monthly magazines was about 17 percent, Vogue's and Lucky's ad pages were each down about 44 percent. Allure didn't fare much better with a 41 percent decline. Condé Nast was the hardest hit among big media companies, and the only one with more than one title (Vogue and Lucky) in the top ten list of worst ad-page declines for the month.

January issues are usually thin because advertisers have just made a big December holiday push. But this year things were more difficult since January issues close early and many advertisers hadn't settled on a budget by the deadline. Also, some magazines only run a very narrow range of ad categories. Vogue only runs fashion ads, and fashion advertisers are scaling back in These Economic Times. Condé Nast also doesn't bend with pricing, which doesn't help things.

So, yeah, maybe Condé Nast's overly rigid ad rules are hurting them now, but one expert says when the economy bounces back they'll be thanking themselves for not discounting prices now and then having the awkward issue of trying to raise them. But what if they have to close more titles at that expense? February's Lucky was ominously thinner than January's Lucky, for a total of about 100 actual words to read instead of, say, 300.

Prominent Magazines Lose Weight, Shedding Nearly Half Their Ads [NYT]

Yeah, we'd take her skin.Photo: Getty Images

MAKEUP
• Supermodel Claudia Schiffer will launch her own range of beauty products next summer. Clearly if you use them, you'll look just like her. [Daily Mail]

• Simon Doonan interviewed Dame Edna about her new cosmetics line for M.A.C. You can spare a minute to giggle over makeup on a loathed Monday, can't you? [Racked]

HAIR
• Betty Beauty, Inc., a pubic-hair-dye company, is suing Smart Beauty US, Inc. for stealing their thong-shaped logo. Lawsuit, shmawsuit — who dyes their pubic hair? [NYP]

• Heather Graham wears her hair in a beach-y, wavy style in the winter, so don't hold yourselves back now. [Daily Beauty Reporter/Allure]

• Wigs were a "surprise bestseller" during the holiday shopping season at stores like Harrods and Selfridges. Deteriorated follicles from hair extensions are a likely cause. [Guardian]

Photo: Getty Images

Start your engines, ladies, because ex–Vogue intern Sean Avery is back on the market. "Page Six" reports that he's split from Calvin Klein's ex-wife Kelly Klein, whom he dated for several months. News of the breakup came at the New Year's Eve party Sean attended at Bungalow 8, which he went to with his brother. Okay, seriously, he could have taken us or one of you — someone, anyone who appreciates him for him. He's perfect boyfriend material. After all, his résumé's clearly impressive enough to land him a gig at Vogue, rubbing elbows with Anna Wintour and André Leon Talley. He's an encyclopedia of fashion knowledge, men's and women's. He can probably pick up a girl with a line like, "Your dress is Alexander Wang, isn't it? I hear there's a sale at Opening Ceremony. Maybe we can go together?" Since he was let go from the Dallas Stars last month, he has lots of time to devote to a special lady. Also, New Line Cinema's making a movie inspired by him. How many guys can you say all that about? He's unemployed, so he's bound to be a fixture at Fashion Week next month. If you were dating him, you could go with him. True, he said some nasty things about his other ex-girlfriend, Elisha Cuthbert, but all the other stuff pretty much cancels that out. This is New York — one can't be too picky.

AVERY AT LARGE [NYP]

Photo: Shanna Ravindra

You can no longer purchase Marc Jacobs Collection pieces at his West Village stores. The merchandise in Marc Jacobs's downtown universe did a big do-si-do this weekend to accommodate these penny-pinching times. The Bank Street collection store was turned into a Marc Jacob's men's store, while the kids' store across the street will become a men's-accessories store. The kids' store will take up residence at the old Marc Jacob's men's store on Bleecker Street. Meanwhile, the collection pieces are all getting stuffed into the original collection store on Mercer Street in Soho. The Fashion Informer reports that a sales rep cited "not enough foot traffic" at the Bank Street collection store as the reason for the shuffling. If Marc Jacobs isn't safe in the recession, who is? But at least he hung on to his prime West Village real estate rather than shutting stores entirely. He has to live up to his title as the 63rd most powerful person in New York City real estate, after all.

Marc Jacobs Consolidates New York Collection Stores [Fashion Informer via Racked]

We probably had the same expression when we
read this news.Photo: FilmMagic

Amy Winehouse is supposedly planning a spectacular comeback as a fashion designer. Great Monday-morning rumor, no? If the Sun is to be believed, ahem, WiHo let slip at a hotel bar while on vacation in St. Lucia that she was working on a collaboration with British label Fred Perry and has even started sketching her ideas. The rumors aren't entirely without merit. WiHo inspired Karl Lagerfeld's Paris-Londres Metiers d'Art collection for Chanel in 2007, Roberto Cavalli has called her a "fashion icon," and shoe designer Jonathan Kelsey created a stiletto in her honor. Besides, we're heading into a new year and a fresh start and there's no reason Amy has to merely look on while we all, say, commit to getting healthy (for about four weeks) and vie for our "dream jobs." Sure, she was at a bar, but that's better than the stoop of her house with one slipper and a vacuum.

Amy: I'm a fashion designer [Sun UK]
The Fashion Winehouse [British Vogue]

John GallianoPhoto: Getty Images

• John Galliano will receive the French Legion of Honour, previously awarded to such luminaries as Yves Saint Laurent and Azzedine Alaïa. [British Vogue]

• China could become “the world’s largest consumer market” for apparel, according to a new study. Obviously we're not in the running. [WWD]

• Jewelers who hope to get their wares on celebrities attending the Golden Globes, like Fred Leighton and Neil Lane, are opening new boutiques with VIP rooms to woo actresses and their stylists. [LAT]

• After starring in the award-winning Black Balloon, Gemma Ward will return to modeling. [Sassybella]

• Gwyneth Paltrow is on a diet that prohibits her from consuming these things: dairy, gluten, meat, shellfish, all processed food, fatty nuts, potatoes and other related vegetables, condiments, sugar, alcohol, caffeine or fizzy drinks. Sigh. [Telegraph]

Som's Blass of yore.Photo: Getty Images

We thought all was right with Bill Blass after we learned last week Peacock Holdings LLC bought the label from NexCen. Peacock even promised to resurrect the Couture line, most recently designed by Peter Som. But NexCen's still tying up loose ends, and things aren't completely peachy. Bill Blass Ltd. filed for Chapter 7 liquidation with a Manhattan bankruptcy court on New Year's Eve. The company's assets total $192,000 with debts of $829,000. WWD reports that NexCen planned to sell the furniture in the Bill Blass showroom. Embarrassing. No wonder the 60-plus employees who lost their jobs on December 19 didn't get severance.

Bill Blass sure has taken a flogging these past six months. Som left, retailers' interest flagged, and parent company NexCen could barely sell the label. Peacock has given it a bed to recover in, but now we feel like it's just getting poked with sticks.

BLASS COUTURE FILES CHAPTER 7 [WWD]