The downside to being famous is that everything is borrowed.
That's the inside track on celebrity from Karen Robinovitz and Melissa de la Cruz, two formerly unknown fashion writers who turned themselves into boldface names. They've made it onto several "A-lists," including the one jeweler Harry Winston uses to gauge who is worthy of borrowing baubles. The women wore $4 million in diamonds to the launch party for their book "How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less" (Ballantine Books).
The jewels added sparkle to the already glitzy event that attracted model Molly Sims and actor Evan Handler.
Robinovitz wore an on-loan Gucci dress adorned with white feathers, and de la Cruz covered her back with the same $8,000 kimono that Liv Tyler wore to "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" premiere.
But neither the jewelry nor the fancy clothes are still in the women's closets.
"I hate when that messenger comes to my door the next day to pick everything up," Robinovitz says.
However, she adds, being a celebrity is worth it, no matter how fleeting one's time in the limelight.
"Fame is a public way to show you've made it," de la Cruz agrees. "And since everyone is still trying to get over high school, especially when you were the outsider who stayed home on Friday nights watching 'Quantum Leap,' being famous is good payback."
Robinovitz adds: "Being famous gives you the feeling of always being picked first on the team, and who didn't dream of that?"
De la Cruz and Robinovitz share tips in their book on how everyone -- and this means you, they insist -- can become a star. They say that while fame is measured differently depending on personal standards -- to some, getting a table at a trendy restaurant means you've made it; for others, it's getting the paparazzi to chase you down the street -- the method is the same.
Aspiring celebrities have to see themselves as a brand and market themselves accordingly; you're nothing if you don't have a press kit and a trademark look, de la Cruz and Robinovitz advise.
But doesn't a young woman have to be thin, beautiful and talented to win fame and fortune?
Absolutely not -- look at Madonna, the master of keeping herself as one of the top "It girls."
"Madonna was one of the first celebrity 'brands.' She's not the most beautiful or the most talented, but she makes you think she is," Robinovitz says.
Madonna also limits herself to a few public events each year, both keeping her in the public eye but also keeping some level of mystique.
Robinovitz notes, though, that there is a fairly clear line between celebrities who just look good on a red carpet and the Oscar-caliber-yet-beautiful actresses the other starlets are trying to emulate. One group doesn't risk canceling out the other thanks to an endless string of entertainment magazines and Web sites.
The "How to Be Famous" book was born out of a stunt the two writers agreed to do for Marie Claire.
The night before one of the magazine's editorial meetings, the husband of senior editor Sarah Eisen Nanus mused that a story about crashing celebrity parties would be amusing to readers. Nanus brought that idea to work with her the next day, and it was decided that it would become a competition between two writers to see which one could get into more parties -- in better outfits -- than the other.
"They both had the attitude that if you act cool, like you belong, then you are cool and you do belong," Nanus says.
Here are some of their ideas:
AGELESS PIECES
Most of what is in our closets, garments and accessories that followed one outdated trend or another, is disposable. But there are certain pieces -- the classics -- that look lovely and stylish every year. These treasures also look equally appropriate on a woman who is 17 or one who is 70.
Vogue magazine's August issue is its "age issue," offering guidance for dressing gracefully over the decades. Women such as Diane von Furstenberg and Lee Radziwill have successfully blended style with their biological clocks, the magazine's editors say, and so have Chanel suits, pearl necklaces and crocodile bags.
Vogue's advice to the "mademoiselle" who wears Chanel is to show a little skin: Wear the classic tweed jacket without a blouse, or pair it with a micro-miniskirt.
A "madame" can keep the Chanel look youthful in spirit by choosing a knee-length skirt that gets gradually sheerer as it gets closer to the hemline.
A young woman in pearls should "go playful," the editors suggest, wearing strands long enough "to jump rope with," while an older woman can pile on several shorter necklaces with thicker beads.
A faux crocodile bag will do for an ingenue, probably in a small, feminine style. Once the real thing comes along, particularly a sophisticated and professional version such as the Hermes Kelly bag in a playful color like lipstick red, a woman shouldn't leave home without it, according to Vogue.
STYLISH SPA SHOES
Pedicures, a still-affordable luxury for many women, can lift spirits higher than stiletto heels, but one wrong step can bring a fresh set of pampered feet down to earth very quickly.
So do you wear the flimsy (and often ugly) flip-flops given to you by the nail spa out the door to prevent marring the pedicure, or do you risk a smudge by stuffing your feet back into street shoes?
Jimmy Choo has come up with a compromise: sidewalk-worthy spa shoes.
First made as a gift to this year's Oscar-nominated actresses, the shoe company is now offering high-heel wedges made of soft terry cloth. The style is a thong sandal.
The "pedicure" shoe is available in mint green, turquoise, fuchsia, yellow and ivory.
