Young imagination took full flight at the Graduation Show 2008 of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) here on Wednesday.

NIFT, which, established by the Union Ministry of Textiles, awards its own degrees in the field of fashion education, gave away degrees to the first batch of students of its four-year degree programme.

Shalini Rajneesh of the Department of Women and Children, Karnataka, was the chief guest and A. Radhakrishna, Registrar, NIFT, was present. The four year program in Fashion and Apparel based its teaching on "Learning by doing" approached and encouraged the creative impulse of the students, equipping them with professionalism to cater the global demands, with a combination of technical excellence, a flair for design and innovation as well as a clear understanding of the domestic market and international fashion trends. The Institute trains its students in Apparel manufacturing aiming at concepts like increased productivity that can be achieved using the available resources, upgrading the quality of the apparels and set world class standards. The students have gained experience by interning with well established organizations like Tanishq, Weekender, Fast Track, Sri Krishnaiah Chetty Jewellers and many more. All through the four year course, the students guided by their mentors worked on fabric development with an in depth research on a variety of surface treatment techniques like dyeing, embroidery and printing.

Eva Longoria Parker gets to play dress-up at the Cannes Film Festival and she doesn't even have to pack her own suitcase.

"My bag is packed when I come because my stylist thinks about every event we have, every interview, every red carpet  everything is already planned and dresses are fitted, and I just put on what somebody gives me," the 33-year-old actress told Associated Press Television.

Longoria Parker, who is hitting the red carpet for L'Oreal, is having a Versace moment at Cannes. But when she's at home with her husband, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker, she's hardly a fashion diva.

"I actually put on what's clean," she said Thursday. "Usually I'm in sweats or jeans. Tony's favorite outfit is me in jeans and a T-shirt."

"I'm no stranger to fashion shows. But this was my first fashion show outside India. We decided not to go conventional. We opted to go Western and zany. I wore a Swarovski-studded white outfit and the reaction was awesome. The whistles and screams are still ringing in my ears. We raised quite a lot of money for charity."

Urmila has been to Pakistan several times.

"Every time I go there I find it an extremely heart-warming experience. The love and affection the Pakistanis shower on me makes me wonder where the mythic enmity comes from."

Urmila has been having a hectic time. She has just sung a song with singing legend Asha Bhosle and also worked on the schedule of the long-delayed film Speed.

On her singing experience with Asha, Urmila says laughing: "I can't believe a bathroom singer like me actually dared to share singing space with Ashaji. Come on, she is a legend! I grew up singing her songs and dancing to them on stage. Suddenly, here I was matching vocals with Ashaji.

Here are some ideas to make your life easier when fashion, car and weather problems arise.

As dire situations go, a broken nail is hardly traumatic. But oh, the annoyance of a jagged nail that snags your sweater, scratches your skin and just generally makes you feel, literally, rough around the edges.

Or the dry, itchy hands you can't soothe.
Or the shiny face and smeared eyes that greet you in the mirror at the end of the day as you head to a last-minute date.

We asked experts to suggest some products to help ease you through fasion crises and other emergencies.

Fashion emergency kit
Whether you work at a desk or spend most of your day in the car running errands, there are some items you should never want to be without. Angie Coleman, a skin specialist with Sephora, 8702 Keystone Crossing, and Helen Wells, founder of the Helen Wells Modeling Agency, suggest these drugstore basics:

• Clear nail polish to stop a run in your pantyhose or to brighten dull fingernails.

• A file to smooth a chipped nail.

• Nail clippers.

• Clear gloss or Chapstick to add shimmer to lips.

• Loose powder to take away the shine on your face.

• Makeup remover wipes.

A: Men who are shorter than 5 feet 9 inches must work a bit harder than taller men and spend more time in the fitting rooms to find the right clothes. I checked in with Jeff Bova, the owner of Forthefit.com, an online retailer that specializes in clothes for men who are shorter than 5 foot 9. Generally, menswear makers are moving toward roomier cuts for heavier men, he says, which "leaves out a lot of options" for shorter, slimmer types.

When shopping for pants, short men should pay close attention to the "rise" measurement the distance from the crotch seam to the top of the waist. Shorter men will get a better fit with a rise of 10 inches or less, instead of the standard rise of 11 inches or more. "The shorter rise takes out the bagginess in the crotch and in the rear," Mr. Bova says. When you shop, take along a tape measure, he advises.

Casual blazers will likely be too long for smaller guys. So head to the suit department, where blazers come in sizes such as 36 short that offer the right proportions. Standard dress shirts are often long, too. When looking for trimmer, shorter shirts, check out "slim fit" and other narrow-cut styles. Don't count on the tailor, Mr. Bova says, because shirt seams "are designed to fit in particular places, like under the arms and shoulders." If you do alterations, "the shirt starts to move around."

Some catalog companies, such as Lands' End, let you "custom-order" shirts, as well as pants, specifying a variety of body measurements.

Forthefit.com has found a number of labels, such as Ben Sherman, Calvin Klein suits and Silver jeans, that work well on shorter men. Mr. Bova, who is 5 foot 7, also likes the shirts and pants at Banana Republic.

The dressed-to-impress attendees of an Ebony event put on a little show of their own.

the Ebony Fashion Fair, the world's largest traveling runway fashion show, stopped at the Marriott in downtown Minneapolis. The high-energy "Glam Odyssey" was matched by the audience's own style and enthusiasm. Those watching the catwalk could have strutted it, too.

The program honored the show's 50-year history by looking at designs from different decades, including the work of Bob Mackie, Anna Sui and Missoni.

Meanwhile, the host organization Alpha Kappa Alpha's local Delta Phi Omega chapter celebrated its 60th anniversary and the national organization's 100th. Sorority members, who traditionally wear the same color to the event, sparkled in daring, bright fuchsia. Proceeds go toward annual scholarships for college students. That's decades of a lot of style and class.

There were high hopes in fashion circles, therefore, for Monday's Sex and the City film premiere.

Fantastic clothes, after all, are its "sixth character". And with reports of tensions between the ever-glamorous co-stars over what they would wear to the film's opening night in London's Leicester Square, all eyes were on the arrival of the fabulous four.

At first, patients with tears in their earlobes from wearing heavy earrings are told to simply stop wearing them in order to let the lobe heal on its own, but often that doesn’t work.

“Just removing the earring often times does not allow the hole to close because that has become a mature tract,” says Richard Ha, plastic surgeon on the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas.

“Fortunately, there’s a relatively simple solution to the problem,” he added. According to plastic surgeons, it’s becoming more and more popular for patients to get their lobes surgically repaired.

“It’s a pretty simple procedure actually. It probably takes about 30 minutes to an hour in the office under local anesthesia,” explains Dr. Ha.

After the tear is fixed, it will need several weeks to completely heal. Surgical repair of torn earlobes can vary between 300 dollars and 1,500 dollars depending on how severe the tear is and whether or not you need one or both earlobes done.

If you love wearing heavy earrings but don’t want to end up needing surgery one day you may want to consider using some of the over-the-counter earlobe support products to help prevent tears.

Auckland model Zippora Seven - described as New Zealand's answer to Kate Moss - is shown topless in a bath in one of photos in the 18-page spread from lifestyle and fashion magazine Russh Australia.

The picture shows Zippora and 16-year-old male model Levi Clarke in the bath together, with four bottles of champagne also visible. In another, Zippora is again topless while riding a horse.

Earlier reports said modelling agency Red Eleven - which manages Zippora - had been shocked and disappointed with the pictures.

But Amanda Betts, a Red Eleven director who discovered Zippora said the agency was surprised, but not disappointed with the topless pictures.

"That's a misquote. I think it's a really beautiful shoot - I love Russh. But that's my personal opinion, which I really want to keep to myself," she said.

She said all the models Red Eleven represented were taught to research each proposed photo shoot, and to discuss the details with family members.

"Making an educated decision is the most important thing - once they make those decisions we back them,"

So will it be a battle of tight, white lycra versus draping black wool?

That depends on who ends up coming to the September shows, but the presence of the Australians is good news for the event as it is bound to increase buyer and media interest from across the Ditch and beyond.

"We're really thrilled to be able to invite Australian designers to show and we hope this move will further strengthen transtasman relationships within the fashion industry," said Fashion Week director Pieter Stewart.

She and daughter Myken attended Australian Fashion Week this month and found plenty of early interest in showing in Auckland.

They will announce the lineup in late July.

New Zealanders have shown in Australia for 10 years and nearly 80 per cent of our fashion exports are sold to Australia.

Zambesi's Neville Findlay said: "We've been showing at Australian Fashion Week, so it seems only right that we would invite Australian designers to show in New Zealand.