The FBI agents scoured the charred lavatory of the commercial jet but couldn’t find the lighter or matches that ignited the suspicious in-flight fire. There was only one more place to look: the toilet’s discharge tank. Normally, such dirty duty would go to a rookie. But agent James W. McJunkin , a supervisor, stepped forward and volunteered to collect the fluid in a large bin as it drained from the fuselage. Within minutes, his dress shirt had been ruined by the disgusting blue liquid. Read full article > >

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FBI’s James McJunkin, head of Washington Field Office, ‘leads by example’

A couple of years ago, swimming legend Diana Nyad was emceeing a swank awards banquet in the Waldorf Astoria ballroom in New York when she suddenly woke up the crowd by stripping off her dress. Standing on stage in nothing but a swimsuit and high heels, dangling her cleavage, she further enlivened the affair by whipping out a bugle and playing reveille. She was nearing 60 then. Now she’s 61, and just the other day she made a Hamptons cocktail party come alive by popping a biceps muscle, to prove she’s still capable of swimming from Cuba to Florida. She rolled up her sleeve and flexed a muscle the size of a small cannonball. Conversation stopped, replaced by sharp intakes of breath, followed by upset glasses of wine and fumbled cheese wedges. Read full article > >

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Diana Nyad, at age 61, prepares for second attempt to swim from Cuba to Key West

But it’s just an illustration! Drats! You didn’t think Summit Entertainment was going to give that image away just yet, did you? Obviously by now we all know what’s coming in the The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1. Yes, Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart) get married, and when people get married they traditionally wear a wedding dress. EW now has an exclusive look at what Bella looks like in her dress. Thing is, it’s only in illustration form at the moment since the images in question come from Stephenie Meyer’s new book, The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide.

Find all the latest on the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, enter the Royal Wedding Dress design contest and more.

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Royal Wedding Watch

The label which designed the dress worn by Kate Middleton at the announcement of her engagement to Prince William has reported a 45% rise in sales for its new collection.

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Demand soars at ‘Kate dress’ firm

Brooklyn folk collective Fort Makers create wearable art in their latest venture Combining art and fashion in the literal sense, The Dress Project is a creative endeavor in dressmaking using silk and cotton fabric hand-painted by artist Naomi Clark of Brooklyn’s playful cohort, Fort Makers . Clark, along with co-founder Nana Spears, tapped fashion designer Lauren Nevada to create the dress form—a simple button-down shirt-dress intended to convey a sense of all-American style. “As we brought our ideas together, we realized this design would, on one hand, be the most symbolic piece we could find,” explains Nevada, while also noting that the relaxed silhouette (requiring few seams), would complement the garment’s identity as a wearable canvas. The one-off frocks showcase Clark’s vibrant artistry, a form of object metamorphosis executed through the use of organically painted geometric shapes and patterns, bold brushstrokes and lively, often eye-popping colors. “The results are a wonderful surprise,” adds Nevada. “We found compositions hidden under the collars and button tabs sometimes—details that make them very special.” The dresses will be available at Bird boutique in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhod, which will also be a temporary gallery space for pieces from Fort Makers’ inaugural venture, The Blanket Project . Employing a similar perspective and aesthetic towards textile art, the two-year-old collective self-dubbed “urban folk artists” source secondhand wool camping blankets from flea markets, garage sales and eBay, which are then cut, dyed, and sewn into new quilts. The dresses will retail for $745 at Bird , as well as at Louis in Boston.

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The Dress Project

See how fashion’s finest decorate their opulent abodes While most of the interiors-obsessed turn to The Selby these days to sneak glimpses of the intriguing abodes of creative types, Assouline’s new book ” American Fashion Designers at Home ” proves that nothing quite beats the appeal of thumbing through pages of full-bleed photos to see their sources of inspiration and an unbuttoned look at how they live. Presenting the residences of over 100 of the most revered fashion designers (all members of the book’s collaborator Council of Fashion Designers ), it includes Ralph Lauren’s Colorado ranch, Betsy Johnson’s NYC apartment, Oscar de la Renta’s Connecticut estate and more. Often, signature elements—particular colors, shapes, and especially attitude—are immediately identifiable in their private quarters. Take Carolina Herrera’s Louis XV-influenced New York apartment; the classic elegance of her fashion collections is immediately recognizable. Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa’s two-bedroom, New York apartment embodies the cool minimalism and tranquil color schemes (including four shades of gray) that are undeniably part of the Calvin Klein aesthetic. An avid gardener, de la Renta brings his love of nature inside with living and dining rooms covered in several layers of floral fabrics. Not surprisingly Betsey Johnson painter her 1,800-square-foot loft in varying shades of pink, but her balanced mix of flea market finds and opulent antiques shows her more toned-down, sophisticated side. Johnson’s advice on interior design is to “Fill your house with stuff you love, because I believe they all go together if you personally love them.” Like on the runway, the book shows off plenty of unattainable yet covetable items and ideas. The Azria’s L.A. home (designed by architect Paul Williams who also created Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball’s homes) once belonged to writer Sidney Sheldon—the creator of “I Dream of Jeanie”—and boasts a greenhouse and gardens, a 6,000-square-foot movie theater, an enclosed tennis court and a pool inlaid with 14-karat gold. Elie Tahari’s chocolate factory turned triplex penthouse (previously owned by Rupert Murdoch) is flanked with two decks, each offering 360-degree views of Lower Manhattan. The Zen-inspired, eco-friendly villa in the Turks and Caicos belonging to Donna Karen features a main house, yoga hut, two guesthouses, a pavilion, and a spa house with steam bath—all as gracefully confident as a Donna Karan collection. Ultimately, what shines through are the designers’ impressive aesthetic acumens. Johnson continues, “You want to be creative and courageous in your dress and the same is true of your home. When you’re designing clothing, you really only have one point of focus and that’s the body. But home is fabrics and furniture and floors and natural light. If fashion is a planet, home is more like a universe.” “American Fashion Designers at Home” sells from Assouline for $65.

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American Fashion Designers at Home