Here are some absolutely lovely photos of Vanessa Williams at the opening night celebration of the New York City Ballet.

Some of the captions for these photos describe Williams’ appearance as a “surprise appearance”, but I can find nothing in the news that could explain what that means.

All I know is that Vanessa has never looked finer. Although I prefer her hair down (and I really prefer the extensions she wears on Ugly Betty), the pinned-up looked is highly appropriate here.

Williams attended, along with Mark Indelicato (wait till you see THOSE pics!) Sarah Jessica Parker, Nicole Kidman, Blythe Danner, and many other notables.

More beautiful photos after the jump!

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OK, so I’m sure you’ve seen these pics of America Ferrera as Betty Suarez on the set of Ugly Betty, and no doubt the one word you’ve read in conjunction with them on fashion blogs is HIDEOUS.

Of course, on a surface level, I’d agree. The insane patterned coat, the butterfly beret,the plaid stockings the strange purse and matching shoes, the tie/scarf/bowtie/whatever that thing is. At first glance, you see these and almost want to shout at Ugly Betty costume designer Patricia Field: are you crazy?

I do understand what Field has said she’s going for: Betty understands some bits and pieces about fashion, but has no idea how to put them together. Since I’m a fashion layman, most of Betty’s clothes this year have looked pretty darned good to me. The outfits in episode 3.05 were especially pleasing to the eye.

But THIS. It’s proof to me that I’ve fallen in love with Betty the character. Even though I know this is quite the hideous look, I see her and my first thought is, “She’s hot”. Even looking awful, she looks great to me. It’s hard to explain, but I’ve gotten so used to Betty, no matter how hard I look, or how hard the makeup and costume people try, I can no longer see her as “ugly”.

Even in this outfit.

More of the hideous outfit, after the jump.

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Here are photos of Ugly Betty’s Becki Newton out and about in NYC again, this time attending the launch of Diane Von Furstenberg’s Wonder Woman collection.

What a wonderful color!

It’s great to see her out with her husband Chris Diamantopoulos (most females I know say he’s quite the looker). There are also several picks with Deborah Messing, who looks fresh and beautiful as well.

You can get a feel for DVF’s vision in this story in the New York Observer. A snippet:

Now designer Diane von Furstenberg is getting ready to launch her holiday collection inspired by Wonder Woman, perhaps hoping that superheroes will bring the same kind of sales to a clothing line as they did to feature films. She’s even authored a comic book, “Be the Wonder Woman You Can Be, Featuring the Adventures of Diva, Viva & Fifa,” illustrated by artist Konstantin Kakanias. The comic will feature inspirational stories about three women as they discover their “inner Wonder Woman,” all while wearing DVF designs.

This actually looks like a pretty cool concept. I can tell you this: for many of us, Becki Newton is most definitely a Wonder Woman. Pics after the jump!

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Here are photos of Becki Newton at “US Weekly’s 25 Most Stylish New Yorkers of 2008″ (hope they didn’t charge by the word to print the invites ). Of course, any list of stylish New Yorkers would HAVE to include the Ugly Betty star.

Truth be told, and pass the irony, please: this isn’t my favorite outfit Newton has worn. But, take that with a grain of salt: Becki Newton is very fashionable, I am not.

Becki has been stunningly beautiful in almost every appearance at Fashion Week last week. But, never let it be said that Newton doesn’t have a sense of adventure!

I DO think that the colors look great on Newton, highlighting her blonde locks.

The event was hosted by Ugly Betty guest alumn Tyra Banks. Also honored: Kelly Ripa, The View’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck , designer Tommy Hilfiger, Musician John Legend, Project Runway’s Christian Siriano, The Fug Girls, Cassie, business executive Deborah Marquardt, designer Patrick Robinson, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, DJ Ruckus, athlete Sean Avery, Gayle King, designer Stacey Bendet, gossip editor Paula Froelich, stylist June Ambrose, Gossip Girl’s Jessica Szohr, singer Aubrey O’Day, businesswoman Jane Lauder, TV correspondent Tiki Barber, hairstylist Frederic Fekkai, Project Runway’s Nina Garcia and MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski.

More pics after the jump!

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America Ferrera hosted the bigtime gala fundraiser Hot in Hollywood over the weekend, and each year the show seems to get bigger and bigger. The Ugly Betty star Ferrera looked beautiful in green: this is a good color on her.

America was joined on stage by Ugly Betty co-stars Ana Ortiz, Tony Plana and Mark Indelicato (more on this later). All in all, the fundraiser was a success, raising oodles of money for various AIDS charities.

It was a big weekend for Ugly Betty - between this fundraiser and picking up Alma Awards (once again, more on this later).  This is always a busy time of year for the cast.

More photos after the jump!

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Here are some beautiful photos of Becki Newton’s arrival at Republic in Los Angeles for Gen Arts “Capture the Night”, an event celebrating the launch of the Acura TSX. The party featured an exibition featuring the spirit of nightlife explored through the work of six emerging photographers.

I love this “sort-of chic-y casual” look on Ugly Betty’s Newton - but she is beautiful pretty much in anything. She’s also sporting some impressive blingage.

The event was hosted by Actress Molly Sims and featured the photographic work of Chris Merkle, Matt Reeves, Tyler Curtis, Brad Walsh, Ben Ritter, and Nikola Tamindzic.

Becki has been getting around a lot lately (almost as much as Michael Urie). She also attended the Cosmopolitan “Fun and Fearless Females” dinner on Tuesday. I’m working on getting pics from that one, then I’ll have the whole story for you.

Newton is apparently enjoying her last weeks in Los Angeles before filming of Ugly Betty resumes in New York later this summer.

More photos after the jump!

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Ugly Betty’s Tony Plana and Mark Indelicato recently spoke with ETOnline, and of course, we’ve got the video!

There are no true spoilers in the interview (they talk about Christian Siriano, Nina Garcia, and Eddie Cibrian, who will be guest starring). However, it’s nice to see Indelicato in an interview - he really interviews well for such a young man. And of course, Tony Plana is a classic.

Plana says that Siriano is just the start: next season there will be more designers on the show, and for many of them, a line will debut on Ugly Betty! What a great tie-in with the fashion industry!

As always, I’ll pass along any news when I find out the designers and/or lines that will be featured.

[EDITED] Video placed after the ‘more’ link because the darned thing autoplays and there’s no way to turn it off. But if you haven’t seen it, take a look after the jump, it’s worth it!

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Ugly Betty’s Becki Newton recently stepped out at a screening for “Trembled Blossoms“, presented by Prada in Beverly Hills, CA. We told you all about it here. Becki is an extremely lovely girl, no two ways about it.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have this look without getting a second mortgage? Well, now you can! Check out this entry at the fascinating blog, “Fashion Under 100“. I love it! I wish I had known about Fashion Under 100 sooner. My wife and I, when watching red carpet proceedings, always end up having a conversation about how real people could not possibly afford to look like this or that celebrity.

Well, when you think about it, clothes and jewelry are just that. With the right combinations of less expensive items, the best celebrity looks can still be yours.

Now, as far as having skin, teeth and a physique like Becki Newton (or Eric Mabius, for that matter), you’re on your own.

Thanks for the great post, Dana!

Ugly Betty’s bad girl Vanessa Williams recently attended the March Of Dimes 33rd Annual Beauty Ball held at Cipriani 42nd Street in NYC. While on the red carpet, she spoke to OK magazine about her dress and about her beauty secrets (no, not THAT one*).

About the Vera Wang Dress: “Loved the color, loved the shape, loved the back,” she says. “A lot of the stuff this season is unconstructed, so this had a little bit of support, which is important. It’s really comfortable, so I don’t have to wear my Spanx and I’m loving it.”

Her candor about shapewear many times takes interviewers off guard. Spankx? “Of course! Doesn’t everyone? Especially when you’re wearing skin-tight stuff. I wear them on the [Ugly Betty] set all the time just to keep things pulled up and tight.”

That aside, I have to agree with her. This dress is simply fabulous. There’s a touch of Greek Goddess in earth tones to it, and it fits her perfectly.

More (and lots more pics) after the jump)

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Ugly Betty’s Becki Newton recently attended an LA screening of Prada’s 4 minute short “Trembled Blossoms”, and we’ve got pics!

In my opinion, Becki is the one Ugly Betty star who is most likely to have a “miss” fashion-wise (she takes risks; we won’t talk about the mermaid dress at last year’s Emmys), but here she pulls off a look that is fetching, symmetrical and pleasing to the eye.

I’ll be honest, “Blossoms” was a little artsy for my tastes, but the imagery was beautiful. You can view the whole thing here.

More photos of the beautiful Becki (and husband Chris Diamantopoulis) after the jump! Funny, she STILL looks like a young Farrah Fawcett to me. She is wearing Miu Miu. What do you think of the huge, solid earrings? THey are beautiful, but subconsciously remind me of circular saw blades.

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