InStyle Hires New Fashion Columnist

While I am not one to applaud magazines that hire celebrities to be fashion columnists or contributors (ahem, Rita Wilson and Harper's BAZAAR, cough, cough), InStyle magazine just announced this week that they've brought on Rachel Bilson (of the O.C. fame) to write a monthly style column about trends. While this may seem like cheap ploy to get magazines off the shelves (or Bilson's career back in the limelight), that seems rather dubious since a) InStyle has dominated fashion magazine sales so far this year and b) Rachel Bilson is hardly a celebrity.

So, in other words, this partnership may actually work.

When Bilson was on the O.C., celebrity stylist Nicole Chavez used to style her on and off camera. But since those hey deys of having all the fashion footwork done for you, Bilson has actually been able to forge her way with some pretty interesting style choices.

Since InStyle has a tendency to promote $15,000 watches alongside $500 shirts, I would like to see a column that promotes new labels, forward-thinking designers, and trendy options that both readers and pseudo-celebritities can all afford.