Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Despite the fact she had a baby, like, five minutes ago (and she still has some baby weight to lose, or so she says), Heidi Klum took to the catwalk at the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show last night, which returned to New York after a four-year absence. "I have to say, I wasn't sure until the last minute if I was going to do it or not. I kind of left it open. And then I thought, 'What the heck. Why not?'" [AP, E!, WSJ]

Pimpin' Your Kid Ain't Easy | People have been turning to drug dealing and donating blood to remain afloat amid the recession, so it's probably natural that some parents are trying to make ends meet by forcing their kids into acting and modeling in the hopes of turning them into mini-ATM machines. More

Fashion Magazines Make You Sad | Ever find yourself feeling a little depressed after leafing through the latest issue of Vogue? You're not the only one. According to new research, women with normal body-mass indexes demonstrated lower self-esteem after they were shown a series of photos of very thin models. The cure: Go look at a bunch of photos of very fat women and your self-esteem should be back where it was in no time. [NYT]

Get Within 25 Feet of a Supermodel For $25K | Would you pay $25,000 to sit in the front row at next month's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show? Because you could if you wanted to. And it's entirely possible the stars could align and and a little stray supermodel body glitter could fly off the runway and land in your lap, and that alone would be well worth $25K, wouldn't it? Thought so! [ALZ.org]

Lose your job recently? In search of a new career? Maybe you should consider becoming a hand model! Provided your hands are "veinless, poreless and flawless," you could follow in Ashly Covington's footsteps and earn up to $1,200 a day to fold a tortilla in half or squeeze a little mousse on to your fingertip. Not that it's a bed of roses, mind you. Covington, whose hand modeling reel is above, says she has to moisturize 20 to 30 times a day and estimates she wears gloves 90 percent of the time. "When it's your livelihood, you've got to think hands first," she says. Nor is it necessarily the most glamorous profession. "It seems people think we all live like supermodels and rockstars," says Kimbra Hickey, who made the hand model hall of fame when she appeared on the cover of the novel Twilight. "But it's really just a regular job." There go all your preconceived notions! [CNN via NYM]

Karolina Kurkova, Trendsetter | Supermodel Karolina Kurkova is pregnant, as you may have heard. Naturally, this means that what has taken place since the dawn of humanity is now totally trendy: "You know, it's probably the new thing to be pregnant," she says. "It's not to have the Chanel python bag. It's to be pregnant." [AP]

• A group of 21 stores on the Lower East Side are coming together to offer a weekend of discounts in honor of the (capsule) trade show that's currently underway. [Pipeline, Cut]
• Modeling rates really must falling: A Hugo Boss model has been charged for taking part in the robberies of 15 gas stations and delis. [NYP]
• Eddie Bauer will survive, after all. A private equity firm is buying the company out of bankruptcy for a whopping $284 million. [BN]
• Rihanna half-shaved her head this week. Exciting! Don't think for a moment, though, it was an original move on Rihanna's part, says an outraged Joe Zee of Elle. [People, Twitter]More

Who's benefiting from the collapse of the economy besides vulture investors, short sellers and bargain-hunting fashionistas? Blondes! Or, more specifically, blue-eyed blonde models, who are experiencing a renaissance now that designers are casting "wholesome-looking girls with flaxen manes" in their ads in an effort to "reassure" rather than "shock" the consumer.More

Violent drunks and junkies take heart: If Naomi Campbell can turn her life around, anyone can! The scary supermodel has been telling Giant magazine that she's finally been cured of her addiction to cocaine and alcohol by a therapy she calls The Program, which involves body cleanses and a Buddhisty-sounding philosophy that "teaches you to let go." Let go of what, one wonders? Certainly not bad behavior, since Naomi's image as an impossible diva prone to seismic tantrums is, she reveals, nothing but a silly myth, first perpetuated by her spurned former model agency boss John Casablancas. "He had to attack me because I decided to leave. Models can leave agencies. I was not under a written contract. I was shocked to see how he acted." Isn't it awful how one vindictive rumor can dog an innocent person for their entire career? 

Even Johannes Huebl Doesn't Trust Olivia Palermo's Taste | Olivia Palermo's fake career in fashion has yet to teach her much about men's clothing. At least according to Johannes Huebl, Olivia's award-winning model boyfriend, who says that while Olivia's style is "pretty good," her fashion expertise is limited to "women's only." You can expect Olivia to dig a stiletto into Huebl's neck later this evening for expressing doubt in her omniscience, not that this revelation will prevent her from taking full credit for every outfit Huebl wears as long as they're together. [What He Wears]

Beautiful models have been the downfall of many men, and Anthony Weiner, it appears, is no exception: The congressman who proposed expanding the number of visas available to foreign models last year is now being accused of accepting campaign contributions from the same models his proposal would have helped—women like Jessica Stam, May Andersen, and Thalita De Oliveira—for his upcoming mayoral campaign. The problem, of course, is that these models aren't allowed to make political contributions since they are not U.S. citizens. On the plus side, though, this may be the first scandal in history involving a politician and a gaggle of beautiful models that has absolutely nothing to with sex. Oh, poor Anthony.

What do models do to keep themselves amused during the inevitable stretches of downtime during Fashion Week? Answers below! More

A recap of the shows, parties, and gossip you've missed at Fashion Week thus far after the jump.More

If you needed any proof that models are the way they are due to a blessed combination of genetics, speedy metabolism, and an active lifestyle, the group of mannequins surveyed by The Cut mostly insist—and why would they lie?—that tomorrow they totally plan to stuff themselves with food. Chanel Iman says "I love to eat," Ali Michaels says "of course!" she plans to overindulge, while Lindsay Ellingson's favorite Thanksgiving food is her mom's pumpkin pie "with lots of whipped cream." Vegan Ali Michael, though, will eat "a simple meal of steamed greens, beans, avocado, and maybe even a little piece of raw dark chocolate." Sounds tragic, but at least she won't be obliged to purge/spend five hours on the treadmill/cancel her next shoot after.

Not that Padma Lakshmi needed any help in ensnaring her next billionaire boyfriend, but this can't hurt: Indian models are apparently the next big thing in the modeling world, an industry that is finally recognizing "their potential and versatility in selling high fashion," reports ABC News. Willowy Brazilians Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima? They're so five minutes ago as advertisers and editors book new faces from the subcontinent like September Harper's Bazaar cover girl Kangana Dutta and Ford model Lakshmi Menon, who's been in recent campaigns for Hermes and Givenchy. More