We caught up with "It" model Chanel Iman earlier this week to get her insights on Fashion Week. Here's her final dispatch:

Just when I thought Fashion Week couldn't be any more exciting, my agents at Ford called me with an opportunity too good to be true! Even when I thought I was just about to do all I could for this amazing week in N.Y., I am ready for more.  I am trying to breathe and take it all in.  Wow … what a week!

After nearly 18 shows, I left N.Y. Fashion week two days early to fly to the U.K. for a very prestigious editorial shoot that will lead me directly into Fashion Week in London!  As the reality of leaving sets in, I can't help but think about all the extraordinary clothing I saw and wore. The Spring/Summer '09 collections were all so great! This season is going to be amazing!!

But when you get the chance to shoot with a special photographer and such an amazing styling team, you really can't say no! So now, here I am overseas. At least I can adjust to the time change before the rest of the models arrive.

On a soggy, chilly Friday afternoon with Fashion Week's finale fast approaching, leave it to the boys of Badgley Mischka to warm the tents with reliably pretty pieces: suits, dresses and gowns cut from satin, eyelet and chiffon. The palette built up in brightness: Early looks were mellow ecru, chamois and dove, which graduated to rose and then popped to fuchsia, turquoise, violet and berry. Prints started subtle (black-and-white asters) and grew bold (a fruity floral fashioned into frocks and swimsuits). Heather Graham's persimmon pout blended right in. Also taking cover from the clouds: Joan Allen and Jason Biggs, who practiced playful PDA with wife Jenny Mollen. — Olivia Barker

All around New York City, stylish citizens are taking off their Manolos and hanging up their YSL bags. The week-long fashion fest wraps up today, so here's what you need to know before the models have taken their last awkward-looking steps and the designers their last bows.

Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who's the best-dressed politician of all? The Wall Street Journal doesn't exactly give Sarah Palin top nod, but today they report on the buying frenzy her style has caused. Enlighten us, WSJ. They write that Palin sported trendy designer shoes by Naughty Monkey the day McCain announced her as his VP candidate. Apparently, Paris Hilton has even been spotted in shoes by the brand. Style.com's boy-about-town Derek Blasberg got Fashion Week regulars to dish on the style.

Have you been wondering what non-celeb types wear to the shows? Check out The Sartorialist's photo blog of showgoers. We're going to go ahead and add the disclaimer that these are definitely some of the top dressers at the tents.

Reuters reports that according to some fashion insiders, there is still too little diversity on the runway. Actress/ex-model Joy Bryant dished on Huffingtonpost.com about the time she was told by a big-time designer that she was "soooo beautiful, but I'm not using black girls this season." —Rebecca Heslin

The Project Runway finale at the Tents at Bryant Park got off to a dramatic start Friday. The guest judge's seat was empty just one minute before showtime, prompting chatter among guests. Then, the perpetually perky Heidi Klum popped up to welcome the crowd, announcing that "Jennifer Lopez was scheduled to be our guest judge today, but she canceled yesterday due to a foot injury." Collective gasp from the audience. Tim Gunn to the rescue! The mentor filled the empty seat, and the show started. All six remaining contestants — Jerell, Korto, Leanne, Joe, Kenley and Suede — showed collections. Here's a minute-by-minute account. — Alison Maxwell

9:31 a.m. Heidi in a form-fitting green dress, towering heels and lots of diamonds, Nina Garcia in a yellow dress and Michael Kors in sunglasses walk to the end of the runway for a photo op with the gaggle of photogs stationed to shoot the show.

9:33 a.m. Lights dim. Dead silence in the audience.

9:34 a.m. "We had a great five years at Bravo. We had a great run. We all loved it," Klum says acknowledging PR's final season on the cable network. "Thank you, Bravo, for putting this beautiful show on your network."

9:38 a.m. Tim Gunn takes his seat among the judges, after Klum announces Lopez's cancellation.

9:40 a.m. Jerell pops out onto the runway. "Hopefully you guys enjoy what I've created for you as much as I've enjoyed creating it," he says, adding in a shoutout to boyfriend Dan. The collection is heavy on eveningwear with loads of metallics and sequins. Several dresses had what appeared to be intentionally elongated sleeves that covered the models' hands. A purple gown with a bejeweled waist and a gold ballgown with a visible tulle underskirt capped off the collection.

9:47 a.m. Jerell strolls the runway hand-in-hand with the last model and flashes the peace sign to photographers.

9:48 a.m. Suede takes the stage and gives a special thanks to Tim Gunn, his amazing mentor. "I was really inspired by the Bluefly.com challenge," Suede explains. "You guys are gonna see where I've taken linear to a new level. Suede's gonna rock it!" His collection kicks off with a summery madras gown, followed by a silver-bodiced gown with a bright purple, blue and green tiered skirt. Next up: a tie-dyed sequin gown and a wedding gown with a corseted top and a short, full-lace skirt with an exaggerated long train.

9:53 a.m. Holding a bouquet of roses, a teary-eyed Suede walks the runway holding hands with the last model.

9:54 a.m. It's Joe's turn. "I'd like to thank my wife, who is the sun in my solar system," he says. His inspiration? Americana. "Very multicultural, Western, motorcycle and rock 'n' roll."  The first look is a full denim skirt with a brown leather corset top. Skin-tight leather pants paired with a Chanel-esque jacket follow. Other looks: a paisley, printed tea-length casual dress with a Western-inspired turquoise belt. A navy silk slip dress with oversized silver stars down the side. A motorcycle jacket-inspired corset paired with a red formal skirt.

10 a.m. A clearly elated Joe walks the runway, twirling his last model for the photographers.

10:01 a.m. Kenley's up. "I was really inspired with painting and Alice in Wonderland. I made my dream wardrobe," she says. Not surprisingly, each model sports some form of trendy headgear — from Kenley's trademark feather clips to small rosettes and even towering elaborate pieces. The very feminine, floral line first features a cocktail dress with a tulip-printed overlay. It's followed by a green mini-leopard print gown with puff sleeves and shoulder pads. Other designs include a dress with a pink-and-black striped bodice and billowy, black tulle skirt. A sleek, black, long-sleeved cocktail dress was accentuated by 5-inch-long black feathers pointing upward at the neck toward the face. A luscious, strapless wedding gown with cream feathers applied from just above the knee to the decolletage concludes the presentation.

10:06 a.m. Korto takes the mike. "You guys ready for me?" she asks. "My collection is inspired by nature. The pleating detail is from my native land (Liberia). There's some hot jewelry I added because, you know, Korto is jewelry, too." Korto worked within a yellow, green, teal and rust color palette. A short, printed, backless dress and a floor-length, rust-colored, one-shoulder dress seem to encapsulate the theme of the collection. African-inspired jewelry with plenty of stones and beading punctuate the looks.

10:12 a.m. Korto walks the runway with her young daughter.

10:13 a.m. Leanne is the last to present her designs. "This is my beautiful collection that I've lost millions of hours of sleep over. And I'm in love with it," she says. Leanne's is the most minimalistic of the bunch. She sticks with mostly formalwear in creams, teals and combos of the two. Many designs use an elegant pleating technique that give the dresses the illusion of movement. The crowd is wowed by a strapless wedding gown with this cascading pleating effect. 

10:18 a.m. A humble-looking Leanne walks the runway wearing glasses even larger than she usually wears.

10:19 a.m. Auf Wiedersehen! Heidi thanks the crowd, and the attendees head for the exits.   

Photos by AP, Getty Images and Reuters

Why wasn't Ricky invited? Who are his Season 5 Project Runway picks? Christian Siriano takes a few minutes with our cameras before his runway show. (P.S. We saw blue eyebrows being applied to models back there, too.)

So how did Christian Siriano do? Work-appropriate looks, flowing electric-hued gowns and hats fit for a fierce Kentucky Derby rounded out his collection. Judge for yourself and check out the final walk from his show:

Sometimes it's easy to discern a designer's inspiration. Traveling the world; a tropical paradise; Monet's water lilies; a journey to Paris ... It's even easier when the designer specifies that inspiration for you in the program. Unfortunately, at the Zac Posen show, neither turned out to be the case, making it difficult for this reporter (and others around her) to gauge where Posen was coming from.  The collection kicked off with a smattering of sorbet, pink, pistachio and gray dresses paired with dramatic oversized chandelier earrings and bright purple lips. Sort of romantic with an edge. Scattered in were several pastel leopard-print shifts. Then came a handful of pieces with an underlayer of perspex, a transparent acrylic resin that gave the illusion of a shell around the hips (every woman's dream — bigger hips!). On the outside, these gowns were heavily bejeweled with stones at the waist. Then came a series of ruffled, voluminous gowns, some with asymetrical hemlines.

Star turnout was big on the last night of Fashion Week: Claire Danes chatted with Jada Pinkett Smith pre-show. Venus and Serena Williams strolled in with BFF Andre Leon Talley and Anna Wintour. In an unlikely cluster toward the end of the runway, Marisa Tomei, Bernadette Peters, Bette Midler, Juliette Lewis and Kate Mara mugged for a crush of cameras. Serial showgoer Leighton Meester was also in the mix. — Alison Maxwell

Photo by Seth Wenig, AP

Ariel Meredith, 21, from Louisiana has been modeling for three years. This is her first show season.

6:00 a.m.
I'm up, I'm ready! First a walk with Hershey and Rocky (my Yorkies) — nothing gets me going like a walk with them. I always try to get at least six hours of sleep before a job — so I'm light on the party circuit! It also helps my skin — I don’t have a special routine, but I try to get lots of rest and eat well. Makeup can be so harsh, so I always wash my face right after a shoot or a show. Helps keep my complexion clear.

7:00 a.m.
It's a show day, so I'm going to skip the big breakfast and go with fruit and my fave cinnamon-raisin bread — and an espresso, of course. I need to be alive today!

Click "read more" to follow the rest of Ariel Meredith's day.

There's a reason that every time we pass Cynthia Rowley's store on Bleecker Street, we want become the mannequins in the window, and 36 of those reasons (OK, 30 — there were maybe six looks only a model could get away with) came traipsing down her runway Thursday afternoon.  "The thing I absolute love about her is that it's gorgeous pieces, but it's wearable pieces," said Amanda Beard, looking pretty in Rowley's front row. "You can actually go in the store and buy most of the runway looks." Rowley showed a series of geometric patterns cut into slim pencil dresses, layered mesh dresses with embroidered Egyptian enamel eyes, and fabulously polished black linen and mesh dresses that could have been mistaken for leather.

Pre-show, Amanda dished on all the rumors of a relationship with fellow gold medalist Michael Phelps. "I think it's hilarious," she said. "He's so big and huge right now and to be linked to him — not bad! Not bad at all." Boyfriend Sacha Brown takes it all in stride. "He knows me and he knows Michael, and he's around the swimmers a lot." And for good measure, she added: "My boyfriend is absolutely hot and no one compares." Also front row: Alan Cumming, Crossing Jordan's Jill Hennessy, Tatum O'Neal, and Julia Stiles (who's headed back to Broadway in a David Mamet play in January).  "I've hopefully grown out of my college days," said a grown-up and polished looking Stiles. "I've started to appreciate fashion much more."  Aside from Rowley, on her radar is Brazilian designer Osklen. "He has great comfortable but chic clothing," she said. "He knows how to dress a woman's body really well." — Andrea Mandell

Christian Siriano — cool, confident, some might say cocky, Christian Siriano — seemed a bit jittery backstage 20 minutes before the scheduled start time of his solo Fashion Week debut. "I'm a little nervous. We're getting close — but, you know, we're not late yet." (Of course, like any hotly anticipated show, it started 40 minutes late.)

It may have been Siriano's star turn, but it also turned out to be a Season 4 Project Runway mini-reunion, with Victorya, Kit, Kevin, Jack and Sweet P. there to cheer on their former competitor. "I have my whole crew," Siriano said. "I tried to invite everybody who's in town. I wanted them to support me." Don't suppose teary Ricky made the list? "Um, no. I invited the people I keep in touch with."

The clothes were now-classic Christian: tightly ruffled organza gowns and dramatic, asymmetrical hats. "It was inspired by nature — the clouds and the sky. That inspired the color palette, which is very icy and gray and tonal." And then: "electric pops of color" — sunset orange, lightning-bolt chartreuse.

"I love his clothes. He does very, very special things," Heidi Klum (pictured above with Siriano) said pre-show. Waiting to chat with her among the clutch of press: Jack, Kevin and Christian's mom, Joye, who introduced herself. "I'm a little bit shier, I'm going to say, in my clothes. I'm not so outgoing. He has made things for me, but still, they're very strong things. They're very, very big statement pieces, so I have to find the right moment to wear them."

Post-show, Sweet P. murmured to her seatmate, "Oh, my God. Unbelievable."

Ever-candid Christian said he's checked out Season 5 "a little bit." His assessment? "Interesting. I like Korto and Leanne — those are my girls. And other than that — I'm not too sure. We'll see. I'm ready for the finale." He's going to tomorrow morning's show "if I can. If I'm alive." — Olivia Barker

Photos by Getty Images

Designer Francisco Costa clearly had the next 40 years of Calvin Klein on his mind when designing for spring. The futuristic collection was heavy on minimalistic, structured looks and was composed almost entirely of whites, silvers and talcs and blushes (save for two cobalt blue dresses). Many of the dresses seemed inspired by origami, only the intricate folding occurred in fabric, not paper. And in Costa's futuristic world, one thing's for certain: A strong shoulder silhouette has returned (see photo at left).  Some designs left the models looking like they were wearing shoulder pads, or worse yet, football pads. Others featured volume through the middle section and toward the back, leaving the stick-thin models looking a bit tentlike. While maybe not the most wearable for everyday folks, the collection was a treat to dissect and certainly left the crowd thinking. — Alison Maxwell

Photo by Seth Wenig, AP

Several stars showed off new shorter 'dos this Fashion Week. But were they truly 'dos or fashion don'ts? Beyonce (pictured, left) rocked a blond wig at Fashion Rocks as part of an Etta James tribute. Victoria Beckham (center), in town to showcase her dress line, caused a stir at Marc Jacobs with her pixie cut. While hair chameleon Mena Suvari turned up at a few events sporting a cropped top. Love it or hate it? — Alison Maxwell

Photos by Jeff Christensen, AP; Peter Kramer, AP; Bryan Bedder, Getty Images

There's some belt tightening going on at Fashion Week, and we don't necessarily mean the economic kind. Belts — wide, skinny and multiple — were big on the runways this week. Marc Jacobs (photo at left) paired belts with his '80s-inspired Marc by Marc Jacobs line, while Peter Som (middle photo) nipped in most of his designs. And Oscar de la Renta cinched everything from daywear to a bathing suit to evening gowns. Kinda makes you want to lose that extra 10 pounds. — Alison Maxwell
Photos by Seth Wenig, AP; Joshua Lott, Reuters; Richard Drew, AP