xt from Hillary Clinton’s side-part.QUEEN OF THE RUNWAY Discount Bridesmaid Dresses , AIRWAVES AND EVERYWHERE ELSEBy the time she appeared in a lovely Stella McCartney floral frock and high red leather pumps as a judge on Project Runway, it was clear: In the realm where Hollywood meets fashion, Kerry Washington is royalty.but on the red carpet, she was glamour personified.Case in point: that Marchesa gown she wore at the Emmys, all cream and white and flower appliques, fit for a queen.KATE MAKES US FEEL GREATMuch has been said about the fashion sense of the Duchess of Cambridge, aka Kate Middleton, but in 2013, it was something a bit different that caught our eye.a normal development but something most celebrities keep under wraps, until their personal trainers have whipped them back into magazine-cover shape.LULULEMON, NOT SO MUCHRemember those popular yoga pants that had the unintended effect of being see-through?Well, ladies, turns out the ongoing fabric problems with those pants, including pilling, was YOUR fault.Or rather: the fault of YOUR THIGHS.for the pants, because of thighs rubbing against fabric.Now Wilson just actually won’t be working as chairman of Lululemon; the company announced his resignation from the post in December.TAKING IT ALL OFFNo thigh-rubbing problem for Gwyneth Paltrow, who was happy to show just how little cellulite she has when she appeared at the Iron Man 3 premiere in a dress with sheer mesh panels on the sides, leaving little of her lower body and, er, posterior to the imagination.premiere, her black gown expanding the see-through effect to the midriff and upper regions.Let’s just say these actresses are saving money on underwear.was designer Marc Jacobs’ sombre goodbye to Louis Vuitton in October after 16 years in the influential post of creative director.Under Jacobs Discount Mother of the Bride Dresses , who also has his own eponymous brand, Louis Vuitton became the most lucrative fashion house in the world, in part thanks to Jacobs’ creation of a ready-to-wear line.He was replaced by Nicolas Ghesquiere, formerly at Balenciaga.TAKING DESIGNERS TO TASKIman and Naomi Campbell are legendary supermodels, but this year they lent themselves to something different: promoting diversity on the runway, by calling out designers whose catwalks were almost completely white.The two women joined modelling agent Bethann Hardison in their Balance Diversity campaign.Explaining their purpose, Iman, now 58, said she was shocked to hear there were fewer black models on the runway than when she stopped modeling in 1989.*** COUTUREThe message was unmistakable: At the Karl Lagerfeld haute couture show in Paris, the designer sent not one, but two brides down the runway for the finale.The brides walked hand in hand in their feathery concoctions, a clear vote of support by the designer for France’s gay marriage law.The show came only nine days after hundreds of thousands of people marched in Paris in opposition to the law.WE GOT THE PUNKWho knew that punk would become high fashion?celebrating a movement that embraced anarchy in the 1970s.said curator Andrew Bolton.THE FLAT SHOE, THE PIXIE CUTThink short, ladies!In shoe stores this year, you could see a trend toward flats, including a notable reinterpretation of those chunky Birkenstocks.Every woman wants a flat right now, and that has a big impact on fashion because it changes proportion.Another trend: pixie hair, on everyone from Michelle Williams to Anne Hathaway to Jennifer Lawrence.A lot of these women are very influential.Speaking of influence, dare we call Miley Cyrus a trendsetter?She was already a trailblazer with her pixie cut from 2012, but hey, you probably were too busy watching the stuck-out tongue Discount Flower Girl Dresses , teddy-bear leotard and nude bikini (which falls into the baring-it-all trend at the MTV Video Music Awards).Only weeks later, though, she was all elegance in sequined Marc Jacobs at the Night of Stars gala.Miley the fashion icon?Not by the standard definition.But heading into 2014 she was one of the most-watched people on the planet.Books coverage generally focuses on writers; this is a page about readers.Specifically, it’s about the readers we ask to respond to a new novel each Tuesday.If you’d like to read with us, sign up at theafterword.caTHE BOOK We Are Water by Wally LambWally Lamb is the author of four previous novels, including She’s Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True, and The Hour I First Believed.He lives in Connecticut.Holly Tran Toronto; Lisa Jemison Toronto; Janet Stratis Scarborough, Ont.Janet Somerville Toronto; Linh Nguyen Woodbridge, Ont.Teresa Salvatore Barrie, Ont.Sabreena Braich Surrey, B.Daniel Lee-Muma London, Ont.Alana Charles Toronto; Heather LeBar Guelph, Ont.Were you inspired by any artists in particular when imagining Josephus Jones’s or Annie Oh’s work?Josephus’s paintings called to mind Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian period but I had a harder time seeing Annie’s works in my mind, except for the bridal dress sculpture, which was so vivid.Since they were both untrained and instinctive artists was it your intention or preference that the reader not connect their art with real life artists?was Ellis Ruley, an African-American outsider artist who lived in my hometown (Norwich, Conn.and died under suspicious circumstances.Annie’s art came from my own imagination once I learned by writing in her voice that it was a way to express the rage she harboured based on childhood events.Whether or not readers connect the art of these characters with the work of actual artists is up to them.My job is to write the story as best I can, not to control my readers’ reactions.If there were a chapter from Viveca’s point of view, what secrets would she reveal?I suspect you would see more of her complexity and vulnerability and their connection to her relationship with her father.Readers who have reported back to me seem very mixed about Viveca.Some find her quite unlikeable; others don’t.You took such an unusually artistic family to write about.Was this to allow for their unconvent.