September issue

It's September! You know what that means: fashion weeks (Milan, Paris, New York), fashion issues and fall shopping. And I'm here to help you navigate through this fall couture course.

Let's start with couture concepts:

A/W - Autumn/Winter, describes the season of the line
Haute Couture - high fashion (generally the more expensive lines)
Prêt-à-Porter - French for RTW
Pre-Fall - the shopping season between summer and fall; when stores are getting ready for fall but in need of clothing to sell until the fall shopping season
Resort - similar to pre-fall; shopping season for between winter and spring, named for winter travels to warm places
RTW - ready to wear, this genre of fashion came about with the ability to mass produce garments
S/S - Spring/Summer

For more fashion facts, check out Refinery29's answers to fashion myths.

Now, I'm going to assign you some homework: pick up any one of the dozens of magazines that are celebrating their fashion issues. Here are some of my favorites: Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Glamour.

Fashion's favorite pop stars.

Fashion's favorite pop stars shine on some of the biggest glossies. Posh, Gaga and Gwen are major American fashion icons.