Here’s something you don’t see every day – Mel B. jumping out of a birthday cake! But she did it with style!

Mel was in the cake (or well, sort of in the cake) to celebrate Ultimo’s 10th birthday. She wore a bright pink corset-style top, skin tight leggings, and a pair of killer boots.

Images: BauerGriffinOnline

First Lady Michelle Obama lights up the cover of the May 2009 issue of ESSENCE magazine.

Michelle Obama appears on the cover with her mother, who is living at the White House with the Obama family. Inside she talks balance, support, and parental influence.

Mrs. Michelle Obama on what being First Lady means to her:
“It’s an honor and a privilege when you walk into the White House-at least I automatically felt a level of obligation. This is a big responsibility, a wonderful platform and I just want to make sure I take every advantage to serve as a role model, to provide good messages, to be a supportive mate to the President and to make sure that my girls are solid.”

Mrs. Marian Robinson on seeing her daughter step into this historic role:
“Well, to me, it’s overwhelming. I never doubted that she could do this. She is doing it with such grace and dignity. So I am just proud. I just hope she does what she wants to do. [Chuckles] Because the things that she wants to do are very important. They mean a lot to her.”

Mrs. Michelle Obama on finding balance:
“Unlike most women, I have a lot of resources: I have my mother living with me. The White House has a staff of people who are there to make my life easy. I don’t have a full-time job, although I work very hard in the role of First Lady. But I have a lot of resources. So I have been able to achieve the balance because I have the support I need.”

Mrs. Robinson on what her late husband, Fraser Robinson III, would say about this moment:
“You would not be able to shut him up! He would not be able to stand this. He would be beaming until you would just want him to stop talking. He bragged about Michelle and her brother, Craig, before they had even done anything. He always encouraged them, and when he talked about Craig and Michelle, you could just see a smile on his face whether it was there or not. He just enjoyed these two people.”

Mrs. Obama on her parents’ support:
“I always felt that my father and my mother were unconditionally rooting for me. And kids need that. Looking back that played such a huge role in building confidence in me and my brother very early. Whether we succeeded or failed, we had two people who lifted us up and supported us. There was never anything that I could imagine that I would need that they wouldn’t bend over backward to make sure that we had. There is just a sense of security that allows you to take risks. People think that it comes from wealth or generations of access and success, but it doesn’t. The security of your parents’ love really gives you the foundation to think that you can fly. And then you do.”

Mrs. Obama on how her mother has influenced her own development as a mother:
“She completely underestimates her role in who I am. She always says, “You came here that way, I just stayed out of your way.” That’s not how I saw it. My mom is an incredibly intelligent and insightful person about life in general. From the time we could talk, she talked to us endlessly about any and everything with a level of openness and fearlessness that made us believe that we were bright enough to engage with an adult, that we were worthy enough to ask questions and to get really serious answers—and she did it with a level of humor. There were many times when we were in the midst of getting spanked or disciplined and she would start cracking up. She taught my brother and me not to take things so seriously; to work hard, but to learn to laugh at situations and laugh at yourself and then to move through it.”

You don’t see Lost’s Evangeline Lily all that often, not like many other celebrities, so I was happy to see her at the premiere of her new movie Afterwards in Paris, especially when I saw what she was wearing.

As a general rule I’m not fond of high-waisted pants. Unless you have mile-long model legs, high waisted pants tend to make most people look like the epitome of “frumpy mom jeans”. On the other hand, Evangeline Lily DOES have mile-long model legs and so she looks great in these high-waisted gray pants topped with a wide black belt.

I also love her silver sleeveless shirt with the tux-style ruffle down the front. It works well with her dark hair and adds some shine and interest to the overall outfit. The black open-toe heels are perfect too.

Nicely played Evangeline! When your regular role involves several seasons of wearing “lost on an island after a plane crash” clothes, it must be nice to go out in public all dressed up!

5. Rachel Bilson – Rachel is so good at effortlessly putting together stylish yet casual outfits that just about any regular non-celeb could pull off easily. Haute couture is fun to look at but who actually wears it? Rachel wears real clothes and we all appreciate that.

4. Christina Aguilera – There have been times when Christina has looked completely whacked, wearing really bizarre outfits. Lately though, she has been kicking ass and taking names with her great style choices. When she promoted her perfume at Macy’s, she looked especially stunning.

3. Jennifer Aniston – Jennifer has a knack for looking fresh and pulled together wherever she goes. She rocks the casual look best but she looks great on a red carpet too. I particularly loved when she showed up in head-to-toe black with a trench coat.

2. Lauren Conrad – Heidi Montag may have hated her for most of the year, but Lauren wins my award for the best dressed girl on The Hills. It’s no wonder that her line, the Lauren Conrad Collection – even though it’s pricier – is doing miles better than the Heidiwood line!

1. Angelina Jolie – I may be biased, but Angelina is always my number one favorite celebrity when it comes to style. The woman looks gorgeous in anything, whether it’s casual clothes, maternity wear, or red carpet gowns. If I could have all her clothes in my wardrobe I would be a very happy and well dressed fashionista!

Who was your favorite style celeb of 2008?

Happy new year to you all! I hope 2009 continues to bring us a lot of great (and awful!) celebrity styles!

Thandie Newton arrived at the premiere of Rocknrolla in an interesting white dress with multiple high slits. What do you think? Sexy or icky?

Liv Tyler is in Paris to celebrated her 31st birthday, and she checked out the Dior couture show while she was there. She also wore Dior to the show – which looks amazing on her. Liv has always been gorgeous but since her separation from her husband she’s been looking hotter than ever. I guess looking good is the best revenge.

Anne Hathaway continues her trend of looking amazing 97% of the time. She was visiting Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report) to promote her new film Get Smart, and she showed up wearing a gorgeous trench dress. I am completely in love with it and I think I’m going to have to go out ASAP to get one for my own wardrobe.

Preferably cheaper than what this one likely cost.

What do you think of this trench dress?

Now you can REALLY keep up with the Kardashians! Kim Kardashian wants you to buy clothes straight from her closet. The sale is for a charity event, the Dream Foundation, which grants wishes to terminally ill adults – similar to the Wish Foundation for children.

You can bid on a variety of her dresses, as well as clothing belonging to Khloe Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian.

Go get your Kardashian style here.

This month’s InStyle has a beautiful cover shot of Christina Applegate. Her career has gotten such a great second life since starting on Samantha Who?

Inside she talks all about her own style secrets.

“I don’t follow trends. I like things that are a little bit off and a little bit interesting.”

“I have a friend who always calls me a chimney sweep because I tend to dress like one,” she jokes. “I don’t like doing my hair, so I wear the same cap every day–an ugly tweed old-man’s golfer’s cap.”

“I believe in black pants because anything goes with them. I also think it’s important to have great jeans that fit your body. I can’t do the skinny jean. I just don’t have the body.”

I’m not sure about Gwyneth Paltrow’s extremely short black dress. On the one hand, there’s no denying she looks hot in it and she has incredible legs. On the other, it looks like something she might have swiped from wardrobe back when she was doing Hard Eight and playing a Vegas cocktail waitress.

I bet her husband would like it if she wore it after hours, if you know what I’m sayin’.

I like it and I don’t like it, I can’t really decide one way or another.

What do you think of it?