Stranger Than Fiction... Fashion Overload... So That's Why He Did It

STRANGER THAN FICTION: In Style is jumping into its partnership with "Gossip Girl" with two pedicured feet. For one, editor at large Ariel Foxman and assistant managing editor Honor Brodie will have cameos in the Oct. 27 episode. Foxman and Brodie play themselves and attend a housewarming party at the home of fictional characters Lily van der Woodsen and Chuck Bass.

When the show airs, instyle.com will cover the party as a "real" event, with photos of the characters attending the party and provide a 360-degree virtual tour of the Van der Woodsen/Bass "home." The magazine's October issue will also include an interview with "Gossip Girl" production designer Loren Weeks and coverage of the set's wares, which includes pieces from Ralph Lauren and ABC Carpet & Home.

CW network reached out to the magazine as the show began filming its second season. Foxman and Brodie shot the scene in two days last week at Silvercup Studios in New York. Brodie, who oversees In Style's home stories, said she studied her line for two weeks while on vacation with family; Foxman also studied long and hard for his performance.

"I spent an entire beautiful, sunny weekend indoors watching the DVD of the first season with a friend over [Labor Day] weekend. I practiced my one line with my family members. The day of my shoot, my dad called and left the line on my cell phone. I don't think he's ever seen the show," he said.

Foxman also prepped by getting a haircut right before the shoot. He wore his own Thom Browne suit, while costume designer Eric Daman provided a Thom Browne Black Fleece shirt and tie. Brodie wore a floral print dress by Walter, and her own Jimmy Choo shoes, a move she later regretted. "I thought actors have it easy until I realized I merely sit behind my desk in Jimmy Choos," she said. "I completely underestimated standing there for stretches at a time."

In Style has been "Gossip Girl" obsessed since the first season. Its Web site includes the feature  "Get the Gossip Girl look," a shopping guide to clothing and accessories worn by fashionable characters including Serena van der Woodsen (played by Blake Lively) and Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester).

- Stephanie D. Smith