Well, this is one way to settle who's the superior seamstress: Amanda Valentine and Shannon Lea engage in knock-down fashion fisticuffs-by-bloodied-proxy in this pugilistic photo set by photographer Josh Marx. We don't condone violence here at Country Life, but have to admit some of the images are, shall we say, striking.

[Found on the Behance Network.]

Nashville style blogger Elise Yetton — the woman behind Pennyweight and, incidentally, one of our blogdels for last year's Fall Guide fashion pictorial — is curating a collection of handmade goods that will be on display for your perusal and purchase tomorrow at the West Elm in Green Hills.

As part of the ongoing partnership between the crafter site Etsy and the mass-modernist furniture and decor chain West Elm, Yetton will host a craft arts-a-thon from 1-6 p.m. in the Hill Center location, featuring the work of 10 Nashville area artisans, plus snacks, beverages, music and a photo booth.

Artists include Acorn and Archer, Gracey May Needlepoint and Southern Lights Electric, to name but three. Check out the full roster over at Pennyweight, and if you're inclined, RSVP over on the Book of Face.

By Saturday, those of us who had faithfully attended each and every fashion show were feeling a little worse for the wear, partially due to the fact that most of us subsided on wine and Sour Patch Kids all week. Fortunately, a savior was delivered at just the right time, and to The Mall at Green Hills, no less: Tim Gunn, beloved Project Runway mentor and fashion and etiquette guru. Gunn hosted a fashion show at the mall featuring Liz Claiborne (for which he is chief creative officer) brands Kate Spade, Lucky Brand and Juicy Couture. In addition to highlighting current trends like mixing different scales of patterns and brights, Tim and his co-host Leah explained the basics of how to dress different body types, focusing on how to make the current trends wearable. I secretly wished I had invited some friends and family to this one!

Day Four of NFW was by far the most anticipated due to the appearance of a little label called Versace. We switched venues from Marathon Music Works to The Parthenon at Centennial Park, which would have been lovely had the weather cooperated. Mother Nature was clearly unconcerned about the perils of wearing five-inch heels in mud.

Nashville's Shea Steele, who stole the show from headliner Christian Siriano at the inaugural NFW, started the evening with her lauded White Rabbit line. Now, props to the NFW organizers for doing the show in one of Nashville's (and ancient Greece's) most instantly recognizable venues, but it unless you scored one of the coveted seats, it was really hard to see. I guess it pays to not be fashionably late sometimes.

Anyway, back to White Rabbit. Steele, proprietoress of everyone's favorite vintage/indie designer store, Local Honey, showed yet another impressive collection of clothing and accessories (her jewelry = amazing).

Thursday night's NFW schedule promised an "interactive fashion event." I wasn't really sure what that meant, but was game for the experience as long as we mortals didn't have to intermingle with any amazon underweight models. Remember when Miranda dated a "modelizer" on Sex and the City? We learned that models were allowed to roam freely throughout the streets of NYC, resulting in magnified inferiority complexes among the rest of the population. The horror.

Well, we intermingled with the models last night, and it wasn't that scary. This superbly executed installation show allowed each of the seven local designers to create a vignette, showcasing a handful of looks from their recent collections. The designers were present and willing to explain their concept and inspiration, which is something you just don't get when you're watching a show from the side of a runway. Attendees were encouraged to walk among each installation, lending an intimate feel and giving the sartorially curious a close look at each collection.

Major kudos for the NFW team for thinking this one up.

Nashville's Truly Alvarenga's Pink Elephants collection was the first installation upon entry, and the steampunk-prom dresses were nicely complemented by the Gothic Ferngully decor.

The big news in the third fashion industry panel is that Jamie and the Jones are breaking up! The winners of last year's nD Festival emerging designer competition, subjects of this year's Scene People Issue — and my personal hair icons — announced that they're going on hiatus during yesterday's panel on Southern fashion at The Frist. But there were other discussions had, and no one seemed convinced that Hannah and Jamie were gone for good.

The topic broached was Southern fashion — if it's even a thing, and what it means if it is. The overall consensus was that there's no real "Southern" fashion, but that there is a trend toward American fashion, artisan fashion, grassroots boutiques, and slow pacing — and all of those ideas also happen to be nurtured in the South. Matt and Carrie Eddmunson of Imogene + Willie spoke about their business development, how they began by making 250 pairs of jeans for friends who bought them for $100 each, how they had nothing more than unemployment checks in the beginning, and how they quit buying papers and watching TV when they were starting out (in 2008, at the height of the economic crisis) as a way to keep out negative ideas.

Paris-based fashion journalist Dana Thomas brought a wealth of knowledge to the discussion, having worked in fashion since the mid-nineties and publishing her work in New York Times bestselling books (Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster) and in Wall Street Journal's monthly magazine. She was bright but extremely blunt, so when she said things like, "The next movement is going to be a backlash against the Internet," you really, seriously believe her. She also said that, in fashion, a similar return to the handmade was on the horizon, and Nashville is well-situated for that kind of counter-movement.

A recurring idea throughout the panels (I missed the second one, but Libby Callaway pointed out that it had repeated) was that fashion is following in the footsteps of the slow-food movement. People are gravitating away from the mass produced in all areas of life, and it's becoming more widely accepted that people will pay more when they know they're buying a quality product, and that they're supporting their local economy and not some international marketing campaign.

I left the discussion feeling filled up — like I'd gotten a good dose of creative ammunition. Here's hoping there will be more like it in the future. I can't imagine a better way for Nashville to pave our own way in the fashion world than by creative summits like these.

On Day One, we kicked off NFW with a bit of a bare arse. On Day Two, we closed the evening with a bit of a bare arse. More on that later, now that I have your attention.

Last night, the fearless NFW attendees yet again packed into Marathon Music Works for another hot (literally ... it's pretty warm in there, folks) night of fashion. Lauren Leonard's Leona started the show. We adored her mix of spring-suitable tweeds and sharp hats (and the lovely Judith Bright jewelry was a nice touch).

The first of three fashion industry panels just wrapped up, and it was terrific. Phillip Nappi provided the furniture, which made the stage seem automatically classy and down-to-earth. The panel began with Imogene + Willie's Carrie Eddmunson giving thanks to Scene contributor and fashion insider Libby Callaway for organizing the events — her speech was so heartfelt that both women admitted to getting a little teary-eyed.

The participants on the panel were an impressive mix — men's fashion heavy-hitter Barry Wishnow dominated most of the conversation, but he was smart and interesting and made good points. He reminded me of a mixture of Spalding Gray and Jeffrey Deitch, with a little Big Lebowski thrown in. One of my favorite things that was said on the panel was when Wishnow spoke about the importance of dressing yourself well. I'm paraphrasing, but it was something like this: You can have a great house in Malibu, but when you're not there nobody sees it. You can drive a fancy car, but when you park it and walk around nobody can tell what kind of car you drive. But what people will always see is you, and how you're dressed will always affect people's perception of who you are. Invest accordingly.

Eddmunson told the story of Otis James, who was also on the panel wearing a cap, Asics sneakers, and a tie hanging undone around his neck, riding his bike across the country only a few years ago. James was homeless and had no business, but began making ties out of a garage. Next week he'll be opening a shop in Marathon Village. That's the short story. It was a moving sentiment — dream big and do something well and stuff will happen.

Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin was my favorite panelist — she has cheekbones like Debbie Harry and a killer silver bob. She spoke about her business model, which involves employing artisans as independent contractors who buy the materials from her and then sell the finished product back to her. The kind of integrity that kind of trust must produce is seriously inspiring.

The second panel starts at 1 p.m., so there's plenty of time to make it over. It's free, and while you're there you can check out the art exhibits — both upstairs and downstairs shows are fantastic, and there's free admission to all fashion industry panel attendees.

After today's panels at The Frist and tonight's runway shows at Marathon Music Works, maybe you could use a transition event Friday to shift back into glam nightstalker mode. Hat tip to D. Patrick Rodgers over at Nashville Cream for passing along the invite to this cool last-minute trunk show celebrating Fashion Week, featuring some of Music City's indie-rock royalty.

Guest of honor is California-based Bandit Brand, whose artfully trashy midriff-baring T's are just the ticket if your fashion muse is the Sheri Moon Zombie character from The Devil's Rejects and your couturiers are the Sons of Anarchy. To put everyone in the right Satan's Sadists frame of mind, there'll be sets by DJs King, Jonas and Jambone. Rumor has it these mysterious maestros of mixmastery represent such world-beating acts as Turbo Fruits and JEFF the Brotherhood, but don't blame us if it turns out to be three furniture movers who made off with somebody's turntable.

There'll be drinks, there'll be Scene sweetheart Nikki Lane, there'll be Seth Graves, there'll be people you rarely see in daylight hours, however waning. It's 6-10 p.m. Friday at High Class Hillbilly, 914 Woodland St. Unit E.