Lindsay Lohan Trades in Mini Dress for $8,000 Chanel Ensemble for Wednesday Court Appearance

After causing an internet implosion -- and inadvertently spurring a fashion craze -- with her choice in attire for her February 9 court appearance, Lohan toned it down, marginally, for her hearing this morning.

Lohan arrived for her court date in a low-cut black top and high-waisted white pants -- both Chanel -- which gave her the appearance of a Las Vegas hostess from the waist up and a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills from the waist down. And that look came with a high price tag, as Radar Online estimates the ensemble costs in the range of $8,000-$11,560. TMZ reports that she "ultimately picked the [outfit] she thought was the most reserved," which certainly leads one to wonder what the other options looked like. Lohan watchers on the internet had mixed feelings. Lawyer-to-the-stars L. Londell McMillan told EW's PopWatch blog Lohan's look was "an improvement" on her previous, more controversial one and " showed that there was respect for the court of law." The Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead quipped on Twitter, "After seeing Lindsay Lohan today, I realize I don't have an outfit that seemlessly transitions from court to night." And The View's Joy Behar tweeted, "Lindsay dressed more conservatively in court 2day. Chanel pants, top & YSL shoes. Not sure what store she borrowed her necklace from," alluding to the reason the actress was being endlessly discussed in the first place.

The form-fitting white $575 Kimberly Ovitz dress which Lohan wore two weeks ago was widely derided as inappropriate for the courtoom (it also sold out immediately online). Lohan addressed the "controversy" on twitter where she said "what i wear to court shouldnt be front page news. it's just absurd."

Superior Court judge Keith Schwartz told Lohan that if she accepts the plea deal offered up by the prosecution in the jewelry theft case, she will be going to jail for at least some period of time.

"This case does involve jail time. Period," Schwartz told her. "If you plead in front of me -- if this case resolves in front of me -- you are going to jail. Period. It may be an issue as to amount of time."
Schwartz added, "There are things you need to understand. I've never met you, you've never met me outside of this court to my knowledge. I don't care that you're Lindsay Lohan."
Lohan has maintained she did not steal the $2,500 necklace from the Venice, California gift shop. She was told to return to court on March 10 at which point she can either accept the plea deal (and jail time) or move ahead with a trial. Of course the real question is what she will wear then.
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Kayakers snap photo of England’s version of the ‘Loch Ness Monster

Nothing puts a damper on a serene afternoon's kayaking like the sight of a primeval sea monster.

That was the rude lesson for Tom Pickles and Sarah Harrington, who'd taken their watercraft out on the foggy waters of Lake Windermere, only to encounter what appeared to be "an enormous snake" swimming by.

"It was petrifying and we paddled back to the shore straight away. At first I thought it was a dog and then saw it was much bigger and moving really quickly at about 10 mph," the 24-year-old Pickles told The Telegraph. "Each hump was moving in a rippling motion and it was swimming fast. Its skin was like a seal's but its shape was completely abnormal—it's not like any animal I've ever seen before."

But what did Pickles and Harrington expect? Didn't they know that Lake Windermere is reputedly the home of the British version of the Loch Ness monster? In the past five years, sojourners on the lake have reported eight sightings of a Nessie-like serpent.

But the kayaking couple rallied from their shock and snapped the clearest photo of the Windermere "monster" since the sightings began. A journalism professor and his wife inaugurated the recent spate of Nessie-esque encounters on the lake back in 2006 reporting they had seen a "giant eel" somewhere between 15-20 feet long.

Ever since then, researchers have set out upon the lake with sonar equipment, in pursuit of "Bow-Nessie," as the creature's British compatriots like to call it. But so far, their efforts haven't borne fruit.

Of course, people in Scotland have reported sightings of the Loch Ness Monster since 1933, and even with dramatic advance sonar and video technology, Loch Ness research teams have likewise been unable to turn up any credible scientific evidence of its existence. Even its most noted hunter, Robert Rines, recently gave up his quest to find the beast after trying for nearly 40 years. "Unfortunately, I'm running out of age," the 85 year-old Rines said last year when he announced he was calling it quits.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ian Winfield, a lake ecologist at the University of Lancaster, told The Sun he thinks the mysterious appartition people are seeing in Lake Windermere is merely a really big catfish. But all of this speculation overlooks the central mystery in the latest sighting: Why on earth would a couple go kayaking on an English lake in the middle of February?