While Mike “the Situation” Sorrentino battles it out with DILLIGAF over not endorsing their products, and simultaneously signs a new deal to shill prom tuxedos, there’s one company that has offered to pay him (and fellow Jersey Shore castmates) to not be seen in their clothes.

Abercrombie & Fitch issued a press release titled “Abercrombie & Fitch Proposes a Win-Win Situation,” which essentially asks Sorrentino not to repeat looks like the one above.

“We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image.  We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes, but believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, and may be distressing to many of our fans. We have therefore offered a substantial payment to Michael ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino and the producers of MTV’s The Jersey Shore to have the character wear an alternate brand.  We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast, and are urgently waiting a response.”

{via Business Insider}

While we think the anti-endorsement offer is a smart move that gains a little bit of publicity from the incredibly popular MTV series, without being directly associated with the cast, we have to wonder if Abercrombie & Fitch have actually seen their customers lately.

Sorrentino is, for lack of a better descriptor, kind of a douchebag. Being kind, Sorrentino doesn’t seem all that dissimilar to some of the non-famous guys we see wearing A&F. And by “being kind” we mean that “some of” could actually be “most of,” and “dissimilar to” could be “exactly like,” but we are fans of the counter-culture marketing ploy so we’ll let the brand’s rose-colored view of their customer base slide.

On the bright side, the Situation can stencil in a “DILLIG” above the AF on his existing clothes and claim that he’s in compliance with his endorsement deal for the one company that actually wants him to wear their clothes. Sounds like a win-win after all.

Dilligaf is suing because they claim that Sorrentino failed to show up for photo shoots, didn’t wear the brand in public, and signed deals with similar clothing labels, violating his contract with them. {Gawker} Apparently he really didn’t give a… and no one at Dilligaf noticed that the Situation is probably the Jersey Shore member who actually spends the least amount of time wearing a shirt to begin with. While we don’t often find ourselves on the same sartorial page as the Jersey Shore crew, is it possible that the Situation actually encountered a clothing line that was too tacky for even his tastes?

It does seem Sorrentino is attempting to go in a more stylish direction, even if it gives weight to Dilligaf’s claims that Sorrentino was working with other clothing companies.

Gawker is reporting that a formal wear company called FLOW Formal has signed Sorrentino to a six-figure deal that will see Situation branded tuxedos, dress shirts and men’s formal accessories hitting stores in February of 2012. Perhaps we can expect blinged out cumberbands and bow-ties, or shirts designed to perfectly compliment an orange skin tone.

Or, with any luck, maybe around May 2012 we’ll once again be writing about how none of these things actually made it onto store shelves.

This will not end well

In their pursuit of the perfect republic, one where there are no tanning taxes and stripper clothing is not only accepted, but required for dealings with the government, Snooki, Snooki’s pouf, JWoww, JWoww’s breasts, Pauly D, Pauly D’s gel and the rest of the Jersey Shore crew is headed to old Italia! {Defamer/Gawker}

As if Berlusconi weren’t enough.

Considering their… unique command of the English language, we can. not. wait. to see the crew make their way through Italy. MTV is securing work permits to continue the charade that the cast members actually needs the part time jobs they’re assigned, and Vinny Guadagnino’s family members have reportedly already offered to host the crew.

So many questions: will Italian American relations be permanently damaged? How shocked will the cast be when they discover fair haired, blue eyed Italians? How depressed will the girls be once they observe the slim Italian guys who’ve replaced the “juice head gorillas” of the Shore? Why is this show such a guilty pleasure?

We’ll await answers in season four. To any Italian readers, our apologies on behalf of the US in advance. We’re sure one overly tan pop culture figure is plenty.

Perhaps viewers just want something different from reality stars like Heidi Montag who achieve conventional prettiness by any means necessary, and self appointed style experts like Lauren Conrad. For whatever it says about pop culture and our entertainment choices as a society, the Jersey Shore has helped boost MTV’s year over year viewership, and parent company Viacom’s earnings outlook along with it. {WSJ}

So, it’s perhaps only fitting that all of your favorite orange people were on hand at the NYSE this morning to ring the opening bell to celebrate the season 2 which kicks off on Thursday. The cast has reportedly gone from $10,000 per episode to $30,000 for season 3, and as unfortunate as the results may be, we applaud the cast’s entrepreneurial spirit. JWoww looked surprisingly professional, though we aren’t holding our breath for business suits in the Filthy Couture lineup. Besides her clothing line, Mike “the Situation” Sorrentino is expected to launch a clothing line soon, Snooki will promote hair poof products, and Pauly D’s been using his newfound fame to work the DJ circuit (a line of hair gel probably wouldn’t be a bad move either). While gym, tan, laundry is the daily mantra, hopefully “business” will be added to the routine so that the cast’s options don’t disappear once the sun sets on the Jersey Shore.

But we couldn’t let this little discovery slide. As Dolly Parton has said, “it takes a lot of money to look this cheap,” and apparently that was the motto of Jenni Farley’s fashion experiment. We were prepared to cut the aspiring designer some slack. While boob slings and bedazzled bodices aren’t really our style, for what we assumed to be a junior/lap dancer collection priced under $100, the designs weren’t that much worse than some of the things you’d see at Frederick’s or Hollywood or a mall mainstay like Arden B.

Except that Filthy Couture’s lowest priced dress is $425, and the highest – a 2-piece lace travesty is $750. Seriously. We checked the entire site, so it’s not a case of a misplaced decimal.

We’re assuming the target market for Filthy Couture consists of people who’ve had a recent windfall from the sale of a sex tape or something, and we know that money does not equal style (in either direction), but still – $750? Really?And what’s worse is that the guys are likely to have their own line of ridiculous coming soon, as the Situation launches his own clothing collection. Crop tops for guys, we’re guessing.

Obviously there are 1000 words needed to fully articulate the insanity of the pricing here, so we’ll let pictures and a little math take over.

$750 will buy you…

This week, they may understand. Or not.

MTV’s taking the Snooki, J-Woww and Situation show on the road and pushing it out to more than 30 countries this week, pushed up from an originally planned late spring/early summer roll out.

Antonio Campo Dall’Orto, Southern Europe manager of MTV International, says they couldn’t wait {New York Times} to introduce international viewers to “the lifestyle of the ‘Jersey Shore†team — their habits, their attitudes.”

In Latin America, Gym, Tan, Laundry (the daily Jersey Shore mantra) will become gimnasio, bronceado, lavandería. And the Situation? Well, he’ll be the Situation in every language. Somehow we don’t think anything will get lost in translation.

The Jersey Shore crew has headed to an undisclosed location, widely thought to be Miami, for season 2 of the popular show. There’s still no word on whether the duck phone was able to join in on negotiations for a recurring role.