P. Diddy Pulls a Thurston Howell III

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/17/2003 at 01:00 PM EDT

It's Fashion Week in New York, with supermodels and celebrities hitting the catwalk as designers unveil their upcoming collections.

It's also a nice time for Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs: The New York Times has officially declared that the hip-hop and fashion mogul has turned into the 2003 embodiment of Thurston Howell III -- the WASPy, old-moneyed fuddy duddy from "Gilligan's Island."

Reporting on Combs's appearance at the Marc Jacobs fashion show earlier this week, The Times suggests that Combs, 32, is channeling the spirit of Howell (who was played on the '60s sitcom by the late actor Jim Backus) right down to his cravat.

Then again, on "Gilligan's Island," Howell was always adorned by his daffy wife, Lovey -- not by the large sort of diamond pinkie ring that Combs is sporting in The Times' accompanying photo. (Also, did Howell wear shades?)

As for what Jacobs, 40, put on the runway (as Combs watched from the front row), The Times reports that the outfits could easily have fit in at a cocktail party thrown by Lovey Howell herself.

Perhaps it's time that the paper's fashion reporter got off the island.