Like most of us, Lauren Conrad has had to downsize due to the economy. The former star of “The Hills,” whose high-end fashion line tanked big time at the trendier boutiques, has introduced a cheaper set of clothing at a place where her fans are more likely to shop—Kohl’s.

E! reports that her L.C. by Lauren Conrad line was introduced at a party in West Hollywood last night. None of the clothes were shown on models, but guests were treated to goodie bags full of the budget-priced creations, all of which sell for less than $60. Wanna bet most of those cheap rags went home with the help today?

It’s hardly a secret that Lauren Conrad is no longer friendly with former co-stars Heidi and Spencer Pratt, but in the new issue of Harper’s Bazaar, the actress takes very open shots at the publicity-hungry pair.

The new Mrs. Pratt can be viewed in the September issue of Playboy, showing off her not-so-natural breasts. When asked why her ex-BFF chose to pose, Conrad cracked, “They’re not going to pay for themselves.” Meow!

The jibes don’t stop there. Conrad added, “I don’t call magazines and let them know about things so they can write stories. There was never an incentive to keep doing ‘The Hills’ so I could get into [Hollywood club] Les Deux. That was never the point. It was more to create a fan base so I can go create a business and do something I really love doing.”

It looks like there’s one thing Conrad won’t be doing—working with the Pratts again anytime soon.

Lauren Conrad has said “Bye” to her series “The Hills,” and is looking ahead to new career moves, but she won’t be making any major changes to craft a different image.

Conrad told Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush that, unlike many young actresses, she’s perfectly happy with what nature gave her—at least in the breast department. Her answer to his query on plastic surgery? “I don’t think so. But you know what, I prefer a flatter-chested look, that’s just kind of me. I think it’s more of a more of a fashion look. If you look at a lot of high-fashion models and things like that, they’re always you know, a little flatter… I like the way clothes fit better.” She added, “Big boobs? No, I mean… that’s what wonder bras are for!”

Of course, Conrad could be eating those words if her career starts to, shall we say, sag. But maybe she’s savvy enough to figure out that the stereotyped big-boobed bimbo look, complete with bleached blonde extensions and a spray tan, is starting to look rather dated. Who wants to look like just another girl hanging around the mall?

“The Hills” alumnus Lauren Conrad enjoyed a Beverly Hills shopping spree that included trips to Madison, Planet Blue and Barneys New York. I hope she gets another job soon to pay those bills!

Faced with declining ratings, MTV reality show “The Hills” needs an attention-getter—and the producers think they have it in Kristin Cavallari.

According to Life & Style, the actress will be making a whopping $63,000 per episode when she joins the next season of the series. An insider revealed, “You don’t have to pay the other girls that kind of money, but for Kristin you had to pay up.” Is she worth it? The source thinks so. “They needed someone new and fresh, who also came with buzz and a name that was recognizable. Kristin was the obvious choice.”

Departed “The Hills” star Lauren Conrad was pulling down a mere two grand more per ep when she left. This is bound to not go over well with the already snippy cast. But isn’t friction what the show thrives on?

Usually, an actress has to hit 30 to see her desirability being downgraded, but for two of the stars from “The Hills,” it’s happening already.

Lad mag Maxim is counting down their hottest women of 2009, and one reality babe has totally fallen from grace. Lauren Conrad, who rated at #56 on last year’s list, has dropped off. Cast mate Heidi Montag Pratt also had a major drop—from #36 to #81. 

Higher rated TV hotties include Hayden Panatierre at #36, Julianne Hough at #25 and AnnaLynne McCord at #21.

Lauren Conrad must have finally figured out her fans can’t afford to buy couture. These days, hardly anyone can. 

A month after the demise of her upscale line, “The Hills” star told USmagazine.com her new line of clothing, called LC Lauren Conrad, will be sold at discount chain Kohl’s. It is a California chic line,” she tells Usmagazine.com of the new brand, called LC Lauren Conrad. “It is a little more casual. They are basically trying to take that California style and make it accessible everywhere.”

Of course, “accessible” is a nice word for cheap. The line will be available in Kohl’s stores and on their website starting in October, for $20 to $60. And available on Kohl’s sale racks for half that by Halloween.

Season five of “The Hills” will debut April 6, and will be the last for Lauren Conrad. The actress told EW how she felt about leaving the show after so long.

“I actually thought last season was going to be my last. [But] the producers wanted to hopefully give the show some sort of closure and needed one more season.” Conrad says not to expect a lot of drama from her this time around. “I didn’t have that much conflict in my life over the last few months. I think I only cry in one episode.”

What’s ahead? The first of  Conrad’s series of young-adult books, “L.A. Candy,” comes out in June and she hopes to expand it into a TV series. “I don’t know exactly where I want to go, but I’ve looked into producing because I’ve always found that so interesting.”

Does she know how how much work is involved in producing? But don’t all actresses really want to direct? 

Lauren Conrad has already announced she won’t be playing at being a fashion designer on “The Hills” after this season, but now she won’t be doing in in real life, either. Her line of overpriced jersey dresses, already dropped by the Kitson stores, has been put on an indefinite hold. Her rep told US:

“She is taking a hiatus, but the line still exists and will continue. The sales of her line in the first year doubled what was projected. However, in light of the economy, it’s a good time for Lauren to take a few seasons off to re-work her still budding line. She will look over the past seasons to determine what worked and what didn’t work so that she may design clothing that will appeal to her fans.”

If her fans weren’t buying her clothes when she was on “The Hills,” they certainly won’t be buying them a year or two from now. By then, they’ll have forgotten who she is and certainly won’t be paying big bucks to have her clothes on their backs.

Lauren Conrad has ‘fessed up about why she’s leaving “The Hills” after five seasons. The actress told US Weekly she was having trouble separating her real life from the one she was living on TV.

“You see us on the show and we appear to have seminormal lives, but if you watch any entertainment news show, half of the cast is being swarmed by paparazzi. I’m excited to go back to having just one life, because there were times that I got them confused.”

We’ll see how “exciting” her life is when she realizes her 15 minutes are up and she’s back to being nobody. Let’s hope she doesn’t resort to desperate PR stunts like Speidi. Hey, what happened to them, anyway?

Lauren Conrad is headed home from “The Hills.” The producer of the MTV series confirmed to the AP that the fifth season, which begins March 30, will be her last.

Liz Gately states that the actress wants to move on and she plans a big finale for the 23-year-old fashion designer. No word on whether the show will continue without Conrad.

Maybe MTV could launch another reality series where unknowns compete for Lauren’s part on the show. It’s not like the job requires great acting.

If you’re a huge fan of “The Hills” and your fantasy is to live in Lauren Conrad’s WeHo crib, we have a deal for you! The 3009 sq. ft., four-bedroom home is for rent—only $11,000 per month! Bring your own hanger-on friends, paps optional. Ticked-off neighbors included.

After shooting an episode of “The Hills,” Lauren Conrad stopped for lunch at Tart restaurant in L.A., across the street from the Farmer’s Market. She looked every bit the glamorous starlet in skinny jeans, sky-high heels, loose top and of course, the huge bag and shades.

Lauren Conrad has been dropping hints that the current season of her series “The Hills” may be the last, but cast mate Audrina Patridge told a different story to People magazine:

“There is going to be a fifth season. We just found out…We have fun with each other and we’ve stuck it out this long. We might as well do another one.”

I’d wonder if this unreal “reality” show might run out of plots soon—if they had any to begin with.

Another dubious diva who expects everyone to pay attention to her is Lauren Conrad, who had a hissy at JFK when paged over the PA to pick up her standby ticket. A source reported to Page Six:

“LC pitched a fit and was almost driven to tears because she thought people would start talking to her and bothering her. But no one even cared.”

Just wait ’til “The Hills” gets canceled. Then we really won’t care.

What’s this world coming to when you can’t trust a reality-show “actress” whose 15 minutes are rapidly dwindling to tell the truth about her love life? Lauren’s been denying reports that she’s dating less-than-famous actor Kyle Howard, probably in the hopes of hooking up with someone who actually has a job. But the cat was out of the bag when the two were seen getting cozy at last night’s launch party for the video game Fallout 3. This was obviously not exactly a star-studded evening since Nick Lachey, Mischa Barton and Ian Zierling were also on the guest list.

Some people would be grateful if they could make $75,000 for an episode of their lives. Even people with interesting lives would appreciate that kind of money. Then you have Lauren Conrad who apparently is done with ‘The Hills’ as she explained to EXTRA that she’s ready to move on after 5 years. “It’s coming to a point where I love this show so much, but I’m ready to kind of walk away,” says Conrad. OK, that’s about all I can bear to research on this girl and I only did it because I had pictures of her to post. She went to a salon on Melrose yesterday, getting her nails done, possibly her hair.

I wonder how she paid for her trip to the salon, oh tha’ts right, with money she got from being on ‘The Hills.’

The Hills “star” Lauren Conrad lunched at Joans On Third yesterday with some guy she may or may not be dating. Sorry, that’s about all I really know about The Hills, not having the mind dulling ability required to watch the show. Honestly, I’m not even sure that’s Lauren, I’m just taking our photogs word for it! But what I do know is that whoever that girl is, she is rolling in an Audi R8 sports car, the epitome of German engineering, which costs over $100,000!

Check out her hot ride after the jump.

Our photogs spotted a leather tights-wearing Lauren Conrad leaving her Hollywood Hills home yesterday. The reality star was on her way to a photo shoot in Santa Monica. Seriously LC, leather tights? Is this from the Lindsay Lohan leggings collection? Just wondering. Anyway, last night was The Hills season four premiere and it was just as overly dramatic as I thought it would be. Lauren and Lo threw Audrina a birthday party, but Lo just stayed upstairs and washed the dog or something. She wasn’t too excited by Audrina’s guests, I think. Who knew Aud had such a colorful cast of friends? Lauren, for her part, was trying to patch things up between Lo and Audrina. And she also went on a date with some dude, but we all know that’s done now. And yes, I just killed a bunch of my brain cells watching The Hills season premiere, but I was thinking of doing the New York Times crossword puzzle today to get them back. Yes, yes…that’s what I’ll do. And I have more photos of Lauren and her tighty-tights after the jump. Have at them.

I know many of you have been waiting patiently for this day and now it’s here. The fourth season of the MTV reality-show juggernaut, The Hills, is premiering tonight. That means you’ll get to see it once tonight (probably with a post-premiere show) and at least four or five time a day during the week until the next episode. And you can also see it online (as I guiltily like to do – ALONE). Are Audrina and Lauren still friends? Is Lauren going to find the man of her dreams this season? Did Spencer and Heidi move away to Greenland never to be seen again? And what the heck did everyone do for the summer? So many questions, so many answers. You’ll get all the drama and excitement starting tonight at 10 pm on MTV.