Mischa Barton Turns Out To Celebrate I Heart Ronson

Rex USA

She’s got legs! And she knows how to show them. You wouldn’t guess from Mischa Barton’s teensy miniskirt at a Manhattan bash for Charlotte Ronson’s I “Heart” Ronson JCPenney collection on Thursday night that she had been struggling with body issues recently. “The skirt is from Topshop and the shoes are (Alexander) McQueen,” Barton told PEOPLE at the Chelsea Piers fete. After a stint in a psychiatric ward last month, the 23-year-old former O.C. star has been focusing on getting in shape and filming her new CW show The Beautiful Life. “Filming is going great. It’s really good,” Barton told PEOPLE while mingling alongside stars like Hilary Duff and Sophia Bush. But the actress came out to support pal and fellow designer, Charlotte Ronson. “She’s such a talented girl — and a friend,” Barton smiled. And what can less-famous buyers expect of Ronson’s JCPenney fall line? Lower price points than her original eponymous label, for one. (Items range “from $14 to, maybe, up to $80 or $90 for a coat,” Ronson said.) But look forward to the same, I’m-chic-and-sexy-without-trying-too-hard vibe, with lots of plaid, layering, and toned-down color. “It’s not so much about glitz and stuff. It’s about wearing the clothes again and again,” she told reporters before the party. “We’re recession-friendly, in a sense, because the more you wear it, the better it looks.” Check out the I Heart Ronson line at JCPenney.com. –Laura Hahn

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