While some starlets might be down in the dumps over a string of straight-to-DVD movies and a career that's circling the crapper, Mischa Barton remains as self-confident as ever. So much so that she's not afraid to take a swipe at the sartorial choices of Victoria Beckham.

Posh goes cutting edge with hubby David Beckham at an event in New York on Sept. 26.

"Posh doesn't strike me as particularly stylish," Barton snipes to the London Sun. "I don't think she's a good example of British style at all."

Granted, the pixie-cut Posh recently hit the mall while teetering on 6-inch platform stilettos and posed with husband David in heelless boots accented with leather leggings, but at least she's never stepped out dressed like Mickey Mouse's less rodent-y half, as Mischa did not too long ago.

And despite the onetime "O.C." actress's many, many fashion faux pas, she believes she's viewed as something of a trendsetter.

"I don't dress for anybody else," she sniffs, "and I think the reason people like my style is that I do my own thing."

Meanwhile, a feud has erupted between two women with actual talent.

Tina works the crowd on the opening night of her tour on Oct. 1.

It all started back in February, when Aretha Franklin took umbrage over Beyoncé introducing Tina Turner as "the queen" when they performed "Proud Mary" together at the Grammy Awards.

The insulted Queen of Soul fumed that it was "a cheap shot for controversy."

When USA Today asked Turner about the "cheap shot" last week, the back-on-tour legend brushed off the manufactured drama with a bit of diplomacy and a slight dig.

"Aretha has always been like that. We've always accepted that from her. She's the Queen of Soul, and I'm the queen of rock 'n' roll," the awe-inspiringly well-preserved icon told the paper. "There were so many kings and queens there that night. Her ego must be so big to think she was the only one."

Aretha's cups runneth into a Grammy party in Los Angeles on Feb. 10.

Chortled Tina, "That's how queens are!"

And even though Aretha tends to don dresses that put her mammoth lung capacity on hilarious display, she appears to take certain things a mite too seriously.

She huffs to the paper that Turner "clearly was talking about herself" as far as that whole ego thing goes.

"I never figured her to resort to tacky press just to sell a few tickets," says Franklin. "I really had put her in a different class -- higher than that."

What's more, declares Aretha, who points out that she's never met Tina (are we the only ones picturing a diva-off on VH1?), "No one has been more gracious ... to their peers than I have, and I am confident and secure enough to do so, unlike some others."

"Nice girl" Renée hits the New York premiere of "Living Proof" on Sept. 24.

Speaking of gracious, that's a word often used to describe Renée Zellweger, so don't expect her to respond to Denis Leary's unkind pronouncement in his new book "Why We Suck" that "most heterosexual men do not find Renée Zellweger attractive."

"It's true," the robustly coiffed comedian-cum-"Rescue Me" star reiterates to Vanity Fair. "Nice girl, and I have met Renée. She is the kind of girl who bakes really good muffins, you go out to dinner with her, but that's it."

Time will apparently tell if he's right. The New York Social Diary reports the actress was spied enjoying a "cozy" meal Saturday night with handsome hotelier -- and Uma Thurman ex -- Andre Balazs.