Insider caught up with Stacy Ferguson (a.k.a. Fergie) just before her in-store appearance and signing at Nordstrom at L.A.’s The Grove to promote her new shoe line with Brown Shoe Co. And while the songstress said she hasn’t yet spotted fans wearing her styles, she’s excited to see the designs she helped develop in action. “It will be such a big deal. I think I’ll squeal,” she said. Of course, the Duchess has a lot to be excited about these days: In addition to her new shoe line and her January marriage to actor Josh Duhamel, she’s prepping for the June 9 launch of the new Black Eyed Peas album, “The E.N.D.,” followed by a year-and-a-half-long tour. She also is gearing up for the release of her upcoming film musical “Nine” (currently in post-production), where she met ­— and shared the screen with ­­— her fashion idol, Sophia Loren. “She’s amazing,” Fergie said. “Just watching the way she came to rehearsal every day — she’s always flawless.”

Taylor Tours
Taylor Swift kicks off her “Fearless” concert tour later next month, and the country cutie will be taking some appropriately daring footwear along. Reps for Everybody Footwear told Insider that Swift (and her stylist, of course) asked the Boston-based brand to produce its Fargo boot in metallic gold and silver (sketched at right — samples are still in production) for her on-stage wardrobe. Swift is already a fan of the low-heeled style — Insider’s source said the songbird owns the boot in brown, gray and black, which she wore for her performance with fellow teen queen Miley Cyrus at this year’s Grammy Awards.

Armour Amps Up
Nike has ’em, Adidas has ’em, and now Under Armour seems to be diving further into the athlete spokesperson game. (An occasionally risky endeavor, considering the recent brouhaha over Under Armour’s potential involvement with recruiting at the University of Maryland.) But the brand is plowing ahead: At an advance peek for its fall ’09 cleat-and-trainer combo pack, to be sold with a coordinating receiver’s glove, brand reps told Insider the company was actively looking to add to its spokesperson roster. However, they wouldn’t give up the name of the wide receiver who would be associated with the new fall product. Could this be the first of many such deals for Under Armour? “We’re about speed and power,” Insider’s source said. “As we build our footwear brand, we need to deal with male and female athletes who represent that.”

Taylor Swift, the first Country artist in the 16-year history of the Nielsen BDS chart to have a single reach #1 on the Pop chart, this week scored her 4th #1 Country single. “White Horse,” from her triple-platinum sophomore album Fearless, claims the #1 spot atop the USA Today/Country Aircheck chart (powered by Mediabase), reaching a radio audience of more than 34 million listeners this week alone. Taylor’s run of #1s began in 2007 when “Our Song” spent 6 weeks at #1. Also this week, she surpassed the 200 million mark for music streams on MySpace.

She will also appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for a performance and interview, April 2. Swift will perform a special outdoor set as part of the Tonight Show’s Concert Series. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno airs nationwide on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT.

She will also take the stage live at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas on April 5 for a very special performance on the Academy of Country Music Awards telecast. The ACM Awards air live on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/delayed PT. Taylor is nominated for Album of the Year (nominated as both artist and producer), Top Female Vocalist and Video of the Year.

While on the West Coast this week, she will attend the premiere of “Hannah Montana: The Movie.” Taylor makes a cameo appearance in the film, performing her original song “Crazier.” She also contributed the song “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” (performed by Hannah Montana) to the film and soundtrack.

Look for Taylor on the cover of the May issue of Seventeen magazine, on newsstands April 7. This is her second Seventeen cover, her first was exactly a year ago – the magazine’s May, 2008 issue. Taylor is featured on the cover of the April issue of Allure, on newsstands now.

Ms. Swift recently returned from a series of sold-out tour dates in Australia, where her Fearless album was recently certified Platinum. Fearless is currently Triple-Platinum in the U.S., has topped Billboard’s Top 200 Albums all-genre sales chart for 11 weeks, and is currently in its 18th week at #1 on the Country Albums Chart. Fearless is Gold in the UK, New Zealand and Norway. Taylor is the #1 best-seller in Australia and the Asia Pacific region, and she holds the #1 position atop the radio airplay charts in the UK, New Zealand, Asia and Australia.

She kicks off her first-ever headlining tour, the TAYLOR SWIFT FEARLESS 2009 TOUR, on April 23 in Evansville, Ind. The tour runs through October and all shows that have been put on sale have sold out within minutes, including an August show at New York’s Madison Square Garden which recently sold out in one minute.