NEW YORK, February 15, 2009

Rufus Wainwright was on one side of the aisle; Kristen Bell, Minka Kelly, and Mischa Barton on the other. But once the lights went down and the bass kicked in, all eyes were on Sasha, Jessica, and Karlie stomping down the catwalk in one street-sweet getup after another. Skinny acid-wash jeans, patterned tights, graphic tops ("Do you like what you see?" one coyly asked), and shiny, shiny jumpsuits rounded out the denim label's Fall offering. This parade was inspired, according to the liner notes, "by the strength, vitality, and optimism" of the eighties—three things we could all use a lot of.

NEW YORK, February 16, 2009

Jill Stuart wants to rock—sartorially, that is. And so she did with a Fall collection inspired by "iconic women of music." Stuart mentioned Françoise Hardy, but also very present in this louche mix of leather, lace, and velvet were Anita Pallenberg, Stevie Nicks, and even a touch of early Madonna. As she's done in the past, Stuart played the look both ways—dark and vixen-y on the one hand and angelic on the other. In the latter camp was an ivory tailcoat on Marina Peres, worn, as most looks were, with a tilted fedora topped with lace flowers that immediately said: Bianca—Mick—wedding day. The many dandified tailcoats and use of millinery throughout served as the necessary masculine foil to Stuart's typically very girlish leanings. Leather pants, topped with fringed, webby knits or lace poet blouses, did the same. Then again, Stuart can't forget her core customer, who loves a pretty, straightforward frock, so a floral embroidered blush chiffon dress and a black bugle-beaded number slipped in without rippling the surface. The same can't be said of a plain black princess coat that made its wearer look like she'd taken a wrong turn somewhere. Perhaps she was the chaperone. After all, with a group of young girls wearing so much eye makeup, there's bound to be some bad behavior.

NEW YORK, February 16, 2009

Tracy Reese worked a schoolgirl vibe for Fall, adding nerdy specs (one of this season's mini trends), knit caps, and kneesocks to most of her looks. Dresses—fun, flirty, and uncomplicated—came in shades of saffron, mauve, and rose, and could be styled just as easily for a campus as for a beach resort during winter break. That adaptability is one of the strengths of Reese's brand; she may not be forging new territory, but her pieces have a wear-anywhere quality and enough thoughtful details to make them appealing.

NEW YORK, February 16, 2009

Leave it to Marc Jacobs to deliver a neon-hued, big-shouldered, crimpy-haired eighties antidote to the gloom and doom of 2009. "I was thinking about the good old days in New York," he said after the show, "when getting dressed up was such a joy." By the good old days, Jacobs means the nights he spent at clubs like Area, the Palladium, and Paradise Garage. Maybe it was the recent Stephen Sprouse project he completed at Louis Vuitton, or perhaps it's the fact that he now lives in Paris full time, but his Fall show was a big, juicy nostalgic kiss to a city that doesn't really exist anymore.

The show started simply enough, with a gray cardigan sweater and charcoal trousers, but when the model walked past, you saw the back half of a kilt and braces—Jacobs' new uniform—and knew it was going to get personal. He worked his way through little silver-and-black A-line shifts; party dresses in metallic leathers and floral brocades with flaring, full skirts and monster shoulders; velvet bustier tops and high-waisted over-dyed jeans; and Crayola-bright jackets, capes, and hooded coats. The only filter that separated these clothes from their East Village forebears was the expensive, luxury fabrics they came in. Every girl had a different hairdo, shellacked into Mohawks, flips, and bouffants, and the makeup was straight off the album cover of Duran Duran's Rio. The cumulative effect of all that color, volume, and optimism? One editor called it "A Flock of Seagulls meets Alexis Carrington."

Will fashion as outrageously ebullient as this—in some cases, make that just plain outrageous—sell in the harsh reality of the late aughts? (And talking about harsh: More than 1,000 people were nixed from the invitation list this season in a cost-cutting slash and burn.) Jacobs insists that he wasn't thinking about the economy when he was working on the collection, and maybe he wasn't. These days, wagering that women will splash out on feel-good clothes is as good a bet as any.