Fashion Week-- Fall 2008

As over winter that I am, I dragged myself to Style.com for some more of it. Designers have decided that yes, we are at war, and the palettes follow suit. Lots of black, with grey alone and infiltrating shades of plum, blue and fatigue. Loosely belted, slouchy jackets with wide, parachute pants-derived trousers tucked into sleek, flat boots featured large. Cuts emphasized shoulders and hips. Waists were still defined but without the severity of recent seasons. Past seasons' voluminous looks have been deflated; sharp fits have been replaced by pleated and gathered swathes of fabric.

Featured: some hot 3.1 Phillip Lim. Although much of his collection came off a bit dowdy, I liked the easy androgyny of these pieces.