1.Your Leggings Are No Longer for the Gym. It’s a lean season for the bottom half. Zac Posen and Ralph Lauren were among the many who championed the stovepipe trouser. For the brave of backside, Thakoon’s plain black legging with a shrunken pea is as modern as it gets. For the rest of us, they’re handy when it comes to layering. (And it frequently does this season, too.)
2. You’ll Cuddle Up in Roomy Knits. Every so often, designers really do keep comfort in mind. When the blizzard of ’07 arrives, you’ll have plenty of sweaterdresses to choose from: Derek Lam’s is roomy in black and white, while Karl Lagerfeld’s is slinkier, with peekaboo cutouts all along its sides. And Zero Maria Cornejo belted a white sweater-coat for a sleeker silhouette.
3. You’ll Go Into a Cocoon. Balenciaga (Cristóbal, that is) must have been on everyone’s mind because the great designer’s elegant signature cocoons showed up on everything from a Marc Jacobs jacket to a brocade skirt by Vera Wang. It’s a more flattering volume than previous seasons, when far fuller experiments dominated the runway. Next fall, restraint will rule.
4. You’ll Blow Off Your Blow-out. Because hats are big, big news. Floppy chapeaus were paired with evening dresses (Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs), tidy berets added a clichéd yet effective Parisian charm to just about everything at Thakoon, and Vera Wang’s velvet toppers evoked the androgynous chic of Romeo Gigli.
5. You’ll Go Mad for Plaid. Really! The glamorous cut of Marc Jacobs’s wrap coat kept it from looking like a uniform, and Ralph Lauren made tartan sexy for evening. Behnaz Sarafpour managed a nostalgic look with a grown-up flair. Oscar de la Renta’s shift dress is decidedly unfussy: exactly what his well-heeled clients like for lunch at La Goulue.
6. You’ll Show Off Your Ankles. An eighties undercurrent ran through the week, with zippers here and (see No. 1) leggings there. But no body part was as eighties as the feet, which were done up in sassy booties with a dangerous heel again and again. Thakoon touched up his version with a perforated leather that looked like lace, and Donna Karan added hardware for a tougher edge.
7. You’ll Get to Know the Lippi Cat. Whether or not you’ve heard of this Chinese animal, you’re about to cop its spots. It looks rich and adult on coats at Oscar de la Renta and Tuleh and far cooler on a grungy Marc Jacobs dress or as a clash-happy layer at Anna Sui. Whichever way you wear it, lippi is a new and surprisingly versatile neutral.
8. You’ll Wear Color Rarely, But Boldly. Derek Lam said his collection is “about New York at night, racing through Times Square and catching flashes of color.” The same could be said for the season as a whole, which was on the dour side but dotted with rich splashes of brilliance: crimson at Carolina and Calvin, plum at Donna Karan, royal blue from Vera Wang.
9. You’ll Find a Velvet Gold Mine. There were piles of velvet, shown every which way. Proenza Schouler’s sleek, crushed-velvet minidress is exceptionally sharp. Sari Gueron used the plush fabric for a laid-back, embellished tunic, and Behnaz Sarafpour channeled velvet’s princessy roots, with a pouf skirt and a petticoat.
10. Your New Black Is a Sheer Black. This season, elegant evening equals one thing: tulle. Light, sheer, black nettings dust over the neck at Michael Kors, down the sleeves at De la Renta, and billow light as a shadow off a long draped skirt at Calvin Klein.