Perhaps you could just see this pattern as a natural progression. After all, scarves have been a major celebrity fashion statement for a good part of 2008; Hollywood was very thoroughly invaded by scarves before fashion week even dawned in Europe. It really wasn’t far off for stylists and designers to play around with extra bits of fabric to create the next new fashion statement.

Hermes, for example, used very plain headscarves in neutral colors (in place of beanies, which they used for most of the collection) to top off some looks for the F/W 2008 runway show. It wasn’t really a necessary touch per se, but it did give a younger and slightly more rebellious vibe to the outfit. When you’re 30-plus and you’re trying to look a decade younger, that probably counts for something.

The same goes for Gucci, where the headscarf became an honorary part of the Gucci clothing collection for the season. It wasn’t very important, but it did fit into the theme and contribute something to the look. Only when Dolce & Gabbana clothing took a very traditional European turn (photo right) did the scarf become critical to the look.

To be brutally honest, headscarves are an iffy accessory to work with because they don’t work with every person and outfit. If you want to try them out for yourself, try it first in the superfluous way that Hermes did. That way, you can just stash it in your statement bag after the first negative comment.

The designation of a cocktail dress, after all, is all a matter of length. It seems that designers have been realizing that of late and have been really working with the little stretch of fabric that they’ve got. Results varied very widely, from all sorts of new little
details to completely new silhouettes altogether.

Just look at this Blumarine leopard-print chiffon dress for example. It’s a very feminine little number from afar, and then you realize that it actually references a really big fashion trend from a few months back. Who knew that a baby doll silhouette could work with an animal print? This one certainly does, and it’ll make you look like a sexy little kitten to boot.

Your dress is one of the few chances you’ve got to make a statement, and a lot of recent cocktail dresses will help you do just that. Take just about any piece in the Christian Lacroix collection with all its sculptural quality and bright jewel-tone colors. Worn with the right pair of shoes and equally appropriate attitude, outfits like those could just about make you the life of the party.

In a season when most other designers are sending demure and restrained pieces down their runways, Ralph Lauren is one of the few with the audacity to really break even the most prevalent fashion trends. He threw together (or threw away altogether) some of the season’s biggest trends and came up with a collection that was both daring and darling.

Opening the show was a series of structured black pieces which would’ve been relatively nondescript were it not for the bold leopard prints on the outerwear and the accessories. It’s true that animal prints are a major trend right now, but only in the accessories department. Precious few have tried creating collection pieces that actually focus on said prints.

After them came a series of garments that could only have been inspired by the Lauren family retreat in Colorado. The buffalo plaid and blanket coats are very ranch-appropriate choices, and can easily be imagined as standard issue on the Double RL Ranch. However, Lauren also gave the masculine pattern more feminine touches, such as fitted hunting jackets and shirts.

The biggest surprise of the show was easily the eveningwear. Where else have you seen an honest-to-goodness floor-sweeping evening gown in buffalo plaid? Lauren’s show would have been one of them, and the man pulled it off well on not one but three garments. There was even one piece that combined the plaid and the animal print for a loud, crazy-prints-all-over look. Yes, it looks kooky at first glance. As with most of Lauren’s work, though, you can’t help but see the elegance and chic-ness of the outfit as it comes gliding down the runway.

The designs of two-time CFDA best designer Narciso Rodriguez went down the same structured path that Prada clothing did for Fall 2008. But whereas Miuccia Prada combined the Granny look with glamour, Rodriguez fused structure with sex appeal. There were clean lines and classic shapes, yes, but there were little touches that made each look more modern than they would appear at first.

Opening the collection was a structured four-pocket jacket with exaggerated arms and upturned collar, paired with a very sheer tiered black accordion-pleat skirt. It’s this contrast of uncompromising, masculine tailoring against softer, more feminine garments that defines Rodriguez’s collection. At first, it comes through simply with the pairings. The clean-cut dresses and office-appropriate outfits worked really well with the leggings that the designer decided to use. Every now and then, there’d be some new texture in a different fabric or a flash of extra skin in a low neckline to make for a little surprise.

It was the little cocktail dresses that are really very noteworthy for this collection. Rodriguez gave his own twist to the coat dress – a big fashion trend this season – in four different colors, deviating from the earlier monochromatic theme. A little black number with a peek-a-boo crisscross top had a skirt made allegedly of singed peacock feathers – perhaps Rodriguez’s reworking of the fringed celebrity fashion statement. A relatively plain black number suddenly revealed a breathtaking crisscross pattern of straps at the back. If Rodriguez wanted to show how femininity could be found in all places (and outfits), then this collection is a spectacular success.

Not to be forgotten are the shoes, which are in the same league as Prada and Miu Miu shoes of the season. Like Miuccia, Rodriguez’s interesting shoe choices (like one in a Mary Jane style with an additional cuff, or several versions of knee-high patent boots) helped put together the unusual yet feminine looks that he was apparently after

If you’re fairly new to designer fashion shows, you might think you were looking at a couture collection when all you were really looking at was the ready-to-wear collection of Christian Lacroix. The man has been giving the term ‘fashion forward’ an all-new meaning ever since he started sending pretty things down the runway in 1987. He might not have churned out the next fashion trends for Fall 2008, but he definitely didn’t disappoint.

Volume and juxtaposition were two things that the designer executed excellently in this collection. A plain, body-conscious asymmetric little black dress suddenly explodes into asymmetric ruffles at the skirt, which is made of a patterned fabric in a different shade of black. A very sculptural and structured beaded jacket went on top of a hippie fringe skirt in the same sober black fabric. If chic was the new celebrity fashion statement, the designs of Lacroix would be all over Hollywood.

Of course, no Lacroix collection would be complete without a few pieces that step outside the typical and into the couture side of things. Another little black dress was topped off with a dramatic long-fringe hood. There was a neon green cocktail dress that was disorder all over and dominated on the left shoulder by a huge bow. It’s not the kind of thing you’d find people wearing to the mall or even to a nice dinner out, but it’s undeniably the signature of Lacroix. If you’re looking for haute couture designs but don’t want to be too avant-garde, Lacroix’s RTW collection is the middle ground you seek.

The fashion label established by the late Emilio Pucci is known for its wild prints and high-end clientele. But Marni alum Matthew Williamson, who took the creative reins in 2006, hasn’t always been able to capture that rich-kid glam feel. It’s usually a hit-or-miss situation, and Fall 2008 has fortunately been a hit.

It seems that Williamson understood that Pucci clientele don’t do something as plebian as stay in the city all summer. For the truly rich, the fall and winter seasons involve a stint of skiing in the Swiss Alps, a retreat in a mountain chateau and other such cold-weather gallivants.

The silhouettes were critical in achieving just the effect that the designer wanted. Body-hugging warm clothing like skinny ski pants and fur-lined parkas contributed to outfits that any heiress would want to wear while on the slopes. There were also long-sleeved sheath dresses and little black numbers for just lounging around inside the lounge or chateau. Every single piece looked comfortable and wearable, yet none of them lost that vibe of ski-loving luxury.

No Pucci collection would be complete without prints, and the Fall 2008 collection has just the right amount of it. It’s easy to overdo prints on clothes like these such that they’d look either juvenile or costume-y. The designer, fortunately, was able to stay true to Pucci’s passion for prints while preserving the filthy rich image. In fact, with the colorful jagged and geometric prints, a lot of the models looked like modern-day Ice Queens walking down the runway. It’s not something that Pucci probably intended himself, but the resulting images are certainly very Pucci-pretty.

If the profusion of feathered headwear doesn’t clue you in, the heavy use of prints should. Carolina Herrera’s collection for Fall 2008 is reminiscent of Ralph Lauren’s for the same season. Sure, Herrera’s designs say more ‘mountaineer’ than ‘farm girl,’ but most of the looks are no less outdoorsy.

While Ralph Lauren decided to use a lot of buffalo plaid in different colors for his collection, Herrera was more subtle with textured fabrics, simple checks and very colorful abstract prints. The interesting, eye-catching pieces were also paired off with plainer ones to achieve a certain visual balance. A patterned top and contrasting gray patterned vest were matched with chocolate brown suede pants for a look that’s rugged and chic at the same time. It’s important to note that Herrera fans will want to pick up a similar pair of suede pants soon as they seem to be the designer’s fashion statement for the season.

But just because an outfit wouldn’t look out of place in Appalachia doesn’t mean that it can’t work in a formal setting as well. There were some pieces like a knee-length yellow dress with a cinched waist and fringe all over that you could take from the hiking trail and straight into a celebrity fashion magazine. Most of the clothes will take a woman of a certain type and age to make them work properly. But even if Herrera didn’t do so well for youthfulness, she definitely gets top marks for inspiration and the versatility of her garments.

In his few seasons at Nina Ricci, 30-year old Belgian prodigy Oliver Theyskens has nothing short of reinvented the brand from a label that was often seen as stuffy to a clothing line that’s youthful yet very feminine. He’s the kind of guy who rarely follows any other designer fashion elements of the season, yet comes up with a really attractive collection. You get the idea that it’s an entirely original, fresh concept. Such is the magic of Theyskens.

The very young vibe in the Nina Ricci collection for Fall 2008 comes from the fact that most of the outfits strike a balance between fashionably feminine and practical. You could practically just throw any one of those outfits on and walk out to the street, and you wouldn’t look over-the-top or costumey. There were a lot of two-piece and three-piece looks that focused on layering soft fabrics on top of each other to create a flowing, floating effect.

Color also kept things interesting for the Nina Ricci show. While other designers were busy showing the fall fashion trend of sober and somber colors, Theyskens was occupied with showing a range of blues, oranges and yellows. But even with the soft, shimmering fabrics draping all over the place, Theyskens showed that he still has that famed appreciation for the female figure. Tight-fitting pants helped define the models’ legs, just like what similar pieces of Gucci clothing did this season. Scoop necks and a few higher hemlines showed a little feminine tease of skin.

There weren’t so many embellishments on the pieces themselves. That and the elegantly simple accessories like shoes reminiscent of a classic pair of Gucci shoes all hint towards and overall look of simple and uncomplicated beauty.

Most fashion designers often choose to go for flashier glamour first and then industry techniques second. Raf Simons, while designing for Jil Sanders, apparently decided to reverse the roles. The Fall 2008 Jil Sanders collection is the farthest thing you’d find from glamorous, especially with bigger brands like Prada and Gucci piling the glamour factor high. It’s distinctive, however, because it doubles as a showcase of novel techniques in dressmaking and tailoring.

The show started with a knee-length, long-sleeved, slouchy navy dress that effectively captured the knit look which has become something of a fashion trend lately. But instead of the form fitting knits that other brands like Fendi and Missoni have rolled out, Simons’ focus on drape gave the designer fashion item an all-new twist. The outfits that followed were alternating displays of beautifully gentle draping and more conservative construction. It’s likely that seasoned fashion connoisseurs will find flaws in Simons’ execution, but real-world fashionistas are sure to appreciate the practicality that his menswear background brings to the table.

But the collection wasn’t entirely devoid of glam. There was also a considerable amount of drama, courtesy of top-heavy details and high, dramatic collars. Menswear fabrics that had a lot of depth and texture helped add another dimension to all the designs that had them.

Aside from the very wearable outfits, accessories were another noticeable factor in the Jil Sanders collection for this season, albeit on a negative note. Simons brought out some rather unusual footwear for the runway show, just like Miuccia Prada did for Miu Miu. Instead of looking modern and interesting, however, the curved shape simply looked impractical and potentially painful. Perhaps Simons would have done better by bringing his menswear eye and aesthetic to his accessory choices as well.

If Amy Winehouse were to switch careers from music artist to fashion-forward and very chic librarian, she’d probably look like one of the models at Michael Kors’ show for Fall 2008. With the classic cuts, restrained use of colors and modern styling, the models looked like members of the fashionable academia instead of just models.

The popular TV show Mad Men apparently served as a big inspiration for this collection, as the designer himself pointed out. There was a very retro and sometimes vintage feel to the outfits that you really wouldn’t be able to ignore that element. It’s a good thing that the designer gave the 1960’s-inspired look a much-needed update with patterns, a new use of color and very modern styling, which included a lot of models with ‘dos teased all the way up Winehouse-style.

Although the designer had a very strong inspiration, you’ll still see a lot of this season’s fashion trends in this collection. The animal print is just one of them, albeit it only showed up a few times. The collection also has a considerable amount of fur – another of this season’s fashion shopping must-haves – placed as lining for a jacket or thrown over as a coat.

The evening was really when Kors’ collection shone the brightest, both literally and figuratively. Subtly patterned dresses in black or midnight blue played tricks with the light, creating an illusion of additional movement as it went down the brightly lit runway. There were several column dresses with different embellishments such as a high waist or that same, light-illusion pattern. Capping off the collection was a voluminous gray gown that was fortunately kept from looking somber by a marble streak print all over it.