I’ve had the slideshow of autumn trends at Style.Com cycling for an hour. I’m practically quivering with excitement. Why, you ask? Because clothes are back.

Pretty ruffles and opaque tights at Bottega Veneta.
It’s almost more about the shape of the dress than the body in it.

It is absolutely undeniable that clothes are back for fall. With the exception of an evening dress or two, one might even say they’re back with a vengeance. Every girl I see is dressed from neck to ankles. Tights are opaque - lots of black, but blue too and red and even some shiny leather ones. The dresses that top them, though they might be on the short side, are often the antithesis of body conscious, in whimisical shapes or covered in accordion pleats. Pants are wide legged again (never to be confused with flared) and high-waisted. There are big, bulky sweaters and A-line coats and man-tailored suits - sleeves and collars as far as the eye can see. And I am ecstatic. The race to Naked is over - for now, at least, and I’m glad because it was turning into an endurance event and I’m tired.

With each new season the aesthetic of fashion shifts, whether at the hand of designers or an as of yet undefined mood simmering at street level. For someone who’s paying attention, who feels connected to it, it’s exciting. It’s an offer to try something new or to find an undiscovered self. Between heel and hemline we can coast along in an almost constant state of reinvention. How successful that reinvention is… well, you pay your money and you take your chances.

The popular aesthetic is not always kind. The backlash to grunge androgyny in the early and mid 90s, it seems, was nudity. Not all at once, of course, but it didn’t take long for things to start sliding in that direction. Shirts got shorter and tighter. Jeans got tighter and lower. (And then lower again.) Suddenly, everything was made of straps or it was backless. Then necklines plunged and dressing was a leap of faith. (Did anyone else find it absurd you could see Jennifer Lopez’s navel peeking out of her collar?) Two sided tape became the accessory du jour and if you dropped something you just had to let it go. It was all very exciting at first, very risque. The problem was it didn’t seem have an end, carried along as it was on the wave of Hollywood party girls who couldn’t seem to find a skirt short enough to shock us back to our senses. At some point I remember looking at a Versace billboard spilling flesh onto the street thinking, “When do we get to put our clothes on again?”

It’s not that I’m so much of a sucker as all that. I like to think I pick and choose the things that look good on me - but I’m not the only one to consider here. At a certain point there is Complete Style Saturation. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about trucker hats or low-rise jeans (or leggings or empire waists), the population at large is going to put it on - even if they shouldn’t. And really, who can blame them? Unless you’re a seasoned vintage shopper or you’ve got truckloads of money, there often isn’t anything else available. By the time fashion trickles down to the mall, it’s bandwagon or bust. So ultimately, the best we can hope for is a season where the prevailing winds of fashion carry trends that have a chance of looking good on most people.

And my friends, the season is here.
coco.

A-line and demure at Malandrino.
Arms might be this season’s erogenous zone.
(Look at those sneaky tights again. They’re everywhere!)

Military at Maxmara.
Tell me those pants don’t look insanely comfortable - and tres chic.
AND you don’t have to hike them up everytime you bend over.
Everybody wins!

Insane glamour at Dior. Structure is your friend.
Grey is the new black. Black is the old grey.
In other news, lavender is now orange and red no longer exists.

All photos by Marcio Madeira at www.style.com
Check the Fall 2007 Trend Reports for a 176 image slide show.