And, Michael Kors advises: “Get out your knitting needles.” Knit one, pearl two and you have got the look. When accessories for fall are not looking nubby — they are furry. We are not “dancing with wolves” or talking sable here. It’s economically conscious fur, under played — steered — used as trim. Faux fur. Goat skin. Sheered rabbit.

Store buyers are calling their fall budgets flat. My read on that is we are going to see again less merch in the stores. And when buyers risk trendy looks, we are going to see transparency and architectural cutouts. Let’s hope all that openness is in the right places! Like how bad can anyone’s bare back look?

For retailers who want the safe “commercial” look and those trendies who want to look like they are not trying so hard, go wild with what Tory Burch is calling the “tomboy effect.” Tory does it with tights under wool shorts and lots of vests. Ralph Lauren’s tomboy tops skinny jeans with the polo coat . And who doesn’t love our DVF calling her collection Metamorphosis for “women as bankers, bikers or ballerinas.” She is just further immortalizing that oversized boyfriend white shirt … The same white shirt I think I have reported on every season in every fashion capital for the past two decades. Can’t go wrong with that chemise blanche.

The look beneath the big top, the Fall 2010 Mercedes Benz Fashion Show in Bryant Park was certainly not bleak; but it was still a sea of black. The noir-do-wells turned out in studded jackets and pants, flouncy hair bows, sensible shoes, and low heeled boots to see the latest– including lots of fur, wide-brimmed hats–worn at a tilt– and a parade of not-so-A list celebs.

But judging from the flouncy hair bows so many women were sporting, it would appear that heads are in a different place this year–the last for the tent shows in Bryant Park.

There was something else in the air, too;– a bit of edge towards men’s wear for woman; and lots of “metallic and military,” according to Neiman Marcus’s Ken Dowling.

“Not that it has anything to do with war, he added. “It’s more of a carry over from the spring Safari look. Look for lots of capes, too laden with gold buttons.”

I don’t think we have to chuck our tights or cigarette-leg jeans just yet, but there is definitely a wide-leg pant movement a foot,…worn with the tight fitted men’s jackets to have plenty of lace, velvet and more than ever—fur, fake and real adorning them.

“I think each woman will have to take responsibility for wearing fur,” noted Project Runway’s Tim Gunn, PETA’s self-proclaimed poster boy. “Just don’t buy from China,” he noted, or “you may be buying cat.”

Humorist Fran Liebowitz had a different take. “Look at the state of the world; let’s set some priorities here. There’s not an animal alive that wouldn’t rip us apart to make a coat to keep themselves warm.”

Diane Von Furstenberg’s stunning show, “Metamorphosis,” probably defined the meaning of this men’s moment in women’s fashion.

“I design for a man’s life in a woman’s body. A woman can be a banker, a biker or a ballerina,” she explained after showing velvets, sparkle and glitter —lots of metallic’s and colorful almost spring-like dresses that go from day to evening.

“Reminds me of Studio 54,” said musician, actress, model Peaches Geldof, who wasn’t around then. (Maybe Dad Bob told her all about the once steamy disco.)

“I think the clothes are strong, like Diane,” noted her TV commentator pal Charlie Rose.”

When the fashion icon made her end walk down the runway, husband Barry Diller handed her red roses and a kiss, and as she turned the corner, out came her grandchildren with pink petals. It was after all Valentine’s day!

And talking men’s influence……let’s talk reality boys, as in Calvin Klein’s men’s wear; suits of sleek nylon and ultra-shiny Mylar suits, so techno they fit like a second skin. Some Hollywood “hotties” sitting front row for a closer look included: Lee Pace, Jared Leto and Ryan Phillippe. Those burning up the seats were the newest stars from the Calvin Klein underwear campaign–Kellan Lutz and Mehcad Brooks, who noted, “The suits look so comfortable, you could almost wear them to the gym!”

One final word to the wise, keep, I repeat keep your O.T.K’s, over the knee boots; they’ll be around for at least another year, and if you’re looking for the new “it lipstick,” Maybelline’s Global Makeup Artist, Charlotte Willer confided that I could just use colored Chap Stick.

“It’s no longer about your lips; it’s about smoke being not in your eyes, but on your eyes. Smokey and sexy, even black eyeliner, and for a little color, you can add green to the top lid and another color—purple, to the bottom. The eyes definitely have it.”

For the most part it was a well-dressed, well-heeled crowd. Well, except for the girls from Google, in their Boyfriend Jeans and oversized shirts (call it the new cyber-chic for the young IT crowd). Comfortingly, there were still lots of Louboutins mixed in with Walmart looks. Enter Dottie Mattison, SVP and GM of Walmart Apparel, who runs the store’s multi-billion dollar fashion division. She was looking very smart in very high, very fringe-flapped Christians, mixed with some Walmart accent pieces. The ultimate in high/low.

Dottie reports that Walmart’s fashion biz is better than ever. That’s irony for you.

Onto the red eye, and back to Bryant Park, and that’s when it hit. The sponsors, the crowds, the models, the endless vogue-ing, the fashion parade, the waves of media surrounding these 53 runway shows that account for, maybe, 10 percent of all U.S. fashion sales. And here’s the ironic bit: Walmart hasn’t had a show in the country’s fashion capital in two years, and yet the shop sells more fashion than anyone else in the biz.

I ease back into Fashionista mode at Michael Kors runway show, where I sit next to an editor from Nylon wearing a Philip Lim sequined vest (very nice), over ripped denim tights (uh, what?), and laden down with oxidized metal chains (her own design).

Dani S. is also mixing high/low and is a walking testament to the longevity of designer fashion.

So is Donna Karan with her draping. Tory Burch with her edgy preppiness. And so is Michael Kors who is slicing his double face wool pieces everywhere with windows of open slits creating architectural masterpieces.

The designer labels sold in these tents this season won’t match the sales of Walmart’s but they continue as the laboratory for all things style in this country. Under the fashion tent there is room and future for these designers as well as Walmart’s Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Stars from the entertainment and fashion worlds lit up the night Tuesday in New York’s Central Park for the opening of Mobile Art the CHANEL Contemporary Art Container. CHANEL artistic director Karl Lagerfeld was joined by fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker, movie star Kate Bosworth, Lipstick Jungle’s Kim Raver, Hip Hop star Eve, the piano man’s main squeeze Katie Lee Joel and Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi.

The Mobile Art CHANEL Contemporary Art Container was designed by Zaha Hadid. Commissioned by CHANEL and conceived by the company’s renowned designer Karl Lagerfeld, Mobile Art presents changing installations of works by foremost contemporary artists from Europe, the United States, Asia, Russia and Latin America. Mobile Art will be open to the public free of charge with reserved, timed tickets, from October 20 through November 9, 2008. For more about the project, please visit www.chanel-mobileart.com.

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Those Pro-American Parisians (and there are plenty) are not gloating. They are bracing for when the domino effect hits them. One of my friends scheduled to move to New York City has frozen all plans. Dual citizenship hasn’t prevented her from feeling ashamed for what America’s lack of regulation has done to middle class families without homes and many, without jobs.At least the French, she says, have good lives whether they are working or not…whether they own or rent their home. Far fewer believe in mortgages or borrowing money for anything. Many more apartment dwellers in Paris rent than own compared to US cities.
The French, she admits, may not work as hard as the Americans . Alas many still defend the 35 hour work week.   In fact my friend calls her fellow countrymen “lazy” because they know the government protects them. The government sends doctors on house calls, buys eye glasses and has an agency just to find jobs for the unemployed. French unemployment has always been almost more than double US rates (until now). Why be encouraged to get a job if the French can live so well with out one?

My French friends and “Sarkozy the American” have always admitted the French tend to lack ambition, entrepreneurship and the work ethic that made the US a global force. The current feeling in Paris seems to be that it is better to be lazy and coddled by governmental security than to have a government that doesn’t protect the bare necessities for its citizens. The feeling is that “poor” in France is not like “poor” in the US.

Another French investor blames the U.S. for bundling our bad debt mortgages with other products and selling them to banks around the world which now could fail thanks to America’s erroneously guaranteeing investments that soured.

In all, French opinion seems to be Americans are too greedy, took too much credit, and gambled.  Maybe it was pure chauvinism on my part, but I couldn’t hold back.   My standard response was:
American entrepreneurial spirit–the willingness to risk–is what the French lack and often admire in us.. We are indeed paying our dues now and deserve to suffer for our excesses. However, if it weren’t for our American cojones and freemarket spirit, there would be no first man on the moon, no ability for anyone to read this blog, no cure for polio, and no billions swirling around the world to fight hunger, HIV-AIDS,etc. And of course there are those Americans who never left French shores. They lie beneath thousands of  tombstone in Normandy.

“It wasn’t easy building the Great Wall 2000 years ago with 300 thousand troops…and trying to broadcast an event from the wall seemed just as difficult. Over its 25 year history, Vidicom has untangled production challenges worldwide as a matter of course. However, China was a first. Vidicom electricians and engineers overcame exploding cables from inadequate power sources, space limitations and government censors. Chinese government restrictions threatened on location satellite feeds. Plan B’s and C’s included throwing tapes off the wall to rush the content to permanent satellite facilities in Beijing.”

“Although a year in the making, the Chinese only gave Fendi the formal permit just weeks before the fashion show and, up until the morning before the show, the permit for allowing Vidicom to satellite feed from the wall was not signed. Live broadcast was forbidden and a one hour delay required by CCTV, the official Chinese state owned television network.”

“Fendi, owned by luxury conglomerate LVMH, spent millions on logistics, importing set up crews from Western Europe, jetting over celebs, socialites, journalists, mini bottles of Moet Hennessy and Karl Lagerfeld’s favorite French cookies for a pre-show cocktail party. Fendi is betting the magical visuals of their fashion parade with a glittering Great Wall ascending as a backdrop will be selling a lot of bags and furs. The firm is currently hoping to double its 421 million sales with some help from Asian fashionistas.”