What women in their 20’s want

Move over, little black dress – there’s a new boss in town.  From pale slate to deep charcoal, shades of gray dominated the runways this spring with nary a rain cloud in sight.  Grey, much like its noir predecessor, is versatile and universally flattering.  A head-to-toe monochromatic ensemble – such as a silk, thin ribbed tank, wide legged trousers and gladiator wrap sandals in an ashen shade – is chic; while pewter looks punch drunk on love when mixed with an eye-popping bright – say, a sheath dress with a patent fuchsia belt and pumps.  The Vogue City will not only take you through the Pantone scale, we’ll meet you ‘round midnight.

This knit number from James Perse, for example, looks good enough to nap in:

Simple, unstructured cuts such as these also call for barely there footwear – and long legs.  If neither tickle your fancy, try this silk charmeuse dress from up-and-coming designer Laila Azhar 

This dress, cut at a bias with an empire waist, will treat curvy girls’ shapes kindly.  Added bonus:  silk charmeuse is a four season fabric, and works well in the summer with strappy sandals; with flat boots and a silk cardigan come fall; with tights and party shoes come winter, and any mixture of the three come unpredictable East Coast spring. 

Normally, this is where I’d pay proper homage to the Grandmaster Flash of style and my fairy godfather, Marc Jacobs, hoping to come across something demure-yet-sexy; provocative-yet-preserved.  Instead, I observed this unfortunate train wreck:

This is a dress.  This is only a dress.  After I finished hyperventilating, I stopped and scratched my head to figure out what Jacobs’ was going for.  “How to make a waif-like model look extremely pudgy”?  “Memoirs of a Geisha meets Burger King”?  Ironically, this is also the most expensive of the three, priced at nearly $450.  Sorry, Marc, but as Fergie once sang, don’t phunk with our hearts.  -Karyn Polewaczyk

new york bargains

[WWD]Sexy starlets didn’t let the cold weather stop them from showing some skin. The bondage trend is more popular than ever this winter season. Glimpses of skin decrease the chances of gettting frost bite, and you get to indulge in the bondage trend with the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifery Connelly & Gwyneth Paltrow. [WWD]