For a year that was fraught with Depression era-like woes, 2009 wasn't a bad year for fashion. Here's an informal roundup of the year's top 10 inspirations.

Michelle Obama: From the inaugural gown by Jason Wu to the shorts scandal over the summer, the First Lady kept our interest. She spoke volumes to the fashion community by launching the careers of little-known American designers giving them a leg up when they needed it most.

M.C. Hammer: Harem pants was a huge trend of 2009 but the look hasn't come back without controversy. In November, the Wall Street Journal took a look at the fad and quoted Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour as saying, "To be honest, they are not my favorite."

Michael Jackson: Michael Jackson's death was arguably the biggest media story of the year. Suddenly, blogs, TV and magazines were saturated with images of military jackets, pedal pushers, white socks, fedoras and penny loafers. Harper's Bazaar's September issue paid tribute with Agyness Deyn dressed as the King of Pop.

Playboy Bunnies: Marc Jacobs can be blamed for the bunny ears, but the larger fashion news story was the over-the-knee boots (or OTKs) that first emerged on Madonna courtesy of Louis Vuitton (also designed by Jacobs). Numerous designers from Prada to Hussein Chalayan made the movement a force to be reckoned with in the footwear biz.

Mad Men: Skinny suits for men has been in Italy for years and American menswear designers like Thom Browne was an early proponent. But TV show Mad Men has arguably played a role in adapting the American male's eye to the '60s trim silhouette.

Read more →

Women's Wear Daily, the so-called bible of the fashion industry and my former employer, wrote an interesting article this week about how corset sales are up in the U.K. thanks to the influence of Rihanna (above) and Lady Gaga.

The piece said women in London are snapping up corsets in the intimates departments and wearing them to the discos. It's such the rage, Selfridges Oxford Street posted a 70 percent increase in sales in November compared with the same month last year. The article goes on to say that the trend of underwear worn as outerwear is more popular that ever.

Rihanna and Lady Gaga are not the first divas to go corset crazy, of course. The corset, which has existed in womenswear for hundreds of years, now represents sex, fetish, bondage, body modifications -- all the good racy stuff that shocks us and slightly turns us off and really turns us on. It worked for Madonna. Why not Rihanna and Lady Gaga? And why not a million other girls?

In my 15 years covering the fashion, I've always suspected the edgiest fashion (streetwear, rock and roll, punk) appears to change more slowly than conservative fashion (contemporary, designer). Because it doesn't have to. Spikes always provoke us. Punk hair that resembles a frill-necked dragon always pushes our buttons. Exposed body parts always unnerve us just a little (OK, maybe not all of us). Corsets always work. Every time.

There are a few other masters of the shock game and all of them make ample use of the corset. Jean Paul Gaultier, of course, through Madonna in the '80s as I mentioned.

Read more →

About a month ago, my sister dressed my niece in a denim-blazer-and-high-waisted-Capri set. The seven-year-old -- a Project Runway addict -- looked at herself in the mirror and groused, "I look tucked in like an old man. That's not usually how I roll."

High waists, however, are where the fashion industry seems to be going as evidenced from a few pre-fall shows this week. Above is a look from Oscar de la Renta's vision of the end of summer, 2010. And, after years and years of how-low-can-you-go jeans and pants, we might be soon hearing that's-not-how-I-roll cries from consumers.

In my experience, we'll have a little time before high waists really come back in style. A few prescient designers have and will continue to be reacting to the low-waist trend with the opposite reaction. But it will take time for most designers to catch on. And even longer still for the mainstream's eye to embrace the trend. So don't panic, you won't have to buy a pair just yet.

Even in their heyday, high-waisted pants were tricky look to pull off. In the mid-'80s, when the look was last embraced by the fashion flock, pants reaching up to the armpits completed SNL's Ed Grimley hyperactive, neurotic nerd's schtick played by Martin Short. It was the joke.

Still, pants can't get any lower. So what come down must come back up. Interestingly enough, the original low-waist culprits -- denim designers -- were the first to try out high waists a few years ago. Celebrities here and there tried it, including Fergie and Mary-Kate Olsen. Earlier this year, Jessica Simpson got skewered as much for a high-waisted denim look on her petite frame as much as her much-talked about weight gain. And, yes, I confess: Yours truly sported a pair from Radcliffe London in 2007. I put them on again this week and decided I looked positively matronly.

There's something to be said about high-waisted pants, particularly at a time when the '40s are making a resurgence. It's particularly tempting to those of us who think we have short legs. A high waist lengthens those legs. But it also lengthens the derriere, too. And there's the rub.

Sure, a super slim, high-waisted silhouette might eventually tip the scales toward becoming a full-fledged trend. In the meantime, try convincing our boyfriends and husbands this is a sexy look. I mean, they are just now embracing slim, '60's-esque suits.

What's your view?

What do you get people who have everything? A very stylish coffee table book, of course! A bevy of beautiful tomes have been published in 2009 on everything from fashion designers' favorite recipes to those who've been accused of Russian espionage. Here are a few that caught our eye.

American Fashion Cookbook: 100 Designer's Best Recipes (Assouline, $45). The Council of Fashion Designers of America book of cooking recipes with a forward by Martha Stewart and text by Lisa Marsh. Check out Isaac Mizrahi's Mushroom Truffle spaghetti, Mark Ecko's "Adults Only" Chocolate Chip Cookies and John Varvatos' Calaloo Soup.

Resort Fashion: Style in Sun-Drenched Climates by Caroline Rennolds Milbank (Rizzoli, New York, $65) with a forward by Amy Fine Collins. From Chanel's beach pajamas to sailor stripes, this is a visual history of color, ease and playfulness that resort fashion is all about.

Russian Style by Evelina Khromtchenko (Assouline, $60). From Erte and Faberge to Lolita and Anna Karenina, leaf through photographs and witty stories about the elements of Russian style and culture that have influenced the world.

Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity by Kohle Yohannan (Rizzoli, New York, $75) with a forward by Harold Koda and preface by Phyllis Magidson. Some 250 photographs and research tell the rags-to-riches story of the Ukrainian-born beauty by the same name who shot to the top of American fashion design (pictured above). Valentina is a forgotten part of American fashion history but her stories are incredible. Some said she was a Russian spy. Others claimed she arrived in the U.S. as a dancer in Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. She herself maintained she was a duchess in exile. She apparently lied about everything but was devastatingly chic and brilliant at capturing the public's attention.

100 Contemporary Fashion Designers by Terry Jones (Taschen, $59.99). Perfect for the Project Runway addict in your life, this is a two-volume compilation of today's fashion superstars, up-and-coming talents and the stars of the future.

20th Century Fashion: 100 Years of Apparel Ads by Alison A. Nieder (Taschen, $39.99) Full disclosure: I used to share an office with Nieder when we both wrote for fashion news trade California Apparel News in Los Angeles. Nieder now heads up the paper and has come out with a very fun, nostalgic look at the ads of modern fashion-from high-end to mass market.

Norman Parkinson: A Very British Glamour by Louise Baring with contributions from Grace Coddington and Jerry Hall (Rizzoli, New York, $65). Not exactly a household name, but Norman Parkinson was one of fashion's most influential taste-makers from the '30s to the '80s having served under Alexander Lieberman and Diana Vreeland at American Vogue among other publications. This is a must for photography and fashion legacy enthusiasts.

As Fashion Editor at Neiman Marcus, Roopal Patel has one of the coolest jobs on the planet. I asked the fashion insider about the biggest fashion mistake people make and what she thinks are the hottest upcoming trends.

Q. What does a fashion editor for a major departments store do?

A. I scout up and coming talent and designers for the store, provide trend direction for the season and help translate that vision into our merchandise assortments with our buyers. It is important for the store to have one consistent message.

Q. What are the most popular trends for resort and spring 2010?

A. Not to give away the highly-coveted list that Senior VP/Fashion Director Ken Downing issues at the beginning of every season but ...blue is the color for both resort and spring. Neiman Marcus is embracing all shades of blue for every category. Tribal fusion was on every runway this season. Look to Givenchy for some of the must-have tribal print wedges and platforms of the season. The nude shoe is the new neutral of the season. The Fendi platform sandal [pictured above] is a must on our list.

Q. What is the most unusual fashion item you've seen in your career?

A. I am always amazed at how high the heel heights are at runway shows and how they get higher with every season. The models make it look so easy. The shoes at Alexander McQueen spring 2010 were over the top!

Q. Has Neiman Marcus changed in response to the economic climate? If so, how?

A. For the holidays, we have our "Little Gems" shop that features presents and gifts for under $100. There are also great [inexpensive] items in many of our designer collections. I found a silver stud pyramid ring from Stephen Webster for $275 and a great David Yurman silver infinity ring at $275.

Q. What is your favorite item in The Christmas Book?

A. I cannot help but to smile when I see the customized cupcake car. It's so original and unique. I also cannot wait to get my hands on the sequined leggings from La Rok and the John Hardy cuff bracelet for evening holiday sparkle.

Q. What is the one thing that makes a look?

A. The right accessory. The perfect handbag or shoes can change your look in seconds.

Q. What is the one common fashion mistake people make?

A. The only mistake one can make is not having fun with your wardrobe. Enjoy and translate the trends that work best for you.

Michelle Obama seems to be single-handedly thrusting unknown designers into the fashion stratosphere. First, there was Jason Wu who, before the now infamous Inaugural Gown, was known only in fashion circles.

Sophie Théallet is the latest no-name to get noticed arguably from being a favorite of today's jackpot when it comes to celebrity endorsements, the First Lady. Earlier this week the French-born designer, who specializes in boho-luxe designs (read: very expensive and pretty hippie-like dresses), won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund which gives $200,000 to deserving upstart designers. While the honor is voted upon by members of the CFDA, it certainly didn't hurt that only months before, Michelle Obama wore Théallet's dresses to a number of events including Senator Edward Kennedy's funeral.

So who is Sophie Théallet? Turns out, she's one of those behind-the-scenes stars of the design world. According to her bio, she was tapped by Parisian department store Le Printemps to design her own collection right out of design school. After that, she paid her dues as an assistant designer to Jean-Paul Gaultier and Azzedine Alaïa where she was dubbed his right hand woman.

Three years ago, she moved to New York and started freelancing for various fashion brands. In 2005, she launched resort line Motu Tane with beauty guru Francois Nars.

Read more →

The packed social calendar around the holidays can confound even the most organized shopper. Dress codes can range from casual low-key family gatherings to business attire for company parties and all-out black-tie New Year's Eve soirees. It's enough to make the most seasoned glamazon reach for a glass of Veuve Clicquot. The bleak economy notwithstanding (or precisely because our spirits desperately need lifting), fashion designers have given us plenty of ways to ring in the new decade. Here are five hot looks for the holidays.

DRAPING: Draping has come a long way from the time of Madam Gres, the haute couturier who introduced the Grecian gown to French society in the 1930s. Today's pleats range from subtle to on-steroids. Donna Karan placed so many pleats in one of her evening gowns, it drenched the model liquid metal. Balenciaga's draped skirts have a strength and structure that bring to mind the Statue of Liberty. And Los Angeles designer Juan Carlos Obando's draped white gown is pure Hollywood screen siren.

ORIGAMI: The Japanese art of paper folding begins with a square that folds and creases into geometric patterns. In fashion, pleats and folds create texture on everything from bodices on Donna Karan gowns to stiff structure at the necklines on an emerald cocktail number by RM Rouland Mouret and kick up the waist of a Christian Dior frock. The look is sculptural and artistic.

WHITE: Perhaps inspired by Michelle Obama's wedding-white inauguration gown by Jason Wu, white gowns are everywhere for the holidays. Polo Ralph Lauren offered a one-shoulder white silk bombshell and ingeniously uses a boyfriend's blazer to tone down the white sugary froth of ruffles and frills (pictured above). Givenchy went a little bit Halston with a jersey gown tied at the waist.

VELVET: This was the year velvet came out of mothballs. As I reported earlier this year, Gianfranco Ferre, Lanvin and Elie Saab blew fashion watchers away with their long, black velvet gowns with structured cap sleeves a la the '40s. And Aquilano.Rimondi came out with a bright red velvet belted cocoon coat that Neiman Marcus The Christmas Book calls the stuff of fairy tales.

SHINE ON: Whether it's jeweled-colored beads on embroidery at Marchesa or a gold metallic Grecian dress at Tadashi Soji, shine always works for the holidays. If you don't want to go head-to-toe, do an accent or two. Gunmetal and copper sequined skirts and leggings will have you giving the Christmas tree a run for its money.

There was once a time when the resort/cruise collections were made for the rarefied woman who could afford to escape the winter by heading to the tropics (she needed swimwear and a caftan, did she not?). Not anymore. While still a David to the Goliath fall and spring collections, resort is catching the attention of more and more people.

Like air travel and cell phones, is resort bound for the masses?

Collections are just now beginning to hit stores and, for a season that's ostensibly all about lounging around on the beach or the deck of a boat, there's a lot of fashion news to digest: optical motifs, exotic locales like Marrakesh, sheer, leathers for day, aquatic, scuba, old-world charm, draping and, of course, nautical.

The media is doing their part. Fashion magazines are pointing out 'It items' like the floral ribbon-laced sandal from Prada, a bright green croc tote from Roberto Cavalli and pretty much everything in Chanel's stunning parade of black and white caftans and graphics (above).

Fashion insiders have long contended resort/cruise is either an evolution of fall or a preview of spring. That's not necessarily the case today, says style and beauty expert Mary Alice Stephenson. Stephenson explained to me this week that fashion has become like fast food and designers are compelled to feed the hungry. In other words, a resort collection must stand on its own.

"People want whatever's new," she says. "And designers like to keep customers surprised with their unique point of view. Shoppers are putting more thought into their splurges. So designers have to seduce the buyer with making the pieces usable in every aspect of their lives."

Others tell me resort/cruise is the one time designers get to cut loose and get creative. Saleability is less of an issue for a season that lasts, at most, two months. Of course, some designers go overboard. Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa caught hell from my former employer Women's Wear Daily for his lineup of transparent dresses: "A long-standing argument against such [formal runway] presentations for resort is that inevitably some designers will crossover to the too-editorial side." Too-editorial means that those dress will have nothing whatsoever with how you and I dress in reality.

Still, as buyers we are demanding uniqueness, a slice of our favorite label. We want pieces to seamlessly integrate into our wardrobes. We want reality. And we want season-less items to wear far into next year.

We want it all, don't we?

I was at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, last week soaking it all in. This was the site where the sultans displayed decapitated heads on stakes to discourage bad behavior among their subjects. Probably the most famous of these heads was Dracula's (Vlad, the Impaler) which had been preserved in honey. Not a bad piece of ghoulish history to come across to get in the spirit of Halloween.

Probably the closest thing you can get to horror in the fashion world is goth. At its worst, goth is all about death, rot and decay. At its best, goth is erotic even a romantic period style of dress. Typically, goth is all about dark colors-blacked out eyes, whitened skin, black hair and a plethora of body piercings.

Most people think goth fashion came out the post punk scene that rose up out of the United Kingdom in the '80s. In fact, goth origins are ancient and appears to be the result of a combination of influences from random events that occurred over the centuries.

One of the best books I've ever come across on the subject is Gothic: Dark Glamour by Valerie Steele. The stunning coffee table book, first published a year ago, traces goth from its Eastern Germanic tribal roots to modern-day black-clad teenagers and sexually-charged vampire fiction.

Steele, chief curator at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, takes the magnifying glass to haute goth as seen through the eyes of designers John Galliano, Rick Owens and Alexander McQueen. It's a fascinating, visual journey through the aesthetics of the macabre.

Some of you might recall, the original Goths were warmongers who tried to take down the Roman Empire in Istanbul, thousands of years before Dracula lost his head to the sultans. I find it particularly interesting that today's goths have nominated Dracula as their token villain. At least at Topkapi Palace, there's a connection. A column commemorates the Roman victory over the Goths.

In fashion, goth is still one of the most effective ways to communicate rebellion and subculture. It's shocking. Unsettling. The fashion equivalent of a good scare on Halloween. Just the kind of buttons, designers like to push. Take London designer Gareth Pugh's spring 2010 collection, pictured above.