one more spring preview article, this one by NYT and far more to the point,
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"tight jeans with pointy shoe and a girly top" 
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Prediction for Spring: Plenty of Color, Fullness to Match
By GINIA BELLAFANTE
Published: October 21, 2003
By the time the twice-a-year collections wrap up, anyone whose livelihood depends on attending the hundreds of shows that take place across four countries in three weeks returns home primarily wanting to take a long nap
Any answer reduced to a sound bite ignores the sticky reality. Although fashion editors enjoy distilling each collection cycle more or less down to a single idea — it is the spring of Anouk Aimée in "A Man and a Woman," or the fall of Kitty Russell in "Gunsmoke" — every fashion season includes themes, subthemes and digressions from subthemes.
For every moment ostensibly committed to Russian peasant dresses, the thousands of runway images could be culled for the sort of evidence — a dozen pairs of tuxedo pants, 16 bias-cut skirts — that identifies the moment as something entirely different.
Conspiracy theorists who believe that designers work in concert, dictating a narrow range of options for women, miss just how confoundingly ecumenical modern fashion really is. By the end of each season there is always something for everyone — usually too much. Rarely does fashion provide a powerful, overarching message of how women really should dress.
All that said, the spring 2004 shows, which ended in Paris two weeks ago, were so consistent in theme that they inspired unusual fascination. What one could honestly return home telling female compatriots is that six months from now, women will look like women
"A lot of the clothes we saw this season will be going directly from the runways into women's closets," said Kenneth Downing, a vice president at Neiman Marcus. In fashion, that is as rare as a solar eclipse.
The clothes due next spring allow for hips that might have blossomed as a result of wintertime carbohydrate indulgences. Overwhelmingly, the shapes are full, round, almost matronly — the sort worn by Julianne Moore in "Far From Heaven." such a correct link here This might, on the surface, seem dangerously regressive (note to self: make a donation to the National Organization for Women), were it not for the fact that fashion has honored the lean, angular body, so oppressive to maintain, for so long.
"If I had to see one more tight jean with a pointy shoe and a girly top, I was really going to keel over," said Debi Greenbergme too Debi, president of Louis Boston. "I'm glad the moment came, and I'm glad it's finally over. A lot of the clothes we're seeing now are moving away from the body, and I think it's really time."
"This season was such a pleasure," she added. "The last few seasons have been so much work."
Body-conscious designers like the team at Proenza Schouler played with clothes inspired by rain slickers. Prada turned out full-skirt cinch-waist dresses that, although accented with tie-dyes, seemed born of a vision of Sophia Loren going to buy basil at a farmer's market. (It is not known whether Ms. Loren shops for her own food.) Designers like Peter Som and Phoebe Philo at Chloé offered baby-doll tops that looked as though they were meant to envelop actual babies.
A mood of optimism prevailed, in what seemed like a barrage of geometric prints, floral patterns, diaphanous georgette silks and gold.
"It was a reaction to a stalled economy and the hangover of war, but everyone seemed truly to be taking a watercolor brush to the clothes," said Ed Burstell, vice president and general manager at Henri Bendel.
Signifiers of femininity were writ large and small. They turned up in picnic-check tops at Behnaz Sarafpour and bow-tie details at Palmer Jones and Viktor & Rolf. And speaking of picnics, never before has one witnessed in one fashion season so many pairs of rolled-up shorts — no one seemed able to resist the urge to present them, including Michael Kors at Celine and Miuccia Prada. Mr. Downing of Neiman's anticipates that his customers will lunge for shorts.
What, one wondered, has become of pants? Missing from the collections was the androgynous sort of sexuality that has dominated fashion for eons. The trouser lobby will need to acquire some campaign money and get pants back on center stage, they received so little play.
In fact, Mr. Burstell said he used to stock one pair of pants in his store for every dress or skirt. Next season, he will double the proportion of dresses and skirts to pants.
Apparently, one guaranteed way to look old-fashioned next season will be to cling to your charcoal power suit.
or to
"tight jeans with pointy shoe and a girly top" 
