quite an interesting article from NYT 
The Detailed Shape of Things to Come
By CATHY HORYN
Published: December 30, 2003
One way to measure the vitality of the coming season is that nobody has bothered to come up with a handy catchphrase. Whenever the fashion industry is short of ideas or merely confused, it throws all its money on a single expression: waifs, grunge, heroin chic, boho romance. Remember Sloane Rangers? But this spring there's only word that counts: fashion.
Whether because of the economy, globalization, more intense competition or simply boredom with the same old basics, fashion designers concentrated harder on making clothes that displayed craft and imagination. After seeing little sign of technique except at the upper reaches of fashion, designers are once again draping, pleating and using patchwork in thoughtful ways. Zac Posen's draped dresses, with insets of matte and shiny fabrics, are a good example of the kind of effort designers showed. And no one combined craft and modern lightness better than Alexander McQueen, whose clothes very often looked layered — a rough-stitched gray undershirt with lace cap sleeves and a full skirt of black vintage taffeta — but, in fact, were a single pieceLayering is a big trend for spring, absorbed by makers of $50 T-shirts as well as young designers like Proenza Schouler, who showed sailor jackets and knit bodysuits with gauzy skirts that can be worn on your hips as casually as low-slung jeans. But to effect the look of layers, only Mr. McQueen pulled off that feat.
"A lot of the changes we're seeing are in the construction of clothes," said David Wolfe, an analyst with the Doneger Group, whose retail clients range from Wal-Mart to Nordstrom. And these changes will not be confined to high-end stores. Discounters, relying on cheap but skilled labor overseas, will also be offering clothes with more finesse.
The emphasis on old-fashioned technique, which is likely to continue into the fall, is probably a reaction against minimalism, Mr. Wolfe said. "But I also think that people want more value from fashion," he said.
Some fashion houses, like Chanel and Louis Vuitton, were mindful of copycats, and looked for ways to distinguish their products from imitators while giving their customers something a little more personal. At Chanel, tweed coats were embellished with cotton tatting on the cuffs — you have to look closely to see the handwork. At Vuitton, Marc Jacobs made eccentric use of sequins and added a Vegas dose of gold to vintage handbags. Gucci encrusted its best-selling chain bag with colorful stones. The look screams fashion. But isn't that the point?
"Everyone is upping the ante," said Ed Burstell, the general manager of Henri Bendel, noting that even companies known for feminine effects, like Blumarine, are paying more attention to details.
Under fashion's wide-open umbrella, several themes stand out. Except among fashion editors, who will inevitably cling to their widow's weeds, there will be unabated color, from Andy Warhol pop shades to citrus tones of almost sickening sweetness. There will be an explosion of prints, notably tiny florals from Marc Jacobs and travel scenes from Prada. Indeed, all the things that fashion used to decree were bad for women, and therefore bad for business, have come back.
The changes ahead also reflect a sense of optimism. That's how Peter Som and Patrick Robinson of Perry Ellis summed up their collections. Here were clothes — quirky prints, granny skirts, blouses edged with crushed ruffles — that answered a pent-up demand for sensuality rather than roaring sex appeal.
What does this say about women now? Maybe that they want to dress up but without the ladylike hokum — Daisy Buchanan unburdened.
I don't care what adverbs Talley uses,Horyn certainly has the upper hand in descriptions 
I completely forgot about her. Make that the two of them,then 
Wonderful news, I dount think its a reaction to minimalism as mcuh as to teh amssive productiona nd marketing, i think people are tired of haveing to buy uber expensive one offs to get some quality craftmanship and detail and hearing "craftmanship is only in couture" people doutn whant massive any more, or so I hope, i hope that fashionw ill continue moving int his direction and giev the major mass production a run for its money
