Fashion Week or Fashion Weak?

It's Fashion Week in New York.

One hour away, the hub of American design is telling you what is new, what you need, what is cutting edge.

Do you care? Did it come and go, and you never looked up? Or did you check in daily, and see interviews with buyers and editors in black and white outfits telling you "Color is the BIG story!" Or "Feminine looks are big!"

Fashion shows are quite fascinating, if you break them down. Someone has spent months and months working on something that lasts about 12 minutes. Sometimes less. Eight minutes to bowl you over. It's not enough to have an idea — you have to present it in a way that gets across so much more than "a dress." Where you "show" (it's a verb, it's a noun, it's everything!) has a lot to do with how you come across, and how you show it sometimes has very little to do with the designer, and much more to do with a stylist. Take Oscar de La Renta, Mr. Ladylike. His stylist told him "Show it all as Dorothy leaves Oz and becomes a hooker in heels and ankle socks — everyone will think you're hip, we'll get so much press." Uh, NO. Stop that. Now. Exploding ruffles do not lend themselves to the lost little girl look, especially when your client base is pushing 60. I have an 11 o'clock fitting tommorow — I'll suggest that — and see what she says.

The idea that everything is perfect doesn't always work in a show — something needs to be askew, something off kilter, but to rough it up with someone so classic is just silly. You need to make it look new, exciting, and with 250 shows happening in eight days, eye catching. Even though there are a gazillion media outlets to show what you have shown, you have to catch their eye in a very crowded field. So that's the line you walk — make a great product, and then do something nutty to get attention. And hope celebrity spotting, like pregnant Beyonce in a romper in your front row, doesn't get the attention you wanted for the gown that pays the rent.

Many, many women come into my shop looking for a pair of black pants. Some leave with charcoal pants, and a jacket, and some new knit I came up with. Some leave with black pants. The most important thing about fashion is to be open, but to know yourself. Maybe you DO want to wear ankle socks and platforms with your tweed suit, a la Oscar. Or maybe you just want a new suit. Or maybe you want something you have never seen before, and you didn't even know what it was, and then something came down the runway, and you said "Wow", and in the words of Tina Fey, "I want to go to there." Then we as designers have done our job.

I LOVE creating clothes — working on a collection is fun. I got home one night this week from work at 2:30 a.m. — I went in at 9 a.m. I loved every minute of it. It's a busy time — I am making the last of my fall clothes for my show Sept. 27 at the Delamar Hotel in Southport to benefit the Fairfield Public Library (tickets going fast!). I have the luxury of not having to worry about when my goods come in from Europe or China, they're coming from my back room. But if I make something, and no one wants it, have I failed? I just had a regular client who moved out of town preview my collection. I got a lot of "Nah, not for me, nope — I don't need it." I don't expect everyone to like everything. But I got a yes and an open wallet for some other things, and they are not the usual suspects — new fabrics, new colors, new shapes. But all wearable, and she looks great wearing them. I just saw on average, two out of five looks on runways that made emaciated woman look bloated. That does NOT bode well for us mere mortals. "Jen, will this make me look like I spent the weekend at a salt lick? That's my new look for Fall 2011". My favorite was the Carolina Herrera dress that made the model look like she was suffering from "Front Butt" a condition I was not aware of, and trust me, I've seen A LOT. Or the giant poofy skirt on a 6—foot—tall, 100—pound woman. That's going to work out real well at Neimans — "Do I look fat in this?" "Why, yes, yes you do — do you want to try it in black?"

The problem of putting teenage models in clothes women pushing 40 actually wear loses a lot in the translation. Somewhere between boring black pants and Front Butt is the answer. So the next time fashion week comes around, take a look. Maybe you will want to go there.