NYFW: Nicole Miller's fall 2009 collection

NEW YORK -- Nicole Miller showed a great collection for the price, picking up on the architectural vibe coming out of Paris and Milan last season. The silhouette was tight and sexy, with glossy and matte black color blocking and graphic details.

She opened with a wine twill shift dress with braided pleats articulating the waist. The shift seems like it could be it for fall. Skirts were super short with crisscrossing metallic embroidery or shard-like layers. A black and white print used on a blouse and dress reminded me of the steel beam and glass ceiling of the Grand Palais in Paris. The combination of cobalt and black also looked fresh.

-- Booth Moore

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NY Fashion Week: Skin is in

Hurricane Hanna hit New York on Saturday, the rain came in sheets, and still the glossy editors wore their stiletto sandals and booties, God bless 'em. Me, I wore my Havaiana flip-flops and almost lost one when I stepped into a puddle up to my ankles trying to steal a cab ahead of the teetering flock on the corner of 21st and 10th Avenue.

Luckily, trucking around in the soggy weather was worth it. The shows have been good, and from the handful I have seen, it seems to be all about the body for spring. Maybe it’s the Olympics, or fashion's
never-ending love affair with the 1980s, but skin is in; skirts are short and tight.

Up-and-comer Alexander Wang has got the look down like nobody else. His show was in a garage-like space with concrete floors that his helpers sprinkled with water to create that hot and sweaty after-a-night-of-partying vibe. They needn’t have bothered. We could have all just shaken out our umbrellas.

Wang's collection was raunchy and fun -- an awesome mishmash of sportswear and the street, with a touch of "Miami Vice" in the form of neon pinks and aqua blues. Crockett and Tubbs ARE due for a fashion comeback. And I loved the quote he put in his show notes: “Anyone can get all dressed up and glamorous, but it is how people dress for their off days that is the most intriguing.”