Soft and Formal
On the outs -- miniskirts, most things black;
what’s in -- fur, feathers
By Heather Harlan & Associated Press

With fewer than 90 days until the millenium, the trend is toward the blessedly feminine, often appealing and even practical.

There’s much that’s tempting and wearable, from both ready-to-wear and haute couture. The latter, with prices that typically start at about $16,000, is for most of us a source of refined inspiration.

With plenty of colorful fireworks for this turn of the century/millennium, luxury ready-to-wear offers its own exciting choices for daytime or New Year’s Eve.

Silhouettes are usually soft, with natural shoulders and waists. Skirts are often knee-length, rarely mini, and sometimes long. Fabrics to look out for from luxury ready-to-wear: the best, from excellent alpacas, cashmeres, tweeds, gabardines and leathers -- along with velvets, chiffon, organza, lace, damasked silks, crepes and taffeta or faille for the Big Bang evening.

Ecru or off-white are chic for daytime, plus many grades of caramel and brown. Pearly gray and charcoal are in, too. Besides black, in evening colors just about anything goes -- from hot shocking pink to vermilion, coral, teal blue and indigo.

Real furs, especially fox and mink, are popular in both ready-to-wear and haute couture. They appear as wraps, coats, trim. Rabbit fur goes a long way, too, maybe dyed to look like leopard.Truly festive outfits this winter will sport all kinds of feathers, from ostrich to rooster and egret. Our fine feathered friends even win in many cases over the sparkle of rhinestone and sequined embroidery.

For black-tie occassions, Vera Wang offers elegant gowns such as a silk slip dress printed with a Chinese-inspired landscape in earth tones with a slightly iridescent glow. The same design also shows up on a floor-skimming silk skirt, which can be paired with one of the designer’s cashmere tops. Other standouts include a chocalate-colored jersey slip dress with sequined lace flower cut-outs and a beaded tulle column in olive. To protect bare shoulders from an autumn chill, Wang has just launched her first collection of furs -- coats and wraps in sable, mink, and shearling.

If the occasion calls for a full-length gown, Vivienne Tam’s long velvet versions in silver and red, printed with motifs adapted from Chinese opera costumes, offer plenty of evening drama. And for weddings, why not go for silver? This season, San Francisco-based designer Karla Hour offers a bustier-type gown with matching shawl, made of imported Italian silk and satin. The embroidery “lovebird” motif is inspired by the Uchikekei, a Japanese wedding robe made with heavy silk and detailed embroidery.

Hour, who has been designing wedding gowns for the haute couture crowd since 1992, says the offbeat color reflects a growing desire to set oneself apart. “Brides want to express their individualism, and silver is hot right now,” she said.

Fiona Ma contributed to this report.