News from Fashion Week

This September’s NYFW – that’s New York Fashion Week to you, bub – is now in the rearview mirror.

Fortunately, Bloomberg was there to make sure that us absentees – fashion-forward and fashion-challenged alike – don’t miss out on the trends that will be impacting our very way of living (or at least the dressing part of it) come next spring.

Here’s what to expect.

Florals – you may have missed it – were big this past summer, “even on men’s shoes” (this I definitely missed). And they’ll be with us for a while longer. Not that they were going anywhere, but I’m delighted to learn this, given that I have several floral sweaters, including one from Peruvian Connection that I’ve had for about 20 years. My other florals are more of the Talbot’s variety, so are not as likely to say my wardrobe for 20 years. Still, when I don me now my floral apparel next spring, I fully expect fashionistas to stop me in my tracks and ask me where I got that happenin’ sweater. Can’t wait.

Black Dress Pants are, as women of a certain age are well aware, a never-in-style, never-out-of-style fashion staple. Something that can take you from break of day to dead of night, and from wake to wedding. It’s all about what’s on top. Oddly, though, Fashion Week seems to think we should be wearing black pants under our “favorite black dress.” Won’t happen for women of a certain age, given that we grew up when pants under a dress were snow pants. Not a look that any of us will want to revisit.

Baja-Inspired Everything Hmmmm. I guess if you live long enough, everything makes its way back, and what’s made its way back is “Woodstock by way of Southern California.” This includes tie-dye, which I have observed truckin’ – like the doodah man – back into fashion. I suppose I should say that I wish I’d hung on to a couple of those long wispy skirts from the 80’s, which was the last time that 60’s clothing made a bit of a rebound. But that would be a lie. I’ll stick with my floral sweaters and black pants.

Summer Whites Are always in style. At least theoretically. I used to wear white pants and white skirts, but I can’t remember the last time I wore either. For me, black must be the new white.

Sneakers Dress Down After years of crippling themselves with higher-than-high heels, it’s now apparently okay for women to dress everything down with a pair of sneakers. Here, I’ll say, old ladies have been in the vanguard. For years.

Wider Leg the Better Skinny jeans are on their way out. Good thing I was waiting to get skinny before I invested in a pair. Stickin’ to those tried and true boot-cuts. But I don’t know if I’m quite ready for wide leg pants. Will these be elegant, Katherine Hepburn flowing trousers? Or hippy-dippy elephant bells? If it’s the former, I may take a look. And I wish I’d hung on to a very nice pair of grey tweed wide-leg pants I had 20 years back. Of course, that was also 20 pounds back, so they wouldn’t fit, anyway. But I could use a nice pair of charcoal – or black even – pants. Let’s see if I can shed 10 pounds and find a leg that’s widish…

Exposed Midriffs I know I’ll be doing florals. I’m always up for black pants. Although I skipped Woodstock to work the lucrative weekend shift at the Big Boy’s in Webster Square, I can even see myself doing a bit of the Baja thing. Summer whites I might do. And sneakers, I’m all about the comfort. But I can guarantee you’ll see me strolling the streets of Boston in black snow pants under a black dress before you see me sporting a belly shirt.

Anyway, this is apparently what you missed at NYFW. If you hustle, you can make it to London for the tail end of their FW, or to Paris or Milan for the full megillah there.

Me, I’m happy just to read about it, content that I really don’t give a hoot about any of it.