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Shop talk is that pants are the big fashion item for spring. And they may well be. But at recent shows in local stores, dresses made as much of a splash with audiences as did any outfit with legs.

The Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche show at I. Magnin, for example, featured plenty of daytime trouser outfits and divided evening skirts. Pants, cropped at the ankle, were topped with melton suit jackets; peg-leg navy suede pants were shown with simple, crew-neck sweaters; narrow linen pants were teamed with brilliantly colored linen safari jackets.

But what reaped most applause from the glittery audience were YSL’s precision-cut, skirted suits (with mid-calf or knee-length skirts) and his exceptionally simple and graceful dresses for spring days and evenings.

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London-based designer Vicki Tiel’s presentation offered the looks she’s famous for--figure-hugging and curvaceous. Even here, the simplest skirted styles seemed most appreciated by the I. Magnin audience, who appeared to covet timelessness over trendiness.

At Bullocks Wilshire, where L.A. designer David Hayes holds court each season, the emphasis was on easy splendor for spring: Suits and jacketed dresses stopped just above or just below the knee and were shaped to gently follow the figure.

Although pants may be a big trend, the tradition of civilized skirts does not seem in danger.

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