Fashions of Last Resort : * Clothing: Although the outfits are designed for people heading for the tropics to flee the cold weather, resort wear is ideal here almost year-round.

Those who want to take a vacation from bulky sweaters and business suits need not travel far.

In Orange County, it’s easy to find warm-weather clothes even in the dead of winter. A number of local shops carry resort wear, clothes destined for cruise ships and tropical beaches that also can be worn in Southern California’s mild weather almost year-round.

“Here, people wear white on Thanksgiving Day,” says Roma Doherty, owner of Roma’s, which specializes in travel clothes.

At her San Clemente and Dana Point stores, Doherty helps outfit her customers for any kind of vacation.

“I know what they’ll want to wear on an 11-hour flight to Hong Kong,” she says. “Certain women depend on us to dress them up every time they go on a trip.”

She educates them about which clothes travel well, steering them toward lightweight fabrics, including washable silks and certain nylons and chiffons that emerge from suitcases without a wrinkle. She recommends a collection of jacket and pants ensembles by Abraxas made of an easy care pre-wrinkled nylon.

“You can be on the deck and get wet and the clothes dry on your body,” she says.

Most people want bright, “happy” clothes for vacations, Doherty says. She carries few neutral or black garments, instead keeping her shops well stocked with colorful clothes throughout the year.

Ken Done, an Australian artist, designs Doherty’s favorite line of brightly colored knit or rayon separates with bold Tahitian-style prints festooned with fruit, flowers or leaves.

“His clothes remind me of a Gaughin painting,” she says. Done’s latest collection features heavy cotton knit shorts, T-shirts and leggings in a bright floral print, and multicolored checkered leggings with matching reversible blue sweat shirts.

Many of the clothes in her shops are reversible to make the most out of a limited wardrobe. There’s a line of jackets with metallic prints that can be worn for evening, or turned inside out so the solid lining shows “when you don’t need all the glitz.”

Resort wear is available in a wide range of prices and styles, from casual beach clothes to higher-end designer clothes.

For travelers heading to cruises or hotels where elegant dinner parties are on the itinerary, the Linda Bentley boutique in Newport Beach offers fun couture.

Body suits with flowing chiffon jackets and skirts, decorated denim in bright colors such as fuchsia and apple green, and gingham in pink and white dominate sophisticated resort wear, says boutique owner Linda Bentley.

“The clothes are very body-conscious,” Bentley says.

Her customers like whimsical novelty looks while on vacation, such as a yellow zippered jacket in a comfortable cotton blend fabric adorned with star- and circle-sequined appliques for $180. The jacket can be worn with matching pants and a coordinating black knit top with an abstract applique in front.

For relaxing by the pool or on the deck, Bentley offers a sheer magenta cover-up by La Perla for $292 with a matching sequined swimsuit for $285. The suit can double as a sparkling top for evening beneath a jacket or chiffon blouse.

If planning a ski vacation, Bentley has elegant ski jackets by Suzy Chaffee, some adorned with gold fringe, rhinestones and pearls, that look best when worn over Chaffee’s crushed velvet cat suit or leggings. One black satiny jacket comes adorned with gold metal snowflakes. There’s also novelty sweaters and after-ski jackets by Iceberg, adorned with rich stylized appliques of penguins, sea otters and other animals.

“Most of our customers have everything they need,” Bentley says. “They just want something that’s new and fun.”

The Resort Shop of Dana Point carries low-priced separates made of brightly colored cotton gauze that vacationers can mix and match to stretch their wardrobes.

“They pack well, they never wrinkle and people can wear them when they come back,” says owner Annett Welch, who puts on fashion shows for local yacht clubs. The tiered skirts, shirts and shorts in solid colors sell for about $35 each.

Welch also likes to send her customers off in oversized cotton T-shirts and leggings in solid colors or tie-dye prints. Not only are they comfortable on long plane rides, they can be dressed up or down depending on one’s choice of accessories, she says.

Sweat shirts and T-shirts are staples of a travel wardrobe. One perfect T-shirt for cruises comes decorated with sequined nautical appliques and military-style gold ribbon on the shoulders. It can be worn with jeans or dressed up with black pants and gold jewelry, and sells for about $40 at the Resort Shop.

For the Full Effect in Laguna Beach has a full line of moderately-priced resort wear. A large part of the store’s service is teaching customers how to pack, says store owner Ann Ellis.

“We teach them how to roll the clothes, and how not to take too much,” Ellis says. “That’s the hardest lesson for any traveler.”