Pooling Their Resources

THE SERIES: “Melrose Place” 9 p.m. Wednesdays (Fox Television)

THE SCENE: “Twentysomething” set in a West Hollywood apartment building with a swimming pool. The inhabitants, who mostly are aspiring to be in another income bracket and in love, include Alison (Courtney Thorne-Smith), a Midwestern advertising agency receptionist; screenwriter Billy (Andrew Shue), fashion assistant Jane (Josie Bissett) and construction laborer Jake (Grant Show).

THE LOOK: Skin. Blame it on the swimming pool. The guys at “Melrose Place” love to swim and just hang out in the sun, which means that scene after scene, they appear with their buffed chests in full display. The girls swim and hang out in bikini tops and shorts--some are cut-off jeans, some are minuscule swimsuit bottoms. Since everyone lives together, sort of, viewers catch glimpses of the aforementioned guys getting out of bed in the a. m. and standing around in their buffed chests. Alison wears a chenille bathrobe. Sandy (Amy Locane), a tarty actress/waitress, wears a baby doll nightgown.

Black leather is associated with baaaad, and its Jake’s signature along with a black T-shirt and Levi 501s. Costume designer Kirsten Everberg dresses the show’s characters in very trendy shoes. Jake wears black engineer boots. Jane wears platforms. Matt (Doug Savant) wears Birkenstocks with socks. Rhonda (Vanessa Williams) leads her hip-hop-cardio-funk exercise classes in Nike wrestling boots.

Above their feet, guys layer T-shirts and shirts, including surfer shirts, old plaids and denims. Girls prefer whatever is short, tight and black with allowances for short and floral. While none of them owns anything from last year, they’re hardly onto anything truly new. Jane, the designer-to-be, has moments of originality, such as her chiffon Madonna-print blouse, and in episodes to come will no doubt continue to experiment with fashion. Alison somehow looks convincing in her office garb of mix-and-match short skirts and jackets.

THE SOURCES: Boutiques on and off Melrose Avenue including Fred Segal, Romp, Finals, Formula Uno, Maya, Gallay, X Collection, American Rag, Traffic, Mark Fox, plus Val Surf in Valencia. Alison wears a mix of DKNY, Zelda, Benetton and other labels, many from Bullock’s.

THE PAYOFF: Most of the wardrobe is predictable, a glossy version of Melrose style, via Madison Avenue. But there are clues that, like a new restaurant settling in to find the right tastes, these characters may be given a chance to find their own style.