FASHION : Future Shock : Hippie (Love Beads), Disco (Platforms) and Grunge (Plaid) to Make the ’93 Scene

If you buy one thing for the new year, make it a plaid flannel shirt. If you’re going to change your hair, grow it shoulder-length and tint it blond. And if you need a total overhaul, think about this: The grunge look and hippie-disco hybrids will soon be considered the height of style. This year, fashion will be pushed by forces as far flung as Seattle and Washington, D.C.

From the West, the grunge music scene will set a new standard. Flannel shirts, striped knit caps, thermal undershirts and construction boots are the basics. The look is anti-status, generic-label and available at the drugstore. Nirvana, Pearl Jam and other head-banger bands are behind it. But take note: This look is for the young people. Let’s hope you know who you are.

From the East, Hillary and Bill Clinton will affect style--although not necessarily for the better. Hillary’s hair is too long to be flattering on most women her age. Nonetheless, it’s a leading contender for baby-boomer do of the year. Don’t discount her headband, either. After all the jokes and snickering, she still wears it sometimes. Lately, some of her contemporaries have been doing the same.

For once, the President’s influence on fashion will be more appealing than his wife’s. Bill Clinton’s bushy brush-cut, overgrown and unkempt, has a youthful, imperfect appeal. And his body-contoured navy suits, worn with black sunglasses traditionally associated with jazz musicians, are a welcome new power look.

His gray jogging sweats should 7get something started too. They’ll ace out the more revealing stretch leggings that many fortysomething weekend jocks have been wearing. Slouchy sweat pants hide the slippage.

While music and politics will continue to play leading roles in directing fashion’s future, big-name designers will continue to lose their hold over how people dress.

They have been sliding off the fashion peaks since the Reagans left the White House--in part because the economic mood is darker than in those days. And because designers simply aren’t the pop icons they once were.

But world-class designers will move one major trend forward in ‘93: the costume look. Watch for fashions inspired by the last days of the hippie empire and the disco fever of the early ‘70s.

There will be headbands, babushkas and love beads. Expect to see some elements of ethnic dress, such as North African beanies and long tunics over narrow pants. British mod wear, thrift-shop crocheted dresses, and flower child loving-hands-at-home looks will make a comeback. Everyone from Giorgio Armani to Yves Saint Laurent backs this trend.

Modernists may prefer the freshness of grunge costumery; nostalgia buffs will go for hippie retreads. Either way, fashion will break into a creative free rein not seen since the early ‘70s. Playful possibilities--and some very frightening sights--are sure to come of it. So will a surge in sales of the soundtrack for “Hair,” the Broadway musical of 1968. ( With any luck, “love bugs” will also make a comeback. The time is right for Volkswagens painted with flowers.)

The seriously chic should expect to be tempted by narrow, ankle-length skirts this year. But women with any sense will avoid them at all costs. They’re not meant to be worn when driving a car, climbing stairs, or taking normal steps. And the deep slits needed to make natural movements possible in a long straight skirt have all the tough, aggressive appeal of Joan Crawford as “Mildred Pierce.”

A far more attractive option--at least for weekends or evenings--will be the fluid ankle sweepers filling the stores this spring. But buyers beware: Any long skirt makes a woman look older--just like long hair.

Platform shoes will take another spin this year. The newest versions will be more exaggerated than last years’--toweringly tall and in psychedelic colors dotted with butterflies and daisies. But unless you’re young enough to be wearing platforms for the first time, don’t try this look at home, except on a lark. And don’t even think about it for work. Impractical and ugly.

Bell-bottoms and elephant-leg pants may tempt some women too. But remember: Cher wore them when she was a teen-ager. And now she’s 46.

Some men will get into retro fashion. Flowered shirts, bell-bottom jeans--even chains and chain-link bracelets--will return this year. This relaxed mood will even affect business attire. Men are more likely to wear alternatives to suits, such as navy jackets with gray slacks, or even more daring color combinations.

The anorak-as-suit-jacket that made fashion inroads last year will probably survive another season. The L. L. Bean-meets-Details magazine option was new and perhaps too fashiony for most men in ’92. But this year it might gain some converts simply because it’s been around for while.

Undoubtedly, the new year will bring a few surprises.

* Markey Mark could start an underwear business. Why should he pose in Calvin Klein ads when he could be showing off his own name on the waistband of his skivvies?

* Madonna could cover up. Now that we’ve seen it all, shocks will be harder to come by. Getting noticed might require getting dressed.

* Peter Ueberroth’s dress shirts, worn without the necktie but with the sleeves rolled up and the collar open, could set the new standard for credibility dressing. On the job as director of Rebuild L.A., he wears his sleeves pushed up to his elbows. This might become the requisite hands-on leadership look of the year, especially if the organization starts to make a difference.

* Earvin (Magic) Johnson could set a new standard in news conference dressing. After years of seeing him in a Lakers uniform during interviews, he now shows up in Italian-cut suits to stump for AIDS awareness. His hip new image is striking and might inspire fans.

* Supermodel Naomi Campbell could take a tumble this year. She’s getting a reputation for being mean to up-and-coming models back stage. And she’s sullen on the runway. Her replacement is already in place: Tyra

Hollywood movies are sure to influence style this year, starting with “Malcolm X.” Watch for a surge in sales of square-framed plastic and metal glasses like those worn by Denzel Washington in the title role. His lean black jackets with skinny lapels should appeal to men who want to update the black suit.

Night-time soaps and series that inspired college-age kids to dress sexier in ’92 are destined to fade this year. The story lines are so lame that not even fashion can save them. “Beverly Hills, 90210” and all the wanna-bes have had their day.

“Home Improvement” is the show most likely to set the new style. Think about it--the look is grunge.

Goings and Comings

The new year always brings changes, some of them long overdue. This is goodby and good riddance to some of the trends of 1992:

* Shredded jeans have finally breathed their last. Not even beat-up grunge rocker jeans will provide a place for those holes--let’s hope.

* Madonna is over, though her lesson lives on. Nothing succeeds like excess.

* Most kids are past the Pump phase. That $100-plus, inflatable footgear is about to be replaced by a ‘50s retro look: Jack Purcell-style tennies in low-cut canvas with a big rubber bumper on the toe.

* Fall-down jeans are finished. In their place are slipping-down jeans, low enough to expose only the waistband of your underwear.

* Exposed underwear for women is history, though it’s more in fashion than ever for men. Showing your bra, corset or girdle is very last year. Make that very year before last.

* Tattoos are a rub out. Models and celebrities who’ve got them are having them removed, if that’s any incentive to do the same. Watch for press- and paint-on options in the new year, to wear like lipstick.

* Neckties . . . Not! Women who wore them in ’92 will be unlikely to repeat the mistake this year. They had a moment; it passed. Now, they’re for men again.

* Skin-tight clothes are easing out. After three years of skirts, dresses, and yes, men’s trousers so tight nobody who wore them could breathe, let alone sit, the look is loosening up.

* The ‘X’ cap is niXed for the new year. Look for the ‘Y’ cap, the ‘Y Z’ cap and other smart-mouth responses to the original.

* The breast-implant boom has gone bust. Health before heft is the new motto.