FASHION: THE SPRING COLLECTIONS : Spinning the Globe

One calypso outfit, one skirt jabbed with safety pins, sonething long, something short. And a pair of tattooed leggings. This season’s fashion shows were filled with slick curveballs as designers from Milan, Paris and New York unveiled their newest styles for spring. But even the strangest curves seemed to spin off prevailing winds.

There is no right or wrong anymore. There is only what you can defend. You see it in legal ethics, and in the latest fashion rulings. Short and long skirts got equal play on the runways, often in the same show.

The world gets smaller and world cultures overlap. It’s been that way in business and in politics. Now, fashion has caught the drift. British military shirts, madras sarongs and rice paddy straw hats were Ralph Lauren’s idea of eclectic ethnic dressing. Jean Paul Gaultier’s was a punk Hare Krishna brew. Nose rings and navel rings were accessories, sheer bodysuits printed with occult tattoos were a first layer to build on.

Ask designers what women want most for spring and too many might give the wrong answer. Runways were strewn with sheer dresses, for the third season running. One heartfelt whistle could blow most of them away. Nighties, baby dolls and long droopy shifts failed the reality check once again. Undaunted, designers continue to experiment. The newest brainstorm led to sheer body wear.

Gaultier’s tattooed leggings were one version. Karl Lagerfeld’s skin dress, a gripper in white stretch tulle, was another. He put tunics over them, bikinis under them. Only modesty dictates how much or how little to add. Fashion didn’t miss many social issues this season. The skin dress gets filed under P for personal safety. Maybe Lagerfeld hasn’t heard, but Californians could use more of that.