THINK SPRING Shades of pink, delicate, intricate details may signal return to feminine clothes

Hemlines are on the rise in skirts and dresses.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
The leaves are falling while the temperatures are dropping, so it's time to think of a new season. No, not fall. Spring.
At the Dallas Apparel Mart a week ago, retailers chose women's and children's clothes that will be in their stores when winter starts to fade.
Some of their choices were old favorites: denim, polka dots and spring dresses. The fall influx of skirts, especially those with lots of details and interesting hemlines, will carry over into spring and summer.
"Skirts are going to flutter," said Leon Hall, New York fashion consultant and co-host of "Fashion Emergency" on the E! channel. "And skirts are going to get shorter and shorter and shorter. But designers are going to ease people into it -- above the knee, midthigh, higher and then obscene."
Hall says one way the general public will gradually get used to the shorter lengths is by wearing and observing asymmetrical hemlines. "The short length is there. It's just one leg at a time," he said.
And for those women who have waited for dresses to return, there is hope for summer 2003. Among the offerings: "beautiful tea dresses that are so feminine, with some in watercolor floral prints," Hall said. "And everyone loves the salsa, so you'll see short, flippy dresses that are sexy and fun whether you can dance or not."
Color your world
Pink in every shade from pale shell to rose to deeper rich tones will be in abundance.
But the combination of black and white will be most striking, used in everything from casual capris and tops to evening gowns.
Another important palette for spring will be those that Hall calls "architectural colors" -- stone, alabaster, putty.
"Those tones work for buildings and they also work for fashion," he said.
After a fall and winter filled with denim, spring will be no different.
"Just when you thought they had done everything possible to denim, they come up with something else," Hall said. "Distressed, ragged, worn out, embroidered, cut out, sparked with rhinestones, burned, beaded, fringed and who knows what else."
Attention to detail
That's not the only place details are important. Suit jackets and blouses will be dressed up with pin tucks, ruching, ribbon trims, inside-out finished seams, asymmetrical hems, bias cuts, soutache and insets.
Charcy Evers, a trend analyst for Peclers Paris, said spring will be a season of feminine clothes, starting with a concentration on glamour and seduction. That translates into fluid, slippery dresses.
A tropical look will evoke retro beachwear. "It's relaxed, elegant and appropriate," she said.
Diversity reigns
Other predictions from Evers include mixed cultures and ethnic looks.
"It will be frontierless because there are so many looks from other countries, and they'll be mixed. Safari jackets, turbans, sarongs, touches of braid, macrame, handmade details will be seen this spring.
"It's about your individuality, and there are no rules. Blend it all in a savvy disorder."
With the influx of washable suede for fall, it isn't surprising it will be back for spring in every color you can name.
"Suede will be at every price point. Your suede pants -- treat them like jeans," Evers said.
Said Leon Hall: "It's going to be a gorgeous spring with women looking feminine. There's something out there for everyone."