It feels like just yesterday (ok so maybe it was a month or so ago) that we were enjoying our first looks at Cruise 2009. The multifaceted offerings of the season have been distilled faster than you can say "merchandising" three times fast into the buy. We had a chance to peruse Net-A-Porter buy for Cruise 2009 yesterday afternoon. Net-a-Porter has become such a presence in retailing, online or otherwise, that their buy is of of particular interest to see how a season has coalesced long before the editors have gotten their gummy paws on the goods.

We saw a few familiar garments like this rainbow Oscar De La Renta cap sleeve sweater amid the very showy, very bright, picks. . But it wasn't just about the tropics for Net-a-Porter. The publicist we spoke to said that Cruise and Holiday have become somewhat intertwined for designers and with the similar delivery dates buyers are now thinking how to service wardrobes for destinations from Mustique to Aspen. Given that variety we were impressed with the holiday frocks available and even, shock, a fur coat.

Quite a few new faces are in this seasons cruise buy including Cosabella, Maje, Rachel Gilbert, Luc Kieffer, La Perla and Lover. We were particular impressed with the exclusives Net-a-Porter will be selling from Britain's favorite hipster line Preen. The royal blue dresses are perfect for any occasion, cruise, holiday or otherwise.

Few designers are as articulate about their inspirations as Charles Nolan. We suspect his expressive personality comes from his detail oriented work process that focuses not only on the big picture of a season but on the tangible needs of his particular customer base. One never gets the impression that anything is haphazard when at the house of Charles Nolan. We were privileged to have a quick word with Mr. Nolan before his Cruise 2009 showing. Please take a moment to enjoy it.

A gracious host is a welcoming host and designer Charles Nolan knows how to make his customers feel at home. His Americana Resort collection was an exercise in gracious living.

Tables of finger sandwiches, baskets of cookies, tumblers of lemonade and iced tea were arrayed on linen covered tables. Charles proudly told us it was an in-house affair, none of the nibbles were catered but all created by family and staffers. It is that kind of attention to detail and homespun charm that is central to the appeal of the Charles Nolan brand. Everything has been thought out, tweaked, and arrayed to best highlight the designer's artful vision.

And what a tightly edited vision it was, with every piece shown serving multiple functions. Nolan informed us that in his view resort is a season for travelers which necessitates a smaller and more versatile collection to serve the needs of women that require versatile wardrobes on the go. An indigo tropical wool crepe draped trouser was light as a feather and perfectly packable. And Nolan had plenty of separates to wear it with including tennis vests, crepe cardigans, cotton smocks, and chiffon tunics. The 17 looks in the collection are supremely easy to wear, a veritable parade of Americana sportswear. A few innovations like a swim/sport skirt that doubles for sports, aquatics and day wear were particularly intriguing.

But beyond the wearable clothing there was another message. The shifting political climate towards a more hopeful America, one in which we can proudly claim citizenship, was central to the collection's appeal. Resort as a season is about internationalism, travel, and foreign lands but its clothing is also deeply routed in the sportswear tradition; a tradition given birth to by Americans and nurtured in our boardrooms, sports competitions and backyards. Charles Nolan is tapping into a change in our nation's collective psyche that showcases resort as a metaphor for a new America, one that is global in outlook but proud of its home grown style.

In other words, no longer will we be tempted to claim Canadian citizenship when on foreign soil. When the collection goes to market in January of 2009 we certainly hope it will be a new day for Americans and our style ambitions. A new president will be inaugurated after eight trying political years of war, economic woes and cultural divides both at home and internationally. If Charles Nolan has any say about it our future is bright, proud, and graciously American both at home and abroad. And nothing would please us more than feeling at home in America, and as Americans, once again.

We are having a bit of gender confusion today as community member She's A Betty helped takes us from money clips to the world's girliest trend in about an hour. Tiered dresses may just be the diametrical opposite of our earlier post and yet we we feel just as strongly in support of hyper feminine dresses as we do ultra masculine money clips.

Ruffles have traditionally made us feel a little silly but lately we have been feeling positively underage. We don't know if its all the Gen-X men that have been percolating around Williamsburg but we feel completely girly making this particular look almost appropriate. We want to curl our hair, giggle and bat giant eyelashes!

Predictably we must be channeling some sort of moment, as ruffles are showing up all over cruise collections. We are particularly enamored of a gauzy pink tiered blouse from Missoni's Cruise 2009 collection. If you want to buy into your inner ditz right now we have a few high and low selections or you can cruise right on over to She's A Betty.

Douglas Hannant's cruise collection went from beige to bold in the run of show and yet it still left us unexcited. Douglas Hannant himself says that he likes to strikes a balance between modernism and romanticism for a uniquely American feel. And while we agree that he juxtaposes sportswear and evening wear elements we can't necessarily muster up a great deal of enthusiasm for the end result. His use of rich fabrics and textures is undoubtedly his strong point but we can't help but feel the "d" word leaping to our lips when looking through the collection. Yes, we mean derivative. From a dress that hints at Oscar De La Renta to a blasé beige suit that could have been in the Calvin Klein resort collection if it had gone poorly. We remain largely nonplussed by the effort.

Undoubtedly, his "modern classics" will remain popular at retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman among ladies who need something expensive and safe. We would argue there are better collections that do the job but sometimes a little diversity is exactly what a lady who lunches is looking for in her wardrobe line up, if not her lunch companions.