The promise of the new has its cost. Spring may be a time of fresh starts but birthing something new is no easy matter. The very newness of the season has its price. This spring it is pain and rawness that gives us the inspiration for the light and mesmerizing clothing of the season. Light textiles, cool colors, and metallic sheens that span spring and fall from Harlan Bel, Alice Ritter and Trovata sit beautifully on a layer of struggle that has us savoring the joy even as we contemplate the cost of the new. Elite Fresh Faces, Margaret Pridgen, Kyla Jamieson, and Marie Lunde Fossdal's ability to hold the space between joy and sadness brings the editorial alive. Their pale beauty reminds us of John Keat's La Belle Dame sans Merci evoking a hint of the flip side of birth. But even in death there is still the new waiting to arise. And lest we have a silent spring in which "no birds sing" we should take the time to remember, fresh from the womb, the pain of entering the world is the price we pay for spring. And that makes the light even stronger.

7 For Mankind Ginger JeansSheFinds has a reader looking for advice on wearing white jeans now that the weather is warming up. We are a fan of white pants with a few basic style caveats and SheFinds nicely covers them all in her advice. But we wouldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness reading her post right after we finished with Mike Albo's Critical Shopper piece today in Thursday Styles. His nostalgic take on Trovata hints at the challenges of adult life after the fall from golden boys to lone designer treading water. This struggle to stay afloat in the turbulent emotional waters of adulthood spoke to us, particularly after we saw the sober minded effort in the Fall 2008 Trovata we shot for our photo editorial Wish They All Could Be California Girls. Even as the clothing is emotionally cautious the playful attitude still exists, quietly, realistically, and still at price points most can't afford melding frivolity with serious money. We feel this is somehow emblematic of the challenge of wearing white jeans brought up by SheFind's reader. Wearing white jeans feels a little silly when we know they won't flatter older asses without careful calibration and we undoubtedly face stains and smudges. And yet we yearn to wear them anyway as summer approaches. That combination of fool hardy sartorial joy and adult worry perfectly captures the new feel of Trovata and makes them a perfect complement to a nominally flattering pairs of white trouser jeans like these 7 For All Mankind Ginger Wide Leg jeans. Just remember that all of these worries really don't matter much when you are laying out hundreds of dollars for white pants and a striped tank top. But the ability to worry is one of the great boons of adulthood. Think of it as white washing the past.

In today's exclusive Coutorture editorial we've pulled garments from the Spring 08 collections of Alice Ritter and Trovata. The two brands, though seemingly dissimilar, are on common ground in terms of their contemporary style and appeal to twenty-something's with a penchant for smart casual dress. From Ritter, we've covered her Spring 08 collection as well as her Fall 08 presentation during New York Fashion Week (it was one wild party). In our video, we spoke with Ritter, who attributes the Fall 08 season to have been influenced by legendary rougue Serge Gainsbourg. From Trovata, we popped into the showroom to shoot Fall 08, an exclusive Coutorture editorial that made us want to move upstate and start a family (only kidding!). It, as always, had an East Coast prepster aesthetic that pulled at our Cape Cod-loving heartstrings. The two brands appear again in today's editorial, La Belle Dame sans Merci, so, consider yourself an expert.

For today's exclusive Coutorture editorial, part of our showroom photo shoot series, we've featured the Fall 08 collection from Trovata. The brand, who gives us a laid back West Coast look, has been making waves in New York with a successful pop up shop at Earnest Sewn in the Meatpacking District. This Fall 08 Trovata, now just John Whitledge of the original four person team who met in college, showed the preppy, casual separates the brand is known for. Cranberry velvet trousers, an olive corduroy vest and shorts set, numerous button down boyfriend shirts, and a few easy silk pieces, make for a collection that is easily mix and matchable and covers all your daytime basics. It's curious whether Trovata will be left alone by the press now that the company is headed by just one, not four, handsome West Coast men. With Ecco Domani and CFDA awards to their credit, however, we suspect it's just a matter of adjustment. For now, we can only hope that the pop up experience in New York has left Whitledge longing for a permanent New York outpost because over here, one rugged blonde designer and preppy West Coast clothing priced between two and three hundred dollars, does a popular New York brand make.