The aggressive debate over whether it's better to be in 'in the city' or "in the country" has raged since Plato's Republic. Strong feelings about what constitutes the good life in relation to the city have been active since antiquity as we ponder our place as individual in society. The current iteration of the debate seems to center around that elusive topic of "summering." For New Yorkers in particular, that means a discussion over how much time should (or could) be spent in The Hamptons. But no matter where you live, 'summer in the city' is a concept which requires defending.

To that end, when we grabbed hold of pieces from the Karen Walker Fall 08 collection we immediately thought of our shoot's concept (or argument, if you will). Although the collection winks to many different fashion eras, something about the striped turtlenecks, the vibrant colors, and the lux velvet tie-dye trousers, said 1970's and thus we found our angle. What era is the hands-down the most infamous (and surprisingly celebrated) era in the history of New York? The 1970's of course. When you think of New York in the 1970's you think of crime, of parties, of politics, and of, at the very least, personality. From there we pulled a navy striped Jets swimsuit, some high waist jeans by Denim & Thread, and some of Catherine Holstein's amazingly 70's Fall pieces (including all that bright yellow and one velvet tie dyed shirt).

If there's anything a homebound New Yorker can put on the table when his friends flock to the beach for the weekend, it's the fact that the city is the place where everything happens (no, the opening of a Rugby store does not an event make). While those beach bound city-dwellers are tanning and shopping, the rest of the city is sweating and drinking margaritas in the street, playing baseball under bright white lights, having rooftop cocktails to the sound of sirens in the background, and wearing clothes that fall somewhere outside of the sarong and flip flops category. If something is going to happen, there's going to be concrete around and there will not be sarongs.

It might sound crazy, but to us, that possibility might just keep us here weekend after weekend. In honor of summers in the city, everywhere, here's our 1970's salute to saturated color (both on our clothing and our building facades) and saturated experience.

Jewelry designer Chris Habana balances the masculine and feminine in his decidedly unisex pieces. What translates is a jewelry collection where each piece is not without the sort of panache to make an outfit. New Yorkers aren't known for their modesty, after all. Using a variety of materials, from bright fabrics to gold plated alloy to oxidized silver, Habana's jewelry is a dynamic mix of concept and material. We caught up with the designer for a video interview and pulled a few pieces for what became the Static Gold photo shoot. Habana was also featured in our Everybody Is A Star photo shoot, where he set the tone with his unabashed poses and inherent style. His jewelry, to demonstrate its wearability on both fashion-forward men and women is sold, in New York, at both BBlessing and TG170. Just blocks away from each other these two shops are among the retail dictators of fashion downtown. Habana's jewelry, then, suits the BBlessing boys and the TG170 girls who know that like skinny jeans, Uniqlo t-shirts, and wayferers there are some things that just about everyone can get down with.

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.