Oscar de la Renta was one of many designers to show plum in their Fall 2008 collection. Albeit, Oscar's plum was just a little bit richer, just a little bit more, well, plum than the others. Or maybe that's just our crush on the designer who insists, season after season, on celebrating the ever-popular concept of the 'powerful woman'. Oscar's plum appeared in the form of a trim cashmere knit sweater, high waisted wide leg trousers, and two fabulous floral print frocks. Below, two galleries, our editorial of the Oscar de la Renta Fall 08 plums, and, you know, everyone else's.

Yep, that's Miami Swim in a nutshell. We'll be bringing you a few reviews from the Miami Swim 09 shows, surely there's a little bit more substance than that, but we must say this first. Now, we're not likening Swim Week to New York Fashion Week (or even Australia Fashion Week for that matter) but it is, after all, a Mercedes Benz sponsored Fashion 'Week' (the reason we title it just, "Miami Swim" is that it's only three days long) and so it deserves a little bit of criticism. Even just for fun. First off, does the sight of orangey-red bodies skeeve you guys out as much as it does us? Just looking at the models this weekend made us feel like taking a bath in sunblock. We're living in an age where women by and large are finally foregoing their tanning booth subscriptions to avoid looking like a raisin by the time they're thirty, and yet, you'd never think so judging by the Miami runways. How do these designers not have better taste? Sure, when showing swimwear people probably want to see a model with a slight tan. But, at least to us, a 'slight tan' does not mean 'an orange body'. Is there no middle ground? That said, there were some other major fashion no-nos that we just have to shoutout now before we move on. Namely, belly button rings, implants (?), butterfly tattoos, and straw cowboy hats. Is there no justice in the world? There are plenty of sane fashion people down in Miami this weekend, are they too drunk to care? Okay. Pardon all the rhetorical questions. On to the swimsuits...

This week we brought you 2009 trend reports on bows, velvet, and fringe and today we're breaking into print. Florals were the much talked about trend this season and it's only natural that they should stick around for Fall 08. Wintery florals were used in a variety of ways; they were magpie in one example and romantic in the next. There was not on way in which they were used but one uniform quality each variation consulted. That is, they were more complex and rich than the florals we saw for Spring. Like many trends the possibilities of what on can do with a floral print are endless. Florals also played into a few other major trends for Fall 08, namely, luxe and layering. The florals were luxe when paired with fur and given a high-shine finish, as with Michael Kors and Sari Gueron. They were also, overall, layered with color and texture (in both luxe and non-luxe instances), as we saw from Peter Som and Diane Von Furstenburg. Thanks to the range of ways in which floral was represented this Fall 08, this big-time Spring 08 trend still feels quite in bloom.

Clear shades are popular with the fashion folk this summer. Hardly a day goes by that we don't see a pair of acetates staring back out at us. For Fall acetate frames will still be around, but in the form of eyeglasses (we're down with going it seventh grade style and wearing them even if you don't require them), our pick in that regard is the Selima pair for J. Crew. Alas, we are still in shades weather and in that regard the Nicole 002 by Benjamin Eyewear takes the cake (left). Forget looking like the Terminator with thick all-black shades, the acetate trend is letting the real thing show-off (i.e. your face!). If you're stuck in between two worlds, Wayfarer put out a two-tone number that we've seen a few chicsters sporting. We think the two-tone kind of makes you look like your eighty years old but in a good way. Also on our radar is this pair, by Grey Ant. The case these shades come in is as big as a briefcase but the shades are pretty amazing and aptly named, The Status Sunglasses. If you can't be asked to drop some dough, Urban Outfitters has a pair of acetate shades for less than it costs to fill up your tank (minus a million).

One of the stock trends in any season are 'details' and fringe, for 2009, is one of the subheadings. Fringe cropped up two major ways. Both examples were part of two larger trends; that of bohemia and luxe. On the bohemia front we saw fringe from the likes of Miss Sixty, Betsey Johnson, and Karen Walker. In these cases fringe helped drive the inspiration home in the form of tasseled suede bags and vests. On the luxe side of things, and in the case of DKNY, Y-3, and Carolina Herrera, fringe was softer and applied to prints to give the garment another element of 'special' that would help make it undeniably luxe. In terms of bohemia, expect unabashed knock-offs from Forever 21 and the like, and in terms of luxe; likenesses that will pale in comparison. The whole point of luxe as a trend is that it cannot be made cheaper or more simply without losing some of its exclusivity and so it is in this context that we like the fringe trend best. This is fringe being pushed to couture standards and for that reason it is all the more stunning and unique. Rodarte, we think, articulated this best.