Sexy Hot Beauty

This is the biggest news of the season: Designers, including Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and Donna Karan, invented a new color: an elegant, wearable hybrid of gray and beige.What’s so great is that some version of greige works for any skin tone: Just go heavier on the gray if your skin tone tends to be coolish, and heavier on the beige if you’re warmer or golden-tinged.

Tip: Greige is the new power neutral for work. Think about it: A gorgeous, flattering blend of two work shades all perfectly blended into one hue. Versions with a slight metallic sheen (either silver or gold, depending on the gray-to-beige ratio) have definite day-to-night potential too.

SKINNIER PANTS.

If you’re balking at fall’s super-straight-leg jeans, get over it. Pants are only getting slimmer.At Michael Kors, they looked sophisticated and slimming under trench jackets, and Cynthia Steffe put them under elegant tunics for another ultra-flattering silhouette. They looked absolutely preppie and not at all scary in white or black … at Ralph Lauren.So start weaning yourself off the full, flared legs now. By spring, you may not be able to find them.

Tip: The right top can go a long way to make you feel more comfortable in skinny pants. A-line, away-from-the-body shapes are a right-off-the-runway idea that will work for just about anybody.

SWINGY DRESSES.

If the thought of skinny pants gives you hives, take solace in the away-from-the-body shape of spring dresses.Whether they called it the trapeze or the swing dress or the bubble, the fuller, empire-waist (or waist-free) dress was definitely the darling of Fashion Week.While the extreme versions seem unlikely to catch on here, I can’t imagine anyone not wanting to give one of these comfortable, breezy shapes a try. Slip one on and forget about any figure anxiety.

Tip: They occasionally came down the runway with flat thong sandals, but unless you’re a twig, you’ll look so much better in these oversized shapes with a little bit of a heel — and a flash of knee.The trick is proportion: Because the volume is increased, balance your shape with a shorter length (to the knee or just above it).

BUBBLES.

Bubble skirts — which local fashionistas were quick to sample last spring — have company. Coming this spring: bubble dresses in softer, more fluid fabrics and, believe it or not, bubble shorts. Now, bubble shorts sound awful. (And at least some — such as the diaper styles at newcomer Karen Walker’s show — actually were.) But some — like Marc Jacobs and Monique L’huillier’s — were quite cute and wearable. Smallish cuffs and a slightly more rounded, easy shape make this summer staple look somehow more polished, pretty and dressed up.

Tip: When wearing bubble, keep accessories and accents scaled down and more structured. Save big, bubbly purses and floaty, ruffled sweaters for your skinny pants.

The retooled doctor’s bag is darling and practical. With its shiny buckles and strong, but sexy, shape, it will be the bag to buy this spring.

Tip: You could be practical and go for black, but don’t. Yellow, grass green and red are far more interesting and, according to the runway gurus, go with anything.

SPLASHY PRINTS.

Whether the nature-inspired greens at Diane Von Furstenberg or the pops of pink and red at Oscar de la Renta and Tracey Reese, or the stark colorblocking at Marc Jacobs, spring prints were brighter, bolder and more vivid than the usual soft pastels.On daytime mini dresses, long tunic tops (with angel sleeves) or even on smart jackets, they’ll fit right into our city’s brighter-than-average color scheme.

Tip: Colorful prints look even newer when paired with ultra-modern black-and-white or Lucite accessories.

MINI EVERYTHING.

It’s the rule of fashion physics: What goes down must come up. And hemlines for spring shot up clear past the thigh. Tiny T-shirt dresses and very short shorts were a change of pace after several seasons of long, full skirts. They’re not for everyone, but for those with a great pair of legs and a limited range of motion, they’ll be a favorite.

Tip: This time, the short stuff is less skin-tight and sausage-like. A-line shapes and scalloped hems (even on shorts) made this daring look seem less extreme.But be sure to do the sit, bend and walk test in the dressing room. Unless your life is a runway show, you’ll need to do more than strut in your mini things.