OTHER THAN THOSE tent-shaped coats that are popular this season, the most fashionable silhouette of the moment is a stringbean one: Lean jackets over skinny, short skirts, trim pants, leggings or tights; columnar or fitted dresses for evening.
But numerous designers have sent up enough trial balloons for fall that indicate another shape on the horizon: a small waist above a full or A-lined skirt.
This new look can come off as quite youthful, even bordering on ingenue. Gianni Versace, for example, created a few dresses for fall that seem Barbie doll-inspired. Some of Isaac Mizrahi`s long and enormously wide skirts with strapless tops are reminiscent of `50s prom gowns.
Donna Karan`s full-skirted wool dresses with wide belts are more grown up, as are Claude Montana`s jackets with rounded hiplines.
Such ultrafeminine fashions may be isolated instances of a softening of the silhouette, or they may be precursors of rounder things to come. The spring showings taking place in New York this week will certainly indicate whether styles such as shown here are straws in the wind or simply pretty clothes.
