Let your spring fashion work for you

COURTESY VICTORIA'S SECRET I know you're not looking at the pockets.

I spent spring break in my hometown, buried under in a foot of snow, watching Indiana's pretty-boy b-baller extraordinaire, Luke Recker '01, take 3-point glamour shots all through March Madness. The closest I got to "spring" was watching MTV's bacchanalian orgy of seared flesh and bitter quasi-stars (e.g., chipmunky Tupenga from Boy Meets World) as I lay on the couch, turning continually to prevent bedsores. A mess of contradictions and incongruous images has embodied my view of spring. Me, cold, versus spring, hot. Me, catatonic, versus my friends, having fun.

Spring from a fashion viewpoint ushers in a similar host of neuroses. Dressing in lighter fabrics--cotton, linen, nylon--puts a cramp in my kung-fu ironing grip. The hot kiss of sunshine inspires an epidermal extravaganza on a campus that has gotten very little play from Mr. Sun. While that may not be a problem for others, a guy tends to get a little self-conscious when his forearm is as wide as his wrist. Yet duty calls--it is my mission, like it or not, to present the must-have clothing and accessories of spring and summer 1999. This new fashion season, however, plays with many of the contradictions and qualms that I have suffered through and puts them out for your closet consumption.

Many of the trends from fall and winter wardrobes continue to finagle their way into our spring look. One does not realize the impact of a fashion trend until one goes to a party and every person in the room is wearing cargos (a terrifying true story...okay, so I was wearing them, too). The cargo pants of last season make a repeat performance with subtle variations on a theme. Aberzombie--not that I've ever been in there or anything--has rethought its popular mens' cargo in coated nylon with darted knees, while
J. Crew has retained its ripstop nylon surfer cargos for the new year. Although the menswear silhouette has remained baggy and pocketed, as it well should, girls in the classroom and on the runway have enjoyed their own alterations. Ralph Lauren showed them in candy-coated hues, constructed of light silk and cotton. He even has a cargo bikini (the pockets are bigger than the bikini itself)! Glamour kittens on campus have donned fitted cargoes, shifting the pockets and flaps to various locales.

The continuing rise of the "body bag" and the perpetuation of athletic influences from the colder seasons also make their mark on spring and summer this year. Utility Chic has arrived--fashionable as well as comfortable and useful? Over my dead body. Überdesigners such as Helmut Lang and Miuccia Prada use technologically advanced fabrics, details, and shapes to push fashion forward. The hands-free "body bag" is a unisexual tote that eschews legitimate places of rest. Carry your necessities in a canvas, plastic, or leather bag of any size and lash it onto your upper arm, across your chest, or around your calf or your upper thigh. Seemingly normal backpacks skewed with one thick strap encircling the chest have already been spotted on campus. Athletic-chic also figures into this utilitarian mode of dress. Prada has been the prime impetus for the current unceasing rage for sporty style. In her secondary lines, Miu Miu and Prada Sport, as well as her signature line, Prada has authored a number of seemingly incongruous hybrids for the warm weather. There are nylon and rubber anoraks and velcro Vibram-soled shoes for men, while women are wearing treated paper kilts and reflector-trimmed nylon shirts with girlishly puffed cap sleeves. These ideas have trickled down to the streets and the student body as coeds sport hooded sleeveless cotton tops, chic windbreakers, or nylon running pants. These athletic touches are
supremely utilitarian, especially for
a college student, facilitating speed and ease.

Aside from revisiting past trends, spring and summer fashion has no distinct message to impart. Pink has experienced a boom in popularity, and some funky silhouettes--pants cropped at the ankle or mid-shin for that "haute flood" look--have emerged. Many designers push futuristic fabrics and sleek shapes, while Gucci forces us back into the '60s with feathered jeans, beaded shoes, flower-print pants, and jeweled trousers. The only edict one must follow from the fashionable is most likely to figure out what works for you and your lifestyle. Hopefully, with a pocket or a hood, your clothes will be there to help--even if you have shamefully miniscule forearms.

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