High 5

NEW YORK - For a while, anyway, it seemed that the weather was all too eager to cooperate with Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Thick, tropical air was the ideal accompaniment to the collections that designers sent down the runways - including a new breed of beach-inspired prints, a full cadre of grays that replicated every shade of faded shingles on seaside cottages, a renewed and refined appreciation of the female form, and relaxed, retro hats inspired by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's summer holidays in the 1970s.

"It's nice to see some color, and some bodies," said actress Mena Suvari before a very muggy outdoor Y-3 show on Saturday. "It really looks like summer."

And who was basking in the summery glory? Babies, toddlers, and kids, who seemed to overtake status bags as the fashion-show accessory of choice.

By Monday night, designer Marc Jacobs made everyone forget about the weather (and the two-hour delay to the start of his runway show) with a sublime and surreal collection that was about transparency, sex, or something involving unusually revealing skirts.. - CHRISTOPHER MUTHER

HITS

BABIES (AND KIDS) AS POWER ACCESSORIES

Sitting in the front row of the Rosa Cha show on Saturday were actress Mena Suvari, Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx, former 'N Sync singer JC Chasez, and 8-year-old Winston Rossetter.

"That was really cool," Rossetter said after the show, a big grin on her face.

More than a handbag or a coveted pair of stilettos, the hottest accessory for runway spectators (and a few designers) this season was children. Spurred on by singer Gwen Stefani, whose son, Kingston, sat in the front row during her L.A.M.B. show last week, industry insiders sat with babies in their laps and school-age children at their sides during runway shows.

"She really is the ultimate accessory," boutique owner Gina Chirchirillo said of her 5-month-old daughter. "I don't think I've ever been photographed as much as I have been here with Tiana."

(STILL) GOING GRAY

There was color on the runway for spring/summer '08 - far more than last season - but the one constant was gray, the subtler the better. Close cousins of gray, such as sand, champagne, blush, and silver, were also frequent companions on the runway.

Calvin Klein's collection, one of Francisco Costas's strongest, was a prime example of the strength of neutrals. Seamless dresses in graphite, sand (oddly described in the PETA-unfriendly term "doeskin"), and white allowed the innovative drape and construction to take center stage.

John Varvatos's collection for men also leaned heavily on gray and sand that resembled the color of sun-bleached stones. J. Mendel, Peter Som, Max Azria, and Doo.Ri showed the more glamorous, metallic side of the shade. The design team of Badgley Mischka showed gray evening gowns, and Zac Posen patterned it with white.

HEADS UP

When Michael Kors sent models down the runway in floppy hats so large they threatened to eclipse the lights, he was one of several designers to revitalize head gear that was last in vogue when Tennille assured the Captain that love would keep them together. DKNY also opted for floppy beach hats. And at his opulent 40th anniversary show in Central Park, Ralph Lauren's hats made the scene look like a day at the derby. Even Posen, showing a wheat-colored collection, employed large-brimmed hats with his daywear. Meanwhile, headscarves, absent since "Rhoda" was canceled, appeared in collections by Lacoste and Nanette Lepore.

PRINT AND PATTERNS

Diane von Furstenberg's "Under the Volcano" runway show, backed by the theme song from "Hawaii Five-0," was a loving embrace of the tropics, and felt like an extension of her resort collection. Vivid summer patterns were everywhere, from Carlos Miele's bossa nova ruffles to Carolina Herrera's water painting-inspired dresses. Tuleh managed pattern with varying degrees of success (though its zebra and leopard prints should have been at the zoo). Meanwhile, Oscar de la Renta's take on pattern, with a runway show in a former church with live music by the Polyphonic Spree, was flawlessly executed.

THE RETURN OF ELEGANCE

Nicole Miller and Tracy Reese's take on wide-legged, high-waisted 1970s trousers may have looked extreme on leggy models, but what these designers did, along with Peter Som and Rebecca Taylor, was bring back fitted clothes that flatter the female form, not hide it under baggy faux-ternity dresses. Bruce showed pencil skirts and other fitted dresses, and everywhere it seemed that nipped-in waists had regained their dominance.

MISSES

PAJAMA GAME

Jill Stuart's show at the New York Public Library had all the trappings of a "Golden Girls" cast reunion/pajama party. It would be quite easy to picture Rue McClanahan wearing Stuart's sheer pantsuits in treacly shades of peach and lavender as she indulges in cheesecake with the gals.

BOMBS AWAY

Sabyasachi's military-influenced collection in olive green, maroon, and beige resembled the work of an art school student with lots of imagination, but a limited grasp of how to dress women. It looked like a thousand villages of bad fashion had been let loose on the runway, and it was impossible to picture anyone aside from Yoko Ono dressing this way for spring.