When style trumps fashion

NEW YORK — RETAIL sales are in a slump, we're in a historic mortgage and credit crisis, and the eyes of the world are riveted on our heated presidential race, not our runways. In other words, American designers who showed here last week, hoping that in a few months women will open their wallets for a new $1,000 frock, had their work cut out for them.

Which is why Marc Jacobs' show was so brilliant. He didn't just show us clothes, he showed us a way to dress, acknowledging that in hard times, style comes before fashion. What puts Jacobs in a league of his own is his power to influence not only every level of the apparel market, but all of us, and how we style clothes bought at a vintage store or on an exotic trip, even things we already have in our closet.

Like the music he chose, Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," Jacobs' collection was a melting pot of influences, combining classical draping with the rhythms of the street; the finest foiled florals with the plaids of a work shirt; a sculpted, couture-like jacket with a shiny scrap of fabric that could have been picked up at a flea market, wrapped around the waist, obi-style. Come spring, these simple belts could be the biggest trend since Nicolas Ghesquiere's ethnic scarves at Balenciaga. And anybody can wear them.

In the midst of an election that is shining a light on what it means to be a woman in America, Jacobs embraced the experience, then put it in a blender. Calf-grazing, foiled, floral and striped skirts and straw boaters brought to mind suffragists, while plaid shirts and kerchiefs spoke to frontier sisters, and kimono jackets suggested the immigrant experience.

There were Jacobs' beloved eccentrics (the Edie Beales of the world) in funky glasses, sculptural necklaces and side-swept, multilayered, multi-print skirts, and sexual provocateurs in sheer, peekaboo blouses and platform espadrilles that laced up the leg. There were goddesses in draped, micro-striped gowns and chain belts, the last remnants of their servitude, and political pit bulls in tidy pinstripe jackets with razor-sharp shoulders and matching skinny shorts.

The joy was in the mix of eclectic styles, eras, cultures, textures and prints. It was an invitation for women to be creative with their wardrobes, even if they don't buy anything new (though I'm sure Jacobs would prefer that they did). And one couldn't help but leave the show feeling that this difficult season is only a temporary blip in a more powerful continuum.