Bad behavior, it seems, is everywhere. From Don Imus broadcasting racial slurs to comedian Will Ferrell teaching a three-year-old how to curse, the rules for how polite society conducts itself appear all but forgotten.

But not for long, perhaps. Against the odds, the fashion industry is signaling a shift that shows our culture has wearied of its outrageous, no-underwear-wearing stunts. In the fall 2007 collections, designers in Europe and America presented clothes with longer hemlines and ladylike shapes accessorized with hats, gloves, and — for the first time since President Lyndon Johnson was in the White House — shoes and bags that match. Even from the most outré designers, clothes had an air of “wearability,” an industry term usually, though not in these cases, used to describe collections that are not avant-garde or creative.

Fashion, in its capacity as a harbinger of cultural change, is communicating what’s to come. And that is — according to the creative director of the nonprofit organization Fashion Group International, Marylou Luther — “the new propriety.”

It sounds so Edith Wharton — so repressed, so corseted. But it comes in response to mounting evidence of a collective confusion. Who is allowed to use certain words — and who gets fired for using them? Is it ok to use a child as a comic device, as Mr. Ferrell and his writing partner Adam McKay done have in a video they posted on their Web site Funny or Die? Is anyone responsible when a child star grows up to have public breakdowns that leave her bald? After the national cringe occasioned by the antics of Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Star Jones, not to mention the late Anna Nicole Smith, what could possibly be next?

If any one designer serves as a bellwether, it is Tom Ford, who for 10 years was the creative director of Gucci and Gucci Group. What’s he doing now?

“Tom Ford, the man who rediscovered sex, is now doing made-to-order custom suits and appearing in a vest,” Ms. Luther said. “This guy has always had his finger on the pulse of what’s going on.”

In part, Mr. Ford’s latest effort is an attempt to tap into the seemingly limitless market for luxury. His new shop on Madison Avenue is intended to surround men with the finest quality of everything and service from another — not so long ago — era. And it’s a wise move: In 2006, the number of American households with a net worth of more than $5 million increased by 23%, according to a survey by a consulting firm, the Spectrum Group. More than 1 million households are now in the “ultra-rich” category.

Someone’s got to help them spend all that money. And increasing the sense of cultural confusion, designers are offering up ways of communicating wealth without wild, uncontrolled excess.

The buttoned-up silhouette of the Marc Jacobs fall collection set the direction at the New York shows. Almost every look in that sober, yet elegant collection was accompanied by gloves and hats. It was notably in contrast to his spring 2006 collection, which included baggy, tulip shaped pants and a Space Age silvery theme. And as his clothing went to stately from wacky, he himself went through a change: In March, it was reported that he checked himself into rehab. Talk about walking the line.

In collections abroad, other designers pulled in, too. “The fact that Vivienne Westwood and Roberto Cavalli — two of the most audacious designers — would be making two of the most wearable collections of the seasons is important,” Ms. Luther said.

Ms. Luther creates a seasonal slideshow presentation for the Fashion Group International — an organization that disseminates information about trends in the fashion industry. In her presentation last month, she emphasized what she dubbed “the new propriety” and simply stated: “Discreet replaces the street.”

It could very well be that the street will return once again next spring. But at the very least, there will be a reprieve from skirts that are too short and pants that are too tight. Does it follow that there will also be a reprieve from a sense of reckless irresponsibility among those who can afford to play hard? Not necessarily.

But what the fashion trend indicates is that somehow such a return is desirable. That on some subconscious, visual level, our society would — at the very least — like to look like it behaves. We’d like for people around us to wear clothes that make them look like ladies and gentlemen. We’d like them to show up in a restaurant wearing a jacket and tie — not jeans and a T-shirt.

The vice-president of the Versailles Foundation, Barbara de Portago — who tomorrow night will host an annual black-tie benefit where ladies will be accompanied by cadets from the Valley Forge Military Academy — knows the staying power of behaving properly. “There is always a yearning for something better, something that has a courtesy,” she said. “We will carry that no matter what the trends are.”

But now that wearing casual clothes in social situations is no longer a rebellious statement, the way to go against the grain is — heaven forfend — dressing up smart.