VERA WANG Lean silhouettes and brown earthy hues – inspired by the richness of color in Flemish art – defined Vera Wang’s look for fall. The collection had a serious feel, tempered by an aloof sense of romance. Ms. Wang illustrated this well with one of the first looks: a brown camisole under an oversize brown cardigan paired with skinny blue pants covered in a gold floral motif.

Hemlines varied, but two pieces reached the ankles at a “tea length,” which is a bit longer than the going trend. This included a dress of a sheer green material with a gold belt and a low-waisted skirt of many black tiers. At a longer length was a beautiful orange-red dress with unfinished edges, an asymmetrical neckline, and a gold belt encrusted with colorful beads.

One head-turning and unusual look was a green silk top wrapped at the waist with a flap of black fabric like a skirt over a pair of slim black pants. And, of course, there was the requisite gold dress: Ms. Wang’s take on the must-have was a slip dress with thin patches of rich gold that looked painted on.

ELIE TAHARI The trend toward decorated clothing hit a high note with the Elie Tahari collection, shown on mannequins at the label’s new showroom. The message here was straightforward: Layer it on!

One look layered a sheer yellow sequined shirt beneath a brown bustier beneath a tan fur vest – all of which was paired with jeans and a studded leather belt. To get this look, one needs many pieces of clothing, but Tahari has them all: start with a lacy camisole, add a sheer beaded top, then maybe a wool vest, all of it under a blazer, and on top beaded jeans and a silver lame belt. There was a romantic mystique to the overall collection: light ruffles cascaded from shirts on top of skirts of dark, heavy fabrics. From casual to evening wear, this Elie Tahari collection is extra dressy and will allow working gals to be on top of trends without skipping a rent payment.

MARC BOUWER The Art Deco setting of Cipriani on 23rd Street was perfectly suited to Marc Bouwer’s collection, inspired by styles from the early 20th century. Using a palette of chocolate brown, cream, and copper, Mr. Bouwer sent dazzler after dazzler down the runway. Some were smooth columns of satin or cashmere – studded with brooches on straps or necklines. A copper silky gown featured layers of fabric crossing over the chest in a seductive wrap. But the heavily beaded numbers were a feast for the eyes. A long cream gown was decorated with earth-tone beads in a design that suggested spider webs. A shorter dress was beaded with a brown and tan flame design. Furs were essential to keeping up the glam in this collection; everything from a leopard swing to a wild tiger shawl to a coyote jacket topped these luxurious looks that would leave any woman feeling ready for her close-up. One misstep was a gold brocade suit with exaggerated angles that looked more Star Trek than red carpet.

CARLOS MIELE Carlos Miele drew inspiration from the popular culture of a Brazilian neighborhood for his Fall 2005 collection. Floaty feathers, new dying techniques, handmade details, and a steady drum beat by Brazilian performers gave this sexy collection a pulsing energy.

A beautiful print of purple and white flowers appeared on a satin skirt and a chiffon dress. A red satin dress with floral applique and cutouts struck a note of true glamour. A green satin dress looked mini in front, but trailed a long billowing piece of fabric attached in back. Pleated satin gave several dresses a sense of linear movement. Mr. Miele’s use of a gray pinstripe material turned a normally conservative fabric into something smashing: with circular creases, gathering, and detailed folding a gray wool coat looked as sexy as sheer lace.

The stunner of the collection was the final look, a beige cashmere coat with lace, floral applique, and thin feathers cascading in rows down the sides and bunching in beautiful bouquets around the shoulders. It’s a coat fit for a princess.

– Pia Catton

BEHNAZ SARAFPOUR Behnaz Sarafpour returned to her Iranian roots for fall with a somber and Middle East-inspired collection that beautifully balanced ornate elements like colorful beading and gold-leaf print with crisp tailoring. A clean and straight-cut black wool coat, for example, was adorned with a contrasting white fringe near the hem, and slim and supple cashmere cardigans had a single band of beads on one side. While the shapes on top tended to be straight and minimal, trousers were cut in a cropped and modified bedouin silhouette, with inverted pleats creating volume over the knees. An occasional sparkle, like a gold and silver striped chiffon top or a silver brocade jacket in a pattern similar to oriental tiles, added glamour and radiance to the mainly black collection. Loveliest of all were the evening gowns: sweet and simple silk empire dresses with a glittering brocade band under the bust. These were clothes for women who are drawn to understated elegance and prefer an individual sense of style over trends. Which, from the looks of the ladies in attendance, is most of New York’s fashion elite.

ANNA SUI When Anna Sui goes back in time to find inspiration for her collections, she often ends up in the 1960s. She has a unique knack for mining the subcultures of that decade – surfers, youth quake, hippies – and injecting the looks with her trademark exuberance and whimsy. Somehow it always works; the clothes end up seeming fresh and modern rather than rehashed vintage.

For fall, Ms. Sui drew her inspiration from a more grown-up 1960s source than usual: the artist Louise Nevelson, who was already well into her middle age during the Summer of Love. Hence, garments like full, knee-length skirts with bold zigzag patterns near the hem and almost-dowdy cardigans over buttoned-up blouses had an endearing grandma appeal. But there were also plenty of girlish looks like empire-waist dresses with velvet bodices and puffy skirts with multiple ruffled tiers.

Half the magic of Ms. Sui’s clothes is in her expert use of colors and prints. This collection was neatly organized in color sections, starting with cool shades like green and turquoise, moving into glowing orange and fuchsia, and ending up with graphic black and white tones, all displayed in a dizzying array of florals, plaids, zigzags, and dots. It may sound like an overwhelming mix, but Ms. Sui knows how to keep this look just on the right side of busy. After all, her clothes are about having fun, and you won’t have much fun without throwing caution to the wind.

CALVIN KLEIN Francisco Costa is slowly but surely transforming America’s most famous sportswear label into a slightly more cerebral and complex brand. Each season, his vision emerges more clearly, and this collection was his most conceptual to date.

Dark and somber has been a leitmotif in many presentations this past week, and the mood at Calvin Klein was about as cheery as a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. But there was also depth and a subtle sense of experimentation that was captivating. The mainly black and charcoal clothes seemed to build around the idea of grids and squares. Silhouettes were dead straight and minimal, three-quarter length wool funnel-neck coats and minimal bustier dresses dominated, but practically every garment displayed some kind of geometric element. Mink coats were sheared into a grid pattern, knee-length skirts were adorned with origami panels of folded rectangles, and gray wool suits featured a checkered pattern that looked like it had been scribbled with chalk.

The evening looks were glamorous and sparkly – but with a somewhat severe high-tech edge. A sparkling and almost transparent sequin tulle dress with a racer-cut top and slashed back was ethereal in a sci-fi sort of way. However, the opulent empire-waist ball gowns in duchesse satin and tulle dresses were magnificent. All the looks didn’t work, some stiff strapless tube dresses were just not flattering, and sometimes the merging of several fabrics became a bit too much. But this label is in the process of transforming, which makes every season an adventure.

JEFFREY CHOW Jeffrey Chow was in an opulent mood for fall, and sent out a rich and ornate collection in moody mauve, gray, and chocolate tones. The Hong Kong native cited the films of Fassbinder and Visconti as his inspiration, and although rich-girl looks like petite mink trimmed loden jackets and beaded velvet skirts didn’t exactly recall the grit and gloominess of “Berlin Alexanderplatz,” there was a definite World War II meets Edwardian flavor that placed the clothes somewhere in the creative timeline of the two auteurs.

The day looks were the strongest, with sweet tunic dresses, luxuriously wide wool trousers, wispy cashmere sweaters, and oversized five-ply hand-knit cardigans. As the presentation progressed, the garments became more embellished, with practically every item featuring beads, sequins, or ruffles. In some cases it worked, as in a sharp velvet skirt suit with dark beaded trim or a delicate sleeveless lace top with a shredded ruffle skirt, but in other cases it didn’t. A black satin and velvet corset with ruffle applications shown with feathered and ruffled pencil skirts was overwrought and heavy, while the silk bias evening gowns with beaded bodices looked slightly tired. But Mr. Chow’s clientele of uptown girls and celebrities will still find plenty of the kind of pretty, well-executed, and classic pieces that make up the cornerstones of an elegant woman’s wardrobe.

BOUDICCA London Fashion Week lost yet another highlight this season when married couple Zowie Broach and Brian Kirkby, of the avant-garde luxury label Boudicca, took their show stateside for the first time.

But London’s loss meant an added dimension to New York’s runway presentations. Boudicca’s beautiful and serene collection was a refreshing break from the sometimes slightly too-eager-to-please efforts of NYC creators. This couple staunchly follows their own darkly romantic vision, almost seeming to exist in their own somewhat eccentric universe. In Boudicca’s world, women are warrior princesses whose hard-edged suits resemble armor and icicle eye patches double as weapons.

As usual, the intensely crafted and perfectly cut garments were almost exclusively rendered in black, with a few exceptions for washed-out brown leather and midnight-blue sequins. Working with sharp and classic silhouettes like tuxedo jackets and pencil skirts, the designers tweaked details such as extended back panels on shirts, angular pagoda shoulders, and exaggerated gathered cuffs on skinny sleeves. Although the clothes were definitely original they were restrained enough to fit into the most classic wardrobe with ease. Which is probably why their American customer base is rapidly growing. Boudicca’s hand-finished and rigorously fitted pieces don’t come cheap, but then again, they never go out of style. Consider it a long-term investment.

VPL The fashion insider favorite VPL (Visible Panty Line) started out a couple of years ago as a lingerie label. But for the past two seasons designer and stylist Victoria Bartlett and her team have expanded into a more or less full line of casual-chic leisure wear.

This season’s small presentation was built around a novel but sadly dysfunctional idea: stationary models and a moving audience. The 18 looks were presented on a circular plywood podium; the audience, meanwhile, shuffled around the room trying not to step on anybody’s toes while struggling to get a look at the clothes. The soft and slouchy leggings, T-shirts, and tanks were rendered in flesh-colored tones like peach and beige with the occasional splash of green in jersey and terry cloth. As VPL is not a fashion collection in the traditional sense there were no real fashion items shown. The emphasis was instead on comfort and ease, and cozy items like drawstring A-line skirts and draped T-shirts exuded a sense of relaxed chic. However, roomy items like a knee-length terry overthrow and baggy bloomer shorts looked cute on the willowy models but would most likely look hopelessly frumpy on the rest of us. But maybe that’s okay, because we still have the skinny tanks and adorable boy briefs to lounge around in.

– Johanna Lenander

PROJECT ALABAMA Since 2000, Project Alabama’s Natalie Chanin has been producing handmade cotton garments with an evolving crew of 130 artisans – a rarity in the fashion world. The folksy, embellished Alabama-made clothes won Ms. Chanin the prestigious Ecco Domani fashion award in 2003. Throughout Fashion Week she’s been presenting Project Alabama’s fall looks – literally taking autumn as inspiration with leaf-shaped appliques on brown coats and vines of ivy creeping around the hems of burgundy-colored skirts – in a suite at the Bryant Park Hotel. British artist Robert Ryan, a paper cut illustrator, has collaborated on an adaptation of his two-dimensional illustrations into embroideries and reverse appliques.

In addition to the coats, jackets, dresses, and skirts made by the Alabamian women (the primary stitcher of each piece signs the label), this season Ms. Chanin introduced a machine-produced line called, not surprisingly, Project Alabama Machine, in an effort to produce more affordable versions of her signature homespun looks. Additionally, a line of elaborately stitched and embroidered evening dresses has been produced, resulting in a casual, grungy take on dress-up.

– Erika Kawalek