Betsey Johnson’s spring 2008 runway show featured looks inspired by pouffy, frilly prom designs of the past half-century. A model in a yellow strapless bouffant dress with a tulle skirt was escorted down the runway while a remix of the 1950s hit “Mr. Sandman” played in the background. There was a marked transition to the ’60s, when Feminism was embraced, the girls lost their dates, and the dresses became decidedly shorter. Later decades were represented with looks such as a white satin, knee-length dress with a stripe of pink around the chest and a huge bow at one shoulder. The showstopper came in the form of an all-white strapless satin gown with an oversize red sash tied around the waist. As always, the eccentric Ms. Johnson danced and cart wheeled down the runway at the end.

Laura Sinberg

The highlights of Nili Lotan’s spring collection included 1970sinspired caftans and paisley-and-bandana print tops. Though her now-famous machine-gun print was not in evidence, her red kaffiyeh frocks added a subtle political statement. The Israel-born designer balanced vampy silk scarf gowns and plunging necklines — and the sophisticated city clothes for which she is known.

There were body-skimming black and ivory silk charmeuse gowns for evening. A clever keyhole dress featured a screen print of a demonstration — a design sure to turn heads at any protest rally. Ms. Lotan, an industry veteran, was this year’s winner of the Mercury Style Awards, and the runway show was sponsored by Mercury.

Rebecca Thomas

With seating covered in heavy black draping, the space for Anna Sui’s runway show was transformed into a fashionable circus. The designer presented a Big Top show that drew from disparate influences and managed to fuse them to create vibrant, whimsical garments. With their fuchsia punk-coiffed wigs, models evoked a band of stunning Raggedy Anns dressed by Blondie’s Debbie Harry, and the black stocking-adorned cancan dancers of French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Beneath costume-like boleros, were brilliant tomato-red frocks and jumpers in playful African violet prints that could be paired with fall’s ankle boots in lieu of the socks-and-stilettos on the runway. A crepe de chine shirtdress in cerulean blue-and-cream block stripes was a must-have, as was a sparkly silver belted linen dress.

Rebecca Thomas

Monique Lhuillier embraced a soft, hourglass silhouette in her dreamlike spring collection of elegant suits, party dresses, and evening gowns. The designer, made famous by her heiress-for-a-day wedding dresses, seemed to draw inspiration from her bridal collection: The runway presentation featured sweetheart necklines on sweeping floor-length gowns. Standout looks included a nude tulle dress with pistachio-color hand-painted flowers, gathered on one shoulder and along the edges of the wedding cake-tiered skirt; and a prim, ivory poppy print jacquard crop jacket, paired with a matching A-line skirt, and a slightly darker organza blouse with raised ruffles around the collar. Corsets were also incorporated into several of the runway looks, the color palette for which, Ms. Lhuillier explained in the show notes, was taken from a box of French macaroons purchased at the famed Parisian bakery Ladurée.

Gabrielle Birkner