“You might ask yourself why fashion is producing such a polarity of dictates this fall. After all, isn’t fashion about expressing one’s individuality. Doesn’t anything go? To a certain extent, this is true. This fall, you can be an S&M secretary/vamp; a ’50s prom queen; a futuristic time-travel babe; a ’40s lipstick-and-lace kind of a gal; a pared-down tomboy; an ethnic, fringy, upmarket hippy; a be-sequined party girl; a satin-and-fur siren; or an oversized, overshaped cross-dresser—and I’ve probably missed a couple of themes. But what are fashion designers for if not to prescribe to us a formula by which we choose, purchase and edit our wardrobes? If beauty gurus sell dreams in a bottle, then designers peddle fantasy in a frock, sexuality in a skirt or even power in a pantsuit. And it generally helps when most—if not all—are singing from the same hymn sheet.”

- Tina Gaudoin on Fall fashion, The Wall Street Journal