• MSNBC/AP, Friday, February 8, 2008 12:15 PM

Insiders at New York Fashion Week--a biannual ritual of luxury and excess--are mixed on how to handle dour predictions about the economy. While some have focused on go-anywhere basics and investment-worthy outerwear, others are working extra hard to find look-at-me trends or small bits of understated luxury that women might find worthy of their limited pocket money.

Luxury has had a subdued presence in feather adornments, a little bit of fur, and beading or metallics added to knits and tweeds. There seems to be a effort to present more daywear instead of evening gowns, and colors are subdued, with a palette rooted largely in black, purple, dark blue, mustard yellow and green.

Men's clothes, meanwhile, have been built around the suit--albeit a slim, narrow one. "When there's sort of an economic downturn looming, at least men tend to be a bit more conservative and they want to return to tradition," says Perry Ellis creative director John Crocco. But Derek Lam is unconcerned about any downturn: "Beauty, I think, is recession-proof, he says.

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