My apologies for the lack of updates to this section. As you can imagine, it's been a hectic yet exciting past week in New York. Here's my report:

Russians, Victorians and flappers take Manhattan.

'People keep asking me what the 'must-have' piece for fall is, and I'm not sure there is one," Hollywood stylist Phillip Bloch confessed as he cozied up to me in Oscar de la Renta's front row. "There just seems to be a lot of what women already have."

Though it was still early in the week, I had to concur. Beautiful things abounded on the New York runways, but just how many fabulous dresses does one need? The only things left to excite us are new attitudes, new plays on old eras, and new architectural forms.

American designers, who have traditionally been known for their easy-breezy sportswear, embraced this last concept. "Architectural" was in fact the buzzword of the week. It referred to designers pushing their own limits artistically, in terms of structure and linear construction in garments. A welcome change after a few seasons of ethereal dresses.

New York Fashion Week, which ran Feb. 2-9, was the first of the major fall presentations. By the end of it, several designers had delivered on the promise of something provocative and new (or rediscovered).

"It's all about the Russian nobility and artists who came to Paris in the early 1900s," said Alice Temperly. The British designer, who has shown in New York for the past few seasons, dished out art nouveau graphics and opulent embellishment. Cropped, harem-style pants were teamed with little Victorian jackets, and printed silk, Lurex knits, and glossy velvets and satins were juxtaposed for a wealth of luxurious textures.

The early-20th-century Russian theme was also played out by Vera Wang, whose dark and brooding vision felt more Japanese and Belgian than anything we would ever associate with Seventh Avenue. She riffed on the poetry of Russian peasants, the severity of Bolshevik workers, the strength of the Russian army and the opulence of the Romanov court. Plays on volume gave the collection a sculptural tone, and edgy cuts and a strong architectural approach made for modernity.

"She's a fashion warrior!" bellowed Vogue's Andre Leon Talley, swathed in Louis Vuitton skunk. "I want her to design my coffin!"

Shades of the twenties were also in full swing at Proenza Schouler. Inspired by the upcoming homage to couturier Paul Poiret, a star of the era, set for the Metropolitan Museum this spring, the label's designers, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, sent out models in dramatic cloche hats pulled low over their eyes.

Bulky knits made for sumptuous sweater dressing, with knits making their ways into sleeves of jackets and coats, both wool and mink. A series of chiffon cocktail dresses, embellished with pleating, lent a flapper feel. There were slouchy pants, and cozy black kimono coats reminiscent of cocoons.

A new subdued silhouette also drove Marc Jacobs's offering. Though the celebrity quotient at his show was down from last season (a front-row trend everywhere), a mixed bag of luminaries, including Rod Stewart, Debbie Harry, Lenny Kravitz, Lil' Kim, Harry Connick Jr. and socialite Lee Radziwill drank in the spectacle rich in references from the '20s through '40s.

Most of the models sported wide-brimmed hats or cloches, each one elegance personified, with just the right gloves and bags. Pleated skirts and cropped pants, both wide and narrow, satin minis and matte jersey dresses, alpaca tunics belted at the waist and worn with narrow cropped pants, and short "smoking" jackets all helped make for a long and lean silhouette.

Gone are all the layers of last year. "It's a reflection of where I'm at," Jacobs explained. "I feel much more pulled-together myself, watching my diet and going to the gym every day and doing yoga. . . . This is a cleaner look that I think people are ready for."

More on New York tomorrow...