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Hot hot hot

Our fashion quotient, that is, as well as our weather. But just because our temperatures are warm doesn't mean we Florida residents are consigned to flip-flop-chic styles.

By SHARON FINK
Published September 2, 2006

	[Times photo: Bill Serne]
	Dress, $138, Banana Republic; blouse, $59, INC for Macy’s; footless tights by Hue, $12, Nordstrom; high-heel boots by Steve Madden, $169.95, Nordstrom; cable-knit handbag, $19.99, Payless; necklace with velvet tie, $14.50, Claire’s.

Ttoday we grapple with the age-old problem of fall fashion for we whose fall - and winter - aren't much different from our spring and summer:

How do we translate the trends we have no use for?

This year those trends include layering be chic by wrapping yourself in five layers of wool and cashmere! and tights (feel your legs sweat in October's 84-degree heat!).

Because we Florida fashion lovers are people of creativity, flexibility and common sense, we know there's always a way to adapt the seemingly irrelevant to our purposes.

After combing through 11 of the top fashion magazines' fall preview issues (this year weighing in at about xx pounds and xxxx pages, compared with last year's approximately 20 pounds and 5,300 pages), we've picked five trends that are the most problematic and made them Florida-friendly.

LAYERING: Focus on the concept, not the cold-weather details of piling sweater upon sweater. Floridians layer every day to deal with our shifting temperatures - steamy daytime weather, air conditioning, gulf breezes, cool nights.

So focus on how you use colors and thin fabrics. Follow our cover photo and put a red blouse under a lightweight gray short-sleeve sweater dress. Or pair a fine-gauge cotton T-shirt with a cropped cardigan and a jacket. Take a silk sweater and add an embroidered vest and a crocheted sweater coat.

Any more than three layers is too much. Even our cooler weather doesn't call for that.

Bonus: Since you're layering thinner fabrics, you'll look thinner than your sister up North.

SWEATER DRESSING: The cold-weather staple is being played up not only in layering but in different shapes, sizes and forms. Getting special notice are sweater dresses and purses in cable-knit fabric.

The easiest (and cheapest) way to jump on the sweater bandwagon is with a cable-knit purse. Payless has a fun one for $19.99 that comes in white, as well as black, olive green and brown. (If white's your thing, $20 may be all you want to spend anyway given how quickly light-colored purses get dirty, though you will see this trend costing far more.)

A lightweight, short-sleeve sweater dress, like the viscose-wool one from Banana Republic in our cover photo, works in Florida's cooler months, worn alone or layered with a lightweight jacket or cardigan, or a blouse or long-sleeve T underneath.

VELVET: It can be so heavy and warm. So forget the long-sleeved, calf-length velvet dress; look for a sleeveless top, a shrug or a cropped jacket. Or try accents, like pants with a velvet stripe down each leg or a jacket with velvet lapels. Buy a yard of velvet trimming at a fabric store and make yourself a choker or a belt. Tie a velvet ribbon in your hair.

BOOTS: No fur. Unless you insist on been seen as a mindless fashion slave.

Booties and ankle-highs always work in Florida because the styles don't look like they were made for North Pole expeditions. And in less-wintery material such as patent leather and especially in colors besides black and brown, they have a vibe that's more warm South than frozen North.

Knee-high boots are tricky, especially those that resemble cowboy or motorcycle boots. Supple leather and materials such as microfiber keep knee-highs looking stylish when the Florida weather cools.

TIGHTS: Women hardly wear hose in Florida, why would they buy into tights?

When they can dress up their legs with fishnets or, when the weather cools, other patterned hose that are thin enough to keep them from giving their sweat glands a workout.

Then there are footless tights, which we're seeing a lot of in stores. These aren't the kind your grandmother wears for her bad circulation. They're like leggings, but thinner. Some tights makers, like Hue, compare them in style to capri pants and even call them capri tights.

They're fun, and a little funky (Hue makes them with lace bordering the hems). Wear them with a skirt or a dress for lunch with the girls, or a casual night out. They go with flats, and with boots that don't go higher than the ankle.

Best of all, you can be smug in the knowledge that come November, anyone wearing them far north of here is pairing them with thick wool socks or frostbite.

Sharon Fink can be reached at (727) 893-8525 and fink@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 31, 2006, 10:17:58]