Soften Up -- The New Silhouttes Say `Just Relax'

CUTLINE: A LONG DIVIDED SKIRT IS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR SPRING. THIS ONE IN A FLORAL PRINT ($190) IS WORN WITH A LONG AND EASY VEST ($59) OVER A SOFT BLOUSE ($60). AT DITA'S. THE ART GLASS BY SONJA BLOMDAHL OF SEATTLE IS PART OF PRESCOTT'S COLLECTION OF PILCHUCK GLASS.

CUTLINE: CITY SHORTS WILL BE PART OF THE SEATTLE DOWNTOWN FASHION SCENE THIS SPRING. THIS LONG AND EASY JACKET BY GIORGIO ARMANI ($850) IS TEAMED WITH HIS SOFT T-SHIRT ($240) AND ABOVE-THE-KNEE SHORTS ($295). SILVER AND FAUX-IVORY NECKLACE ($125), SILVER CUFF ($36) AND SILVER EARRINGS ($139) ACCESSORIZE THE OUTFIT. AT I. MAGNIN & CO.

CUTLINE: THE SOFTNESS OF LACE TURNS UP FREQUENTLY FOR SPRING. HERE WHITE LACE TAPERED PANTS ($315) ARE TOPPED BY A PLEATED SMOCK WORN LOW ON THE SHOULDERS. ($305) AT FREDERICK & NELSON.

CUTLINE: FRINGE IS SEEN FOR DAYTIME AND EVENING FOR SPRING. HERE, RALPH LAUREN PUTS FRINGE DOWN THE FRONT AND AROUND THE HEMLINE OF A LONG SUEDE SKIRT PATTERNED WITH INDIAN DESIGNS ($1,650) TOPPED WITH A CHAMBRAY SHIRT. ($93) AT FREDERICK & NELSON.

CUTLINE: THE SHORT RAINCOAT IS BACK FOR THE 1990S. THIS SWING-BACK COAT IS IN A WATER-REPELLANT RUBBERIZED COTTON. ($495) PANTS ARE WOOL GABARDINE. ($295) AT BURBERRY'S LTD.

CUTLINE: TRANSPARENCY SHOWS UP FOR SPRING EVENINGS. THIS GOWN BY BILL BLASS USES A FULL AND SHEER ASYMMETRICAL LONG SKIRT IN SHEER POINT D'ESPRIT OVER A SHORT BLACK LACE DRESS TO SHOW THE SILHOUETTE OF THE LEGS. ($3,600) AT NORDSTROM.

CUTLINE: THE SHORT BLACK SLIP IS ONE OF SPRING'S TOP TRENDS. THIS ONE IS CUT HIGH IN THE FRONT, DIPPING ALMOST TO THE WAIST IN BACK. ($178) AT ANN TAYLOR, PACIFIC FIRST CENTRE.

The soft, fluid waves of fas ion that drifted across the Atlantic from Europe to New York last fall when spring openings were presented have now reached Seattle's shores.

Soft signals a new mood of femininity. Women aren't trying to compete with men by dressing like men. Gone are hard, constructed lines. There's not a hint of androgyny. Fabrics are soft with miles and miles of silk, chiffon and cashmere.

Silhouettes are soft. Sometimes the fabric looks as though it is blown against the body to show the shape without binding it. Shoulder lines are softer. Padding has been minimized. The line is rounded.

This soft mood reflects a change in lifestyle. Trendy trade publication Women's Wear Daily has named the Big Apple social set the ``Soft Society,'' leaving the glamour and glitz and frills and frou frou of yesterday for soft clinging gowns and subtle jewelry.

Here is what Seattle's experts think will fill the stores and your closets.

``Softly structured jackets are one of the strongest trends in the spring collections,'' said Rosanne Green, Nordstrom fashion coordinator. ``Jackets are relaxed with a slightly oversized cut and are softly draped. Combined with easy trousers or a short skirt, this look is a comfortable and fashionable option for Seattle women.''

These were found in almost every designer's collection for fall. Some of the best are Charlotte Neuville's big and soft slouchy jackets that she teams with short little skirts or narrow pants cinched at the waist with a big belt. Women's Wear Daily termed the look ``Chic Slouch.''

Bon Marche fashion coordinator Katie Gargano puts her money on the draped sarong skirt that softly rounds the hipline. She likes it with a long, easy jacket.

Donna Karan was one of the first to do the soft sarong and she uses wool crepe with a little Lycra mixed in, giving it that ease that flatters. It's great with her clinging body shirts and long jackets.

Again this season, you'll have lots of options when it comes to hemlines.

In most New York shows, hemlines reached no longer than the knee and some were quite a bit shorter. However, buyers here agree that you'll find longer hemlines with soft and fluid lines in the stores, too, if that's the look you like best.

The Deauville look taken from the south-of-France Scott Fitzgerald days of the '20s shows the soft and easy long-over-long (long-torsoed tops over long skirts) silhouette.

When skirts are long, lines are fluid, often pleated. When short, they are usually slim.

On everybody's must-get list, say Seattle buyers, is the ``Great White Shirt.'' It's also called a painter's smock or poet's shirt when sleeves are big and full. It's long. It's big and it looks so soft and relaxed that it must be heaven to wear. Most times it's worn with tapered pants. Or throw it on over a swimsuit or shorts at a pool party on a warm Seattle summer night.

One of the best is by Gordon Henderson, named top new talent of the year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. (Henderson's mother, Yvonne Simmons, is a psychologist at Seattle Central Community College.) His shirt reaches almost to midthigh and is tent-shaped. Jennifer George does another that is styled like a man's shirt and is teamed with tiny little gaucho pants.

The ``Great White Jacket'' is another versatile winner. Vogue Magazine, in its February issue, said it's the one new item to buy. Vogue Pattern No.7585 has one with Chanel styling that you can make yourself. Anne Klein II does a classic white blazer. You can wear one over either slim white pants for a casual luncheon downtown, a short white narrow skirt to the office or a long white chiffon skirt for a night on the town.

Great for Seattle are spring raincoats. Short raincoats are news. One by Burberry's has a softly swinging back and hits above the knees. Calvin Klein designs a rain jacket in a rubberized fabric and teams it with pants. The long, relaxed full-length raincoat is still with us, too.

And it's a big year for dresses. The chemise is still popular and some designs are softly belted. Calvin Klein's western dress is in washed silk with a soft-to-the-touch feel that is belted with fullness in the back over narrow skirts. Isaac Mizrahi does a wonderful trench dress in soft cotton. It's double-breasted and softly sashed. Carolina Herrera leads the way with sheath dresses in soft pastels such as lilac.

The slip dress or sheath for daytime or evening also is strong, according to Green. The favorite color all over the market is black. The black slip pictured is accented by a deeply cut U back.

Look for the illusion of bareness for evening at Seattle black-tie galas such as Poncho in the spring and the Festival of the Fountains in the summer, says Bonnie Sonksen, fashion director at Frederick & Nelson. There is plenty of leg showing out there. Sheer nets and gentle chiffons cover bare shoulders and midriffs, and for evening Bill Blass dramatizes a long gown of sheer black lace by putting a black midthigh slip underneath to let the silhouette of the leg show through.

Green says that anything with fringe goes for spring, ranging from evening wear to sportswear. Ralph Lauren puts fringe down the side of a long skirt in soft-as-butter suede patterned in Indian designs for casual wear. Bill Blass designs a flippy black fringed skirt worn with a long white collarless jacket buttoned in the back for cocktail wear. And for formal evenings, Blass does another short fringed skirt in apricot and teams it with a long, matching tank.

Lauren also goes on a Colonial safari for spring, and other designers follow suit. Examples include some of his key shapes, slim-fitting jackets with military inspiration combined with city shorts, jodhpurs or long skirts. Northwesterners have taken to long, relaxed and easy vests with the same fervor that they save for sweaters. One is in a tapestry print which looks handmade.

And speaking of tapestry prints, you'll find them in jackets and blouses as well. Big and little floral prints continue on and stripes go from narrow pin stripes to gigantic awning stripes by Mizrahi. Op Art prints show up, too, and Mizrahi does a dynamite pantsuit in a black-and-white Op Art print. A Mizrahi graphic print for a floating evening gown swirls black over white chiffon, topped with a short jacket covered with black-and-white wooden beads in a stripe pattern.

White lace and eyelet are definitely in, such as the white softly pleated top worn with white tapered lace pants. It would be perfect for a summer cocktail party in Seattle. Lace is also used as trim in collars and cuffs, said Gargano of The Bon.

Jeweled and metallic looks turn up in clothing or as accessories. Dress up a simple little sheath with a softly jeweled scarf to wear out on the town. Some

fabrics are subtly striped in metallics. One jacket is in a gray-and-silver pin stripe.

For spring, you'll see plenty of black for evening. Designers like short little dresses with flippy skirts. Black chiffon swirls softly around the body in long gowns.

White comes on strong, too, for daytime and evening. Donna Karan designs short little white smock dresses with soft fullness that have a soft easiness Seattle women will like. Calvin Klein does white pantsuits with drape-front jackets. And Ronaldus Shamask's swimsuit-inspired short cocktail dress would look great on the tanned bodies of Seattle's young swingers.

Black and white, the bolder the better, is seen in graphics, stripes and polka dots. The leader in this is Mizrahi in designs mentioned above.

Some of the brights turn up, too. Gianfranco Ferre uses persimmon for the bustier, skirt and sheer late-day big shirt. Sometimes colors will be combined, like a bright yellow jacket over an orange blouse and beige skirt, perky enough to lift the spirits on gray Seattle days.

Pastels can be combined, too. Oscar de la Renta puts a soft and full short jacket in lime satin lined in pink, with a skirt in matching pink satin and a soft peach cashmere sweater.

And the neutrals are strong: sand, oyster, heather and sage. Louis Dell'Olio, designer for Anne Klein, is the favorite of a number of Seattle's career women. For spring, he looked to the ruins of Pompeii for inspiration, and uses pale colors such as parchment, sand and a neutral rosy beige color.

Accessories can accent or contrast the softness of spring fashion.

The newest look in bracelets are big cuffs, one cuff on each arm, like those worn with the Great White Shirt. Don't go overboard on adding other jewelry. The cuffs can carry it alone.

You can use belts as color accents. Anne Klein has some in suede in bright colors like orange, gold, sky blue and fuchsia. Tooled leather belts also are popular.

Heels can be flat or high. Sometimes, especially for spring, two or three tones can be combined. Heels range from barely there to 2 or 3 inches. The sling-back is light and airy for spring. Black patent remains a good strong spring basic.

Scarves can be doubled and worn as sashes or head wraps. Big shawls are handy to wrap the shoulders at breezy Seattle outdoor parties.

In stockings, pale colors are predominant for spring. For evening, hosiery can have a subtle metallic glitter.

Spring is a good fashion season. You have options. The relaxed silhouette makes clothes comfortable to wear. The femininity and softness are flattering to everyone.

MARILYN KIRKBY IS THE STYLE EDITOR OF THE SEATTLE TIMES.