Issue Date: October 25, 2009

Trend-spotting

Polka dots brighten the outlook for spring.

Designers have gone dotty for dots: The perky print will be all over this spring.

Of course, this isn't the first time fashion tried to spike spirits with spots. "Polka dots remind me of wartime ties and blouses,'' says retail consultant Bertrand Pellegrin, author of Branding the Man. "The print is innocent."

Fresh forms have popped up at all prices. Rebecca Taylor covers a jacket in them. Marc by Marc Jacobs blows his up into huge yellow circles on a navy shell. Versace scatters them on sandals. Some madly mix sizes, such as exploded ink pen spots covering a cotton dress by J.Crew and on shimmering sheaths by Michael Kors. And perforations allow punked-up princesses to play peekaboo with Alexander Wang's hole-punched sweater.

"It's a relatively inexpensive way to make material interesting,'' Pellegrin says, "and it's cool -- literally.''

-- Michele Meyer