What's Hot for Back to School

Back-to-school styles continue the themes we loved this summer: casual T-shirts, comfortable skirts and pants with plenty of pockets — then shakes things up with a hippie-meets-preppy spin.

LIVING DOLLS

GIRLS ARE RETURNING TO THE CLASSROOM IN SKIRTS—AND LOVING IT!

Designers showed innocent dirndl styles, skirts with pleats and tiers and teamed the piece with short sweaters and fitted jackets.(Sister Sam, Room Seven)

Little suits in velvet, tweed or a combination of the two, look chic for special occasions, or casual when teamed with boots.(Biscotti, Minibel fashion boots)

BOYS ARE ALL MIXED UP

A touch of pattern — either a preppy argyle sweater or a print shirt inspired by the mod 1960’s — is all a boy needs to look sharp.(Sonic)

Manufacturers designed pants with lots of pockets so boys can carry gum, pencils and frogs — the usual assortment of necessities.(Sonic, Charlie Rocket, Gold Rush)

FOR THEM

Kids are still crazy about T-shirts. Girls crave glamorous animal prints, anything embellished with vintage motifs and sparkly appliqués. Team numbers, sports motifs and animal cartoons delight little boys.(Lipstik, Gold Rush, Charlie Rocket, Danica & Dylan, Lemon)

Start the fall season in style with a faux fur vest. Later, girls look chic in faux fur coats in offbeat color combinations like light pink and charcoal. Boys look elegant in parkas colored in retro bright stripes.(Cozy Toes, Kate Mack)

I’M BLUSHING-Pink with a mauve cast or in brighter tones of rosy geranium or fuchsia remains popular. Mixing the color with cocoa is the hippest way to wear the hue.(Room Seven, Sister Sam, Jaffa by Oink!Baby, Queen Christine)

Dark grass green updates knits, pants and outerwear.-Turquoise is giving winter blues a lift. For girls’ paisley or plaids, mix the color with mustard and olive. A shot of the hue worn with steel gray and khaki lends boys’ wear a European sophistication.(Cakewalk Boys, Miniman, Red Sound)

COUTURE CLOTH-Pinwale corduroy (Room Seven)-Soft wool solids, novelty tweeds (Biscotti)-Velvet and velveteen-Animal printed faux fur (Kate Mack, Cottontail Originals)-Shearling or shaggy faux furs (Cozy Toes)

PRINTS CHARMING-Every girl needs at least one animal print in her wardrobe this season to mix with plaids, flowers and tie-dyes.(Queen Christine, Leopard Daisy by My Vintage Baby)-Soft girlish tones feminize men’s wear plaid skirts, jumpers and blouses; brighter toned plaids jazz up boys’ shirts.-Folkloric embroidery adds a fairy tale touch to girls’ dirndl skirts.(Room Seven)-Hip cowgirls and cowboys are roundin’ up western-themed T-shirts.(She's the One, Jaffa by Oink!Baby)-Denim is still important. This season it’s dark and detailed with all-over embroidery or appliquéd with flowers and beads.(Charlie Rocket, Beetlejuice, Ave Blu, Lipstik, Mimi & Maggie)

DETAILS DARLING

Vintage brooches, patterned cotton tights, ribbons (Sister Sam, Country Kids Tights, Cakewalk, Deux Par Deux)

Tina Barry contributes weekly style and food stories to The Brooklyn Papers, and is a contributing editor for The Online Guide to Kids’ Fashions, www.jamesgirone.com. Barry spent 10 years as a textile designer then manufactured a line of better children’s wear. She teaches at The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.