charm school; Introducing the class of 2006: the smartest spring collections.

Byline: Sally Singer

The beckoning call of Sofia and Sienna and Kate, those youthful sirens of highly personal, intriguingly mismatched, narrative dressing, was heard again and again at the spring 2006 collections. Although these girls were elsewhere engaged-Sofia Coppola was editing her new film, Marie Antoinette (see Balenciaga's mille-feuille Louis XIV jackets by Nicolas Ghesquiere to get in the mood); Sienna Miller was prepping to play Edie Sedgwick (consider Burberry's adorable Empire-line, sixties 2-D dresses); and Kate Moss was in rehab (say no more; but see the parade of Mosses John Galliano sent out at Christian Dior)-echoes of their style reverberated on the catwalks. Near-weightless blushing frocks knocked up against jungle-red platforms, extralean trouser suits were finished off with big, fat belts, and even the simplest of city-smart urban sheaths appeared to have been waylaid en route to the show by a crazed gang of Ukrainian lacemakers.

What designers have intuited from observing the fashion choices of this generation of stylemakers is that charming and chic statements result from offhand and original contrasts; and anyone or anything that tries to be drop-dead glamorous just looks gauche. Case in point: Many of the boldface names who made their presence felt on the front row were in head-to-toe cocktail-iana-and looked the worse for it.

So here's the trickiest question in the seasonal fashion quiz: How can you tell whether a simple flat with a Grecian gown looks knowingly understated (e.g., La Coppola at the Globes, 2004) or entirely undercooked? To put the matter another way, why is it that your dress should be going to a Beacon Hill wedding while your bag and belt are summering in Ibiza? As it happens, the spring's best collections are an inspirational guide to the now-essential skill of symphonic dressing-you are the conductor, playing one melody with your shoes, making bass tones with your bag, risking a percussive tinkle with an extralong necklace. (Was it any coincidence that the collections' most heart_stopping moment came when an Olivier Theyskens for Rochas pale-gray trouser suit appeared with a child's violin case as a structured handbag?)

What the maestros, Sofia and Sienna and Kate, have taught us is to start with something straightforward and only afterward progress to the more personal counter notes. So begin with a look that's uncomplicated in its beauty, femininity, and utility. Say, a classic dress (in raspberry or snow-pea jersey from Roland Mouret, washed white satin at Lanvin, ombre silk at Dries Van Noten, graphic green-and-white tissue organza at Calvin Klein); or a simple shirt and skirt in cotton (starched white at Fendi, seersuckered at Nina Ricci, ruffled at YSL Rive Gauche); or a slim trouser suit (cut sharp at Narciso Rodriguez, tailored at Nicolas Andreas Taralis, softly pleated at Rick Owens, superskinny at Patrick Robinson's Paco Rabanne); or an easy summer coat (of cherry silk at Christian Lacroix, cream burlap at Proenza Schouler). These are clothes you can bring home to Mother, or throw on to meet his mother-things that don't scream trendiness.

Next, look for some old-fashioned detail that adds a layer of personal or aesthetic history (or, indeed, the history of women making beautiful things with their hands). Lace, for example, was prevalent in almost every collection. At Tao-a new line by Tao ...