siren song; Crimson lips, high-maintenance hair, and a wardrobe to match: Catherine Piercy makes a case for the season's grown-up glamour.

Byline: Catherine Piercy

This is bourgeois beauty," declared hairstylist Guido Palau as he frantically arranged a wide-brimmed hat over model Olga Sherer's dramatically arched brow backstage at Marc Jacobs's fall runway show. Moments later, when the red velvet curtains parted on a tableau vivant of 56 models-impeccable from their pristine ponytails and smart, thirties-_inspired day suits to their buttoned-up black leather boots-the message resonated: "It's about being pulled together from the hat to the gloves, the bag to the shoes," says Palau. "Polished hair, polished nails, polished makeup-it's been a while since we've seen this kind of perfection."

Up and down fall runways from New York to Paris and Milan, there was a noticeable return to serious glamour-in both the ladylike dressing (structured thirties- and forties-influenced silhouettes at Dior, ultrarefined tailoring at Louis Vuitton, acres of fur at Fendi) and the kind of considered beauty that qualifies more as maquillage than makeup. "Suddenly it feels a bit commonplace to wear messy hair and no makeup with an incredibly luxurious jacket," says hairstylist Luigi Murenu, who pressed models' hair into smooth, shiny waves with a large-barrel curling iron at Gucci-a veritable sea change from last season's free-_spirited hippie chic. "It's a nod to sophistication," adds Palau. "For a long time, women were afraid to really do their hair. What's exciting today is that we can play with the fantasy as we like. It's refreshing to have another option."

Though the painted crimson lips hovering beneath black cloche hats at Proenza Schouler, the sleek waves spilling over the classic column dresses at Valentino, and the dark lacquered nails grazing duchesse-satin shifts at Lanvin did recall the polished chic of vintage Hollywood screen stars like Lauren Bacall and Veronica Lake, please don't call it old-fashioned.

"I'm always at pains to keep things contemporary," says Dick Page, the man behind the neat, toffee-colored lips, restrained taupe eye shadow, and penciled brows at Marc Jacobs. "Too often, glamour is over-referenced," he says, citing the tendency to mimic a vintage look to the letter. "If you're going to look back, you have to have one arm in the future."

For most women, this means distilling the season's new ...