style council ask mrs. exeter; Considering fall's courageous fashion statements, how do we pull off fierce, fearless style.

Question:_First Nan Kempner and then Pat Buckley; our most fearless national exemplars of taste have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Whom should we turn to for inspiration now that the fashions of the season seem so elegant and daring? Who of a certain age is going to wear head-to-toe Saint Laurent by Mr. Pilati? Who among your friends, past or present, would, could, or should slip on the latest Lanvin or Balenciaga? Are you that brave, Mrs. Exeter?

Answer:_Is dressing well a question of bravery or of permission? From the clothes we wear to how we decorate, isn't style the willingness to explore "the new" with equal amounts of curiosity and honest self-appraisal? In all of life we must rid ourselves of anything akin to "contempt prior to investigation"-it is provincialism disguised as intellectualism. Practice "big thinking," beginning with the new clothes you try on every season.

The neo-preppy pieces from Balenciaga, the textile experiments of Prada, embroidered dresses from Vera Wang, the trouser ensembles from Olivier Theyskens for Nina Ricci, bold colors from Marc Jacobs, knitwear from Proenza Schouler, the constant classicism of Oscar de la Renta, and the arty smartness of Carolina Herrera are just a few directional offerings in the fall collections . . . there is something for everyone to consider.

Of course, not everyone can be, nor should be, as madcap as the Italian fashion editor Anna Piaggi or an American original like Iris Apfel. An Isabella Blow is a once-in-a-lifetime being. Nonetheless, we do not wish to bore anyone (especially ourselves).

I discussed your letter with some best-dressed arbiters over 30-Casey Ribicoff, Mica Ertegun, Louise Grunwald, Gayfryd Steinberg, and Anne McNally, among others-and they all had the same message: balance. Never totter literally into an entire collection, head-to-toe, but do try at least one novel thing, and always have some daring pieces you can throw into the mix. (Barbara Walters, for instance, has a fantastic Dior blue denim-and-boucle jacket to wear with great trousers or skirts when an invitation says "festive.") A new silhouette, a different sleeve, a fuller shoulder, a pretty dress instead of pants for work . . . look for something each season that refreshes and alters the proportions in your wardrobe.

Fearless fashion? Eccentricity? Edgy dressing? Here is where women who are not classic beauties have it over those who are. Anyone who does not look like Grace Kelly or C. Z. Guest then, or Blaine Trump or Brooke de Ocampo now, is culturally freer to groom and dress unto a chic all her own; she owes it to herself to invent a look with flair and originality. American society-it must be our puritanical roots or our devotion to the Barbie doll-still has some very peculiar ideas about fashion. How is it that a teenager can dress like a bimbo but a woman who dresses with great style in the office is considered superficial? Who needs the Moral ...