Jane Pope >> Southern Romantic: Charleston.(South Carolina)

Byline: ALEXANDRA MACK editor: Sally Singer

Past and present collide on fashion's front lines in South Carolina.

From London to Los Angeles, Milan to Mumbai, VOGUE toured eight cities around the globe to find the freshest takes on evening glamour.

Unwritten guidelines for getting dolled up have always existed in this bastion of convention and refinement. Back in the day, debutante balls required kid gloves, and formal events always meant long. For men, a 6:00 P.M. party called for tuxes, and tartan kilts were and still are the norm. But with avant-garde boutiques like Hampden Clothing, Maddison Row, Miostile, and Worthwhile springing up downtown, the Old Guard's ideas about style are being reinvigorated, and as a result, doing it up in the Deep South is a lot more fun.

While genteel events like cotillions and hunt balls have always been mainstays on the social calendar, times are changing. Now women are more apt to wear a cocktail dress to a black-tie event or a quirky graphic print for an evening out. "Transition is not easy for a historic city that prides itself on tradition," explains Stacy Smallwood, the owner of Hampden Clothing on King Street, which carries cutting-edge designers like Alice Ritter and Vena Cava. "However, I would not have opened my store if I didn't think that this city was willing to embrace it."

Jane Pope, the designer of Balboa and Jane Pope Collection jewelry, ...