"BigSkirts," Big Prices

Each spring Paris goes a bit mad as it tries to tell the world's women what to wear the following fall and winter. Last week thousands of buyers, retailing executives and journalists turned up for the pret-a-porter (ready-to-wear) shows and found the usual mania. A tightrope walker equiliberated over the crowd jammed into the Commercial Stock Exchange, where a big show was taking place. At Designer Vicky Tiel's "New Tango in Paris" exhibit, dancing models plucked partners from the audience for a whirl around the floor. As always, the gendarmes had crowd-control problems. Amidst all the hoopla was a rather prosaic message: women buying Paris labels next fall will find many of them attached to familiar skirts and sweaters. Dresses cling at the bodice and flare at the hems, and pants are getting less emphasis.

Stars. Nearly all of the 800-plus designers who displayed their wares, including such stars as St. Laurent, Angelo Tarlazzi and Michelle Bruyere, had variations on the skirt-and-sweater theme. The look includes hip-length cardigans, frequently worn over pullovers. Skirts are longish, too, starting at the knee and working all the way down to the ankle. Many billow like peasant dresses. Fashion phrasemakers, with considerable wit, call them "BigSkirts."

Judging by the size of the crowds they attracted, the two biggest stars to emerge from last week's shows were Chloe Designer Karl Lagerfeld and Japanese Designer Kenzo Takada. People literally climbed into the windows of the Laurent restaurant on the Champs-Elysees to peek at Lagerfeld's collection, which emphasizes the elegant and the demure. His soft shirts with high, pointed collars peek out from under dresses and loose turtleneck sweaters. Tweedy vests and jackets were another variation. Lagerfeld also introduced an even more elaborate version of the layered look, with shirts worn one atop the other, or even with a sweater separating them. Kenzo's designs included fitted knit pullovers and cardigans in salt-and-pepper colors, sweaters in snowflake designs, and so-called "sloppy joes"--loose, bulky garments bloused at the hips. These are meant to be worn with long, ruffled peasant skirts with tiny vertical pleats and--of all things --crinolines underneath.

The fashion world thrives on small controversies; last week's was over skirt length. To some retailers, some of the BigSkirts looked like a secondhand midi of a few seasons back. That calf-length style was a fiasco. Said Sara Monteil, a buyer for Continental Purchasing Co.: "American buyers remember the midi just like the Alamo and they aren't going to repeat old mistakes." Griped Norman Wechsler of Saks Fifth Avenue to Women's Wear Daily: "The last time we had the long lengths, even the stock market went down." Bob Sakowitz, executive vice pres ident of the Sakowitz store in Houston, agreed: "I can't and I won't stand for another bat tle of the hemlines." But by week's end, most buyers had convinced themselves that things might turn out all right. Many of the styles did expose part of the knee, and there were enough variations to of fer a wide choice. Skirt orders by American buyers were running ahead of last year.

No matter where the hem line ends, it cannot cover up the higher prices that Paris clothing will command. The expense of custom garments has already driven all but IP the wealthiest customers away from the haute couture; now, because of worldwide inflation and the devaluation of the dollar, pret-a-porter trade faces a cost crunch too. "Both wool and silk are up 50% this year, and this has simply pushed prices out of reach," says an American buyer. "What American woman will be willing to pay $100 for a blouse?" Some buyers com plain that while they have spent just as much money this year as in the past, they are bringing back far less merchandise; smaller stores had a difficult time finding merchandise they could afford. Not to worry, though. A fashion-conscious woman can always shorten up her old midiskirt a bit and dry-clean the stretched-out sweater she has been meaning to throw away.

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