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Speaking of the meld of chic and casual, Stephen Knoll of New York-based salon Stephen Knoll (where Vogue's Anna Wintour goes every morning for hair and makeup) describes the ultimate future hairstyle as "pieced and romantic-dappled hair with subtle tones of highlight and a slightly tossed, insouciant cut. I like razor feathering to give the feeling that the woman has a lot of style, but that her hair is just ever so slightly grown out. The colors are a blend of tortoiseshell, honey, and some rich amber tones." All of which, surprisingly, or not, has echoes in some of the predictions of Todd Kahn, president of Accessory Network Group, who sees handbag styling as rich; dappled with jewelry and embroideries; and made of soft suede in rich, subtle hues. "There is a blurring of the stratosphere for accessory fashions in the future," he says. "The mass and mid-tier customer will receive much better quality in fabrics and design.

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Interwoven themes of comfort, nostalgia, diversity, and elegance continue into the home. "People need to regain the feeling of being safe, confident, and, in a way, carefree," says Dennis Rolland, whose list of famous clients includes the Ferragamo family. "I see a new romanticism re-emerging with the return of several prints. Unlike the '80s, when you would find many different prints mixed together, this is one fabric that, like a patchwork, combines a variety of prints. It is a reference to a more secure, optimistic past." Echoing Dennis' belief in the future of things past, the Scalamandre design team is revisiting their greatest fabrics: brocades, damasks, and silks in rich corals and honeys. Meanwhile at retailer Distant Origins, Paul Davies believes in mixing the traditional with the contemporary and the odd: "I like the pairing of light and dark woods and the new use of rare fish skins and parchments to lighten furniture."

Perhaps Newell Turner, editor-in-chief of Hamptons Cottages and Gardens, sums it up best. Using a mosaic of adjectives including livable, durable, casual, classic, exotic, and precious to describe the qualities characterizing the once and future of American style, he explains: "I'm thinking of the interiors of Jean Michel Frank or John Dikerson in San Francisco, where they perfected the sophisticated East-meets-West style in the 1930s. It was distinguished by juxtapositions of large against the small in scale, and the common against the precious. I also love Ralph Lauren's American use of luxuries in the home to make it livable-not like a European palace/museum. Over the last 18 years, thanks to the catalogs of retailers such as Crate and Barrel and Banana Republic, our customer has become increasingly confident and comfortable with good design. And Americans don't mind admitting what they don't know. They will continue to be more and more interested in matters of taste."

Overall, the future of fashion lies in the character of the American consumer. We are practical, curious, traditional, adventuresome, eclectic, and sentimental. Above all, we are open and eager to learn.