The Crowd:

An annual pilgrimage to the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort took place last week benefiting the Orange County Museum of Art.

It was the annual fall fashion collection showcased by Nordstrom in partnership with the museum. Tickets to the fashion runway production were $150 each, and co-chairwomen Carol Lee and Gianna Kerrison worked tirelessly to fill the house in order to help fill the bank account at the museum.

Lee and Kerrison succeeded, and there was not a seat left in the ballroom surrounding the elevated catwalk. True to form, and as I reported last year on this same event, the women attending and supporting the museum were way and above more fashionable, more glamorous and more sexy than any of the models showcasing the 2009 fall designer preview fashions from the world’s most exclusive and well-known couturiers.

Among the fashionable standouts in attendance were the ever-elegant Joan Riach of Lido Isle; the statuesque raven-haired Adrienne Brennan, in a sexy black summer dress with very high shoes and a dramatic jade-colored stone necklace; the drop-dead-gorgeous Sarah Corrigan, wearing a tailored and fitted turquoise sheath and carrying a Grecian gold designer bag; and the classically beautiful Susan Tancredy, in from Tustin, showing off a summer pant suit ensemble featuring a short-waisted, tailored jacket.

The crowd arrived at the St. Regis, and despite the news concerning the majestic hotel’s recent takeover by its lenders, the property was bustling with business, people everywhere.

Fashionistas were directed to the lower-level ballroom and greeted by Lee and Kerrison, committee members, Nordstrom fashion officials and museum personnel. The lobby foyer was converted into a designer salon with mini-departments set up showcasing the fall collections of Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Givenchy, Hervé Léger, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Missoni, Nina Ricci, Stella McCartney, Versace and Zac Posen. Sales executives from Nordstrom greeted potential customers with the sneak preview of the collections as cocktails flowed from an outside terrace bar and the house filled to the brim with women and a large contingent of men awaiting the fashion show.

As the sun set over the Pacific Ocean in the distance, the large gathering was invited into the ballroom as Nordstrom executives graciously opened the doors at 8 p.m. and the guests found their seats in the elegant lineup of golden-colored Chivari chairs set in rows surrounding the fashion runway.

Fashion shows are indeed an art form. It is appropriate that the Orange County Museum of Art would associate with Nordstrom producing this event as a fundraiser.

It is also an important chance for Nordstrom, one of America’s most prominent fashion retailers and one of the Newport-Mesa community’s highly regarded family shopping partners, to exhibit the trends and styles coming in the next season that will hopefully be accepted by the public as designs of desire for 2009-10.

Sometimes fashion reflects the current mood of the people, and sometimes it reflects an outlook for the future, and certainly it always reflects the view of the designer.

Given the present economic conditions, the overall tone of the fall collections from almost all of the designers is muted and, in some cases, drab.

While fall collections tend toward the darker colors including grays, browns, burgundy, navy blue, burnt orange, dark fuchsia and the like, representing the warmth of fall, in Southern California and certainly other locales, including South Florida and the islands, it would seem apropos to offer clothing slightly off the typical fall radar and more in keeping with the regional climate.

That being said, this observer has an additional inquiry for 7th Avenue. A majority of the fall collections are simply not flattering to women.

Not only are the tones drab, but the cuts accent flaws rather than femininity, and once again, the reflection of difficult economic times seems to transcend glamour and optimism.

Here’s another observation. Models are instructed to race down the catwalk — no more elegant turns, no more coquettish pauses — and it’s a race, in and out and on to the next.

At one point, one of the models wearing a coat over a dress, designed with the lining in the coat to match the dress, did not even bother to open the coat to show the crowd the design detail.

I wanted to call out from my seat to her to open her coat and stop for a moment to let the audience have a look at the design element, but I knew better.

One final observation: This is the season of long, wild and frizzy hair.

Some of the models were clearly wearing hairpieces, others were frizzed on their own, and it was the singularly most unattractive look that I have ever seen on a runway. These women would truly be in danger of birds attempting to nest if they were walking on an outside street. What is 7th Avenue thinking?

Enough of the criticism. Here’s some positive observation. Nina Ricci offered a sexy nude silk dress with embroidery.

From Zac Posen, a spectacular antique gold gown finished his showcase of artistic designer ready-to-wear. A black cocktail dress with sequined straps, a classic with a modern twist, was displayed by the collection of Hervé Léger.

The super-popular Dolce & Gabbana offered a very wearable collection utilizing multicolored leopard prints and featuring sexy skinny pants, bolero tops and a hot black and silver mini dress.

The house of Givenchy showed off some elegant jackets for the fall, including a black and gray double-faced wool jacket with an asymmetrical hook over gray jeans.

Superstars of the fashion world included offerings by Stella McCartney, youthful and sexy and often sublimely simple, and Marc Jacobs continues to wow the crowd.

Jacobs showcased a hot pink (hooray for color!) and black satin cashmere balmacaan coat worn over a hot pink radzimir side-ruched short dress.

Of all the designers, perhaps the one that consistently knows how a woman wants to look, and how a man wants to look at her, is Donna Karan of New York.

Her fall collection features her signature black and charcoal-colored clothing with the season’s new color infusion of “Mars Red,” which Karan uses in a flattering wrap coat and a tailored body suit.

Following the fashion show, the crowd returned to the St. Regis foyer, making pre-fall purchases and enjoying a dessert reception.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.