After my back was sprained from lifting my 840 page Vogue, I settled onto the couch for some fashionable reading. The first thing to catch my eyes (and my breath) was Prada's open-toed knee socks.

Hello, shockingly wonderful.

I still haven't quite figured the purpose of these little accessories, but in fashion do you need a purpose? I didn't think so. I imagine these stemmed from footless tights, which then led to the revival of the 80's classic-- leggings. Seems to me like Prada wanted to morph that look into some kind of school-girl-gone-homeless style; but actually Muiccia describes her Fall line as "Something simple but strange."

That works too.

Whatever the origin of this magical piece of leg wear ... I want them, bad. It looks like I won't be able to to save any money on pedicures this fall because between open-toed boots and open-toed socks, toes are super chic for Fall 2007. Vogue shows this look with mismatched textures, including feathers and fur ... and of course, open-toed shoes.

Fur is out.

Feathers are in.

This Fall, the runways are ready to take flight with all of their feathery looks. Maybe birds are pissing off fashion designers as much as they are pissing me off, because it seems they have decided to take action by plucking those suckers bald and applying their pretty little feathers to your clothes. Whether it is a feathered details in your hair (as seen in Nina Ricci's runway show) or the off -the-shoulder feathery mini dress as pictured here by Ohne Titel; feathers are hot.

Feathered frocks are also not very practical to wear in your everyday life, so if you like the look you are going to have to work it in subtly (and hope your co-workers aren't allergic). Try working in feather details to your headbands or even a small amount of feather trim to the bottom of a dress or top. As this look "takes flight" retailers will find a way to work synthetic feathers into your garments in a way that won't have you looking like Big Bird.

Summer is almost over -- sad isn't it? Try not to get too upset because the best part of August is beating the heat by staying inside and planning your Fall wardrobe. With all of the 500 plus page fashion mags out there, runway recaps on the web, and hundreds of fashion blogs throwing information at you, it's hard to know where to begin. I like to start with color. Planning your palette can help you get inspired for the season, and where better to start than the Pantone color report.

Pantone is is the world-renowned authority on color, so what they say goes. Their Fall color report is actually really interesting, it even has designers like Tracey Reese, Nanette Lepore and Catherine Malandrino's color palette and inspiration for their upcoming collections.

The hot colors for Fall are as exotic and have a lot of culinary influences in them. The colors range from browns all the way down to purples. Starting at the top, here are the colors to following this Fall.

• Carafe, is a deep espresso brown.
• Burnt Ochre, a nice earthy autumn orange.
• Chili Pepper, puts a little fire in your wardrobe.
  
• Stargazer, takes the turquoise from the summer and intensifies it.
• Shale Green, is a green that pretty much anyone can wear. It takes what could be murky and gross and infuses a touch of blue/green in it.
• Dusk, is a dusty shade of gray that is kicked up with a touch of blue.
  
• Green Moss, looks just how it sounds.
  
• Lemon Curry, walk on the exotic side and take summer's favorite shade of yellow into new territories.
  
• Cashmere Rose, this color is so soft, romantic, and delicious you will want all of your fall dresses in this shade.
  
• Purple Wine, much softer and easier to wear than a harsh red wine color.

I was cruising through fashion blogs and Fashion Tribes had these shoes on their hot list for fall. I love you Fashion Tribes; I used to write for you, but I just can't get down with these high heel oxfords by Christian Louboutin. They are blue metallic for goodness sake. So wrong.

I am starting to have ill feelings about Christian Louboutin, the brand is starting to have that high-end shoe downward spiral that Manolo Blahnik experienced. I guess the saying is true "what goes up, must come down." When Sex and the City was hot and every other word out of Carrie's mouth was "Manolo", everyone wanted a pair. Today Manolo's are still lovely but they certainly aren't flying off the shelves like the used to.

It was only a few years back that every celebrity foot was clad with the red soled shoes, which has clearly gone to Louboutin's head. No one with a clear head would put on those blue shoes. Nor would they put on these oh-so-scary striped booties. Let's stick with the more classic designs like the black peep toe pump or funky in a good way designs, like these fringed peep toe sandals. Just promise me you won't put out anything blue from the design books ever again.

I'll admit it -- I'm a geek. Subsequently, I've seen all the Star Wars films, and my share of science fiction television. But -- nerd or not -- I wouldn't wear clothing based on imagined fashion from far-away galaxies.

However, shockingly enough, that's what's popping up on runways for Fall 2007. Balenciaga, Victor & Rolf and Demma Gvasalia all showed some very space-aged new collections at a recent European fashion show.

Personally, I like the layers, and it's nice to see men's pants moving away from how absurdly tight they've been the last couple years. Plus, I'm glad to see that boots are still "in," as that's always good news for a Texan like myself.

But I just can't get excited about clothes that are so melancholic and dreary. It makes the models look like depressive teenagers -- all dressed up for a fashion-forward Star Trek convention.