Satin

The neat little cocktail dress is back to stir things up for the holidays with a decidedly modern twist. For the first time in years, glitz has given way to low-key glamour in this season's ladylike satin sheath.Undeniably seductive in all its incarnations, it still retains a sense of refinement. Inspired by women of great influential style like Jackie Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn, the old sleeveless sheath continues to have staying power. Modern executions, however, don't scream retro. Designer Donna Karan recently dubbed the sheath "the foundation of dressing -- the new bodysuit."

"Sex and the City" was the theme for a party at Tapas Adela, which suited guest Lexie Bubb just fine. The 26-year-old Fells Point painter loves to combine interesting pieces for her outfits — just like her favorite "Sex and the City" character, Carrie Bradshaw. "My style is definitely eclectic ... I really love colors and textures. ... I'm not afraid to wear what makes me happy, even if it's ridiculous." The look : Blush short-sleeve cardigan with rhinestone buttons and frayed edge silk roses.

NEW RUSSIA, N.Y. - To four teen-agers from the suburbs, Split Rock Falls was a magical place - cool water rushing between the granite walls of a mountain ravine, forming pools for hours of lazy summertime swimming. On Tuesday afternoon, the four men - Adam Cohen, 19; Jonah Richman, 18; Jordan Satin, 19; and David Altschuler, 18 - returned to their favorite childhood summer haunt to find it engorged by a summer of heavy rain. By the end of the day, all four men, each an experienced swimmer, was dead, drowned in the waters they knew well.

Ashley Ingram and three of her girlfriends stayed up all night, giggling and talking and dreaming about one thing: prom. The foursome from Baltimore's Polytechnic Institute will make it to the dance - and be as glamorous as they'd always hoped - thanks to the free dresses they claimed Saturday morning. The Priceless Gown Project, in its sixth year in Baltimore, offers dresses to high school girls who might not otherwise be able to afford them. Hundreds of girls line up each year to search for their selections, which are donated by stores and individuals.

Coats, like everything else in fashion, have been caught up in the craze for changing fabrics, categories and uses.BTC Once satin, velvet, lace and lame were strictly for evening, but now clothes made of or trimmed in any of these voluptuous fabrics are considered appropriate for day as well as night. Some of these fragile materials have also been treated to wear well in all weather.At the Paris fashion showings last month, several editors were spotted wearing a boxy topper of black velvet with quilted satin sleeves that reversed to a quilted satin lining.

For generations of women, "It's snowing in the South!" meant their slips were showing. Now, with lingerie style running rampant, there is no need to be embarrassed. It's a look. Some designers are even building errant slips into their dresses.For a series of sexy cocktail numbers in his resort collection, Davis Church, a young designer, installed strips of satin behind and above the bodice and an extra pair of straps. When the regular straps fall off the shoulder a bit (they're designed to do so)

Creating a beautiful basket to hold Easter candu is as simple as 1-2-3: One, buy a plain basket of desired size; two, wrap with or glue on ribbon; and three, decorate with leaves and flowers.Equipment you'll need: acrylic paint and craft brush (or use spray paint); hot-glue gun; scissors; ribbon; half-beads in strings; silk or paper flowers. You can try using ordinary white glue if you don't have a glue gun, but the process will take longer and some surfaces may not stick together.A trip to your local fabric or craft store will reveal scores of ways to decorate your basket.

In Chaucer's wood, the branches bud with birds.Song showers fill the air.Each little heart, no bigger than a corn,with diminutive lust is stirredfor on this date,the legends say, each birdwill surely find its mate.Now windswept parking lots are bare.Under eaves, small birds cluster,vociferous in the drug store's neon light.They mustseem choir to pilgrims come to venerate,in shrines of scent and powder and paint,the candy heart of the old red satin saint.Pub Date: 2/14/97@

K irstie Durr says she doesn't have one particular look. "I have some conservative pieces. I have some crazy pieces. I've got pieces that are more trendy, " the senior vice president at Nevins & Associates said. What's important to this 39-year-old Fallston resident is adding a little zing to each outfit. When we Glimpsed Durr at Martin's Valley Mansion for the American Heart Association's Heart Ball, her outfit had plenty of zing while adhering to the party's red theme. The look: Red satin Maggy London banded cocktail dress with bow and asymmetrical neckline.

Ashley Ingram and three of her girlfriends stayed up all night, giggling and talking and dreaming about one thing: prom. The foursome from Baltimore's Polytechnic Institute will make it to the dance - and be as glamorous as they'd always hoped - thanks to the free dresses they claimed Saturday morning. The Priceless Gown Project, in its sixth year in Baltimore, offers dresses to high school girls who might not otherwise be able to afford them. Hundreds of girls line up each year to search for their selections, which are donated by stores and individuals.

K irstie Durr says she doesn't have one particular look. "I have some conservative pieces. I have some crazy pieces. I've got pieces that are more trendy, " the senior vice president at Nevins & Associates said. What's important to this 39-year-old Fallston resident is adding a little zing to each outfit. When we Glimpsed Durr at Martin's Valley Mansion for the American Heart Association's Heart Ball, her outfit had plenty of zing while adhering to the party's red theme. The look: Red satin Maggy London banded cocktail dress with bow and asymmetrical neckline.

Say "Poconos" and for many people, the word "gaudy" almost automatically comes to mind. It is, after all, the place where Morris Wilkins invented and installed the world's first heart-shaped tub in 1963. The Pennsylvania resort area is also a place known as the "honeymoon capital of the world," where champagne glass-shaped spas are sometimes the prelude -- or finale, depending on your inclination -- to a night of romance. And for some odd reason, it's a place that seems to bring to mind sappy family-themed resorts that offer never-ending games of pinochle and shuffleboard.

Younger men cower in the doorway of the lingerie store, but 74-year-old Chester Taplette practically gallops across the leopard-print carpet. He's been staking out this Frederick's of Hollywood in Glen Burnie's Marley Station Mall for weeks now, "scheming," he says, about which lacy item to buy for his Annie on their 48th Valentine's Day as husband and wife. And because Annie has been his partner in every decision for nearly half a century now, why would he exclude her from this one? The 67-year-old follows a few steps behind her husband, her head swaddled in a scarf to conceal the curlers in her hair.

AS HUNDREDS OF FORMALLY frocked guests descended on Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, you knew it was official. With the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra gala, the fall party season had begun. After a long, casual summer, this was the first opportunity in months to get gussied up. Party chairs David and Michel Modell set the tone: He in a tuxedo completed with velvet slippers adorned with red-embroidered devils; she, in a black gown that featured strands of gold beads cascading down her back. Lainy Lebow-Sachs arrived, swathed in a wrap made of sewn-together satin poufs.

Walt Clark stood in the 30-foot-high grand hall of his Fulton home where a crystal chandelier refracts the sun's rays. A kaleidoscope of prismatic speckles dots the walls and the white marble flooring. Clark, 41, was thrilled to share what he refers to as " ... the experience and joy of finally building our dream house." In August 2003, Clark, owner of a money management firm, signed a contract for a 1.5-acre property in the Howard County development of Pindell Chase. For the next 13 months, he would work closely with Toll Brothers on the design of his home.

WASHINGTON - Hallways were packed. Security was tight. Finally, the elevator doors opened, and there he was. Michael Jackson was in the House. As in, the House of Representatives. Jackson was there to join a few members of Congress and officials from a dozen African nations to call attention to the ravages of AIDS in their countries. They met for more than an hour, and afterward, at a news conference outside her office, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, who served as host, held his hand and thanked him. She said, "Mr. Jackson's voice will be able to be utilized in this campaign of awareness."

"Sex and the City" was the theme for a party at Tapas Adela, which suited guest Lexie Bubb just fine. The 26-year-old Fells Point painter loves to combine interesting pieces for her outfits — just like her favorite "Sex and the City" character, Carrie Bradshaw. "My style is definitely eclectic ... I really love colors and textures. ... I'm not afraid to wear what makes me happy, even if it's ridiculous." The look : Blush short-sleeve cardigan with rhinestone buttons and frayed edge silk roses.

Illusion5)"Ain't no livin' with the man -- nodivorcin' either. Ya gotta have a bodyt' ease yer needs from time to time. Y'know,it jes' ain't right t' be alone. E's shoddybut better'n nothin' I guess. It's queer, 'eain't bad when 'e ain't drunk -- I al'as thinkit'll be diff'rent when 'e don't drink."A celebration of9-V's of geese against a sherbet sky, thevesper song of doves at dusk, cascades ofbridal wreath in May, and star-shaped podsof columbine that rattle in the wind likeelfin toys; narcissus standing sentinel atdawn; a satin rosebud jeweled in dew,the fox who gambols through the field, awide-eyed buck or doe; maple trees thatclap their leaves, surrounding me withsymphonies of praise.

NEW RUSSIA, N.Y. - To four teen-agers from the suburbs, Split Rock Falls was a magical place - cool water rushing between the granite walls of a mountain ravine, forming pools for hours of lazy summertime swimming. On Tuesday afternoon, the four men - Adam Cohen, 19; Jonah Richman, 18; Jordan Satin, 19; and David Altschuler, 18 - returned to their favorite childhood summer haunt to find it engorged by a summer of heavy rain. By the end of the day, all four men, each an experienced swimmer, was dead, drowned in the waters they knew well.

Prom season may be two months away, but some promgoers have been thinking about the big night for months already. Just in case you haven't, here's a crash course in what's hot in prom wear this year, according to Seventeen's all-prom issue, TeenPROM magazine and YM Prom (all on newsstands right now.) Dress style everyone is wearing: Strapless, tea length and with a full skirt. Think feminine and sexy but not cheap and flashy. It's Doris Day, Joanie Loves Chachi and tremendously classic.