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Plush Fur, Elegant Pleats and More Long Skirts at Tracy Reese

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Photo credit: Getty Images

"Tracy always designs such beautiful, feminine flirty dresses that actually accentuate and celebrate a woman’s frame — a real woman’s frame," explains actress Gabrielle Union before the Tracy Reese Fall/Winter '11 show. Honey, we couldn't agree more. The designer's looks are always lovely and ladylike — with a little bit of Hollywood flair — and yes, absolutely wearable.

For the upcoming fall season, Tracy Reese showed thirty-nine romantic, nature-nostalgic looks that were full of rich toffee, classic sand, amber sunset and juicy raspberry tones, plus the requisite black and grays, of course. Accents included delicate paillette and sequin embellishments, mixed textures and kicky prints. The designer also played with detailed beading, lacey scalloped edges and flirty fringe to add some flair. True to the fall trends (and much to PETA's dismay) leather and fur make a big showing on the runway in the form of sexy skirts, abbreviated, chunky neck scarves, 70's-groupie-style coats, plush long vests and frisky minis. Pleats also made an appearance, in the form of billowing sleeves, flowing skirts and the seemingly ubiquitous floor-grazing maxi-dress.

Speaking of longer lengths, they look amazing on the models, of course, but we're still questioning how the look will play out on us real folks who measure under five foot ten.

"I'm very petite, so longer skirts are generally hard for me to wear," confides NBC anchor and Tracy Reese fan Natalie Morales. "So I feel like I look too frumpy that way. But I think I prefer a little shorter hemline, but not too short because I can't do that on TV. I do have to sit down after all."

Gabrielle Union is on the same page. "They're great for someone," she laughs. "It's not really my personal style, but they will look great. On the people that love them." Paging Man Repeller.

Lucky for Natalie and Gabrielle, Tracy did send a few beaded, fringed or full-fur minis, plus elegant knee-skimming frocks down the runway. As for the pants situation, aside from a pair of riding pants, the rest of the trouser silhouettes were lean fitting ponte flares.

We also wanted to give props to Tracy Reese for featuring a diverse cast of models, including NYFW regular Ataui Deng closing out the show in a playfully elegant turquoise-fringed gown accented with a fur neck scarf and 2008 Ford Supermodel of the World winner and Givenchy model Hyoni Kang walking the show in the aforementioned lush fur mini-skirt. Famous faces and loyal supporters in the front row included Mary Alice Stephenson (looking fab in an Alexander Wang dress and Dries Van Noten leopard print vest), Julia Stiles and Veronica Webb.
· All Fashion Week Coverage [Racked]
· Tracy Reese [Official Site]