Fashion

With winter still here, but spring hinting it's arrival, commentator Patricia McLaughlin considers the perils of winter on the mind, body, and spirit.

Commentator Patricia McLaughlin blasts Ralph Lauren's citified vision of the country life, and she reflects on the "magic thinking" and escapism of some city dwellers.

Knitwear designer Kaffe Fassett (the first name rhymes with "safe," the last name rhymes with "basset"). He's elevated needlework from a simple craft to an art form. Fassett started out as a painter, but while working in England he visited a Scottish wool mill, and was dazzled by the colors and textures he discovered there. He's since made tapestries, clothes, chairs, and other objects, and authored several books that have influenced textile designers.

John Fairchild, the publisher of "Women's Wear Daily," and "W." "Women's Wear Daily" is to the fashion industry what "The Wall Street Journal" is to the financial community. "W" is a glitzy fashion magazine. Fairchild has just written an insiders exposé of the fashion world, called "Chic Savages."

Singer Deborah Harry. She was lead singer of the group "Blondie," which started out in the late '70's as a punk band and by the early '80's was topping the charts. Since the breakup of "Blondie," Harry has gone on to a solo career and several film and TV roles, most recently in "Wiseguy." Her latest album is called, "Def, Dumb and Blonde."

Fashion expert Richard Martin. Martin's the co-author (with Harold Koda) of "Jocks and Nerds," a new book that examines what the authors call '12 persistent fashion styles;' among them the Rebel, Cowboy, Dandy, and Joe College. Martin is a professor of Art History and Dean of Graduate Studies at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology.

The master of funk, George Clinton. He began his musical career as a teenager when he formed The Parliament. But in the early 70s, Clinton put together a second group, "Funkadelic," that became enormously influential on the pop music scene. Their 1970 album, "Osmium," set the tone for Clinton's wickedly eclectic style; songs ranged from metaphysical gospel to country and acid rock. But their big hit came with the album "Mothership Connection." In songs like "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker," "Get Up on the Downstroke" and "Think!

Though the garment may be a century old, fashion columnist Patricia McLaughlin says bras still have a long way to go in terms of fit and comfort.

Fashion writer Samuel Coleridge visited sweatshops in India and South Korea to learn more about the hidden side of fashion design and clothing sales. His new book explores exploitative labor, licensing, and gender dynamics within the industry.

The former teen model later pursued an acting career on stage and screen. Despite her efforts to distance herself from her early days in fashion, Twiggy says it would be untenable for her to give up her distinctive moniker. She costars in the new movie Madame Sousatzka, in which she plays an aspiring pop star.