Now, Ms. Slowey added meaning not now, exactly, but months from now, the thing it will be necessary to own in order to appear fashionable will be “the pant.” That is the singular form commonly used in the garment trade to describe what everywhere else is called trousers. “The first hint of chill in the air, and the full legged, pleated high- and low-waisted legions will be out in the urban jungle,” said Ms. Slowey, already so adapted to her new television role that she speaks in thought bubbles. The expiration date for the dress, she claimed, “is end of August.” This prediction will come as a surprise, perhaps, to retail analysts like the folks at Group, who not long ago termed 2007 the year of the dress, pointing to sales of more than $5 billion in the 12 months that ended last April, and a rate of growth in dress sales fully 30 percent higher than the year before.
