Taking in Frank Muytjens’s fall 2011 collection for J.Crew, I came across an old friend, a fashion designer. She asked me what I thought and my answer went like this: “I like it. I mean, it’s smart…and boring, but it’s J.Crew, so it should be boring.” Her response was much more thoughtful, and more telling. She reminded me that Middle America and your average guy need some help dressing, and J. Crew is providing them the right kind of help. And she’s right. To this end, Muytjens has focused on separates in a workwear-dominated collection inspired by the Lewis Hine photographs of the Empire State Building’s construction. “Fabrics out of context,” the designer noted, “Chino, with a bit of denim,” he added, pointing to a handsome blue trouser that effectively blended the two textures.

One of the most pleasant surprises of last spring’s collections was Bespoken’s jaunty and yet natty collection of prim British suits, shirts, and the occasional croquet mallet. For A/W 2011, they’ve followed up with another exceptional venture, inspired by an old photo the boys (Bespoken is made is made up of two sets of handsome brothers: James, Sam and Liam Fayed; Paul and Carlos Goncalves) found depicting their great grandfather on a naval supply ship during World War II. The collection it inspired is sartorial naval-themed, replete with English culture, heritage and tailoring without ignoring modern needs. This is a heavy (but not bulky), refined, gorgeous collection, replete with harris tweeds, supportive cottons, raw edges and unstructured pieces. The boys went deep into the Turnbull archive (the brand is associated with Turnbull and Asser) to source their textures and wools. They turned to some of the oldest weavers and yarn suppliers in the UK for their materials, like JC Rennie, which has been providing yarn since 1728.

PARIS--Finally, some fun! God bless Agnès Troublé (Agnès b). Firstly, she fed us (sandwiches). Secondly, this was the most remarkable and courageous show I’ve seen so far. No bells. No whistles. No bullshit. Just great, colorful clothes following the smart and streamlined design aesthetic Agnès b. has established and kept to since the 1970s. The first thing to notice as the show started was the classical guitar: no whining tones to indicate the coming thumping house beat, just simple strings. Next came the hats. Agnès had her models dressed as bohemian soldier boys, wearing Tricorne hats, bowlers, caps, ushankas and fedoras. But they weren’t gimmicky. They accessorized a lavish tweed redingote, which fell to knees ensconced in velvet pants. Her black jersey jackets, with gold buttons and colored lapels, on top of the striped tees that made her famous, let us imagine the most carefree of deserters, brigands and thieves (the sashes may have been a little over the top, but I didn’t mind). But Agnès didn’t get carried away with the past.

Fashionista contributor Long Nguyen is the co-founder/style director of Flaunt. PARIS--When the lights dimmed on this bright sunny Friday afternoon inside a black tent erected on the courtyard of the Musée Rodin, there wasn’t the customary loud music and a model already posed at the end of the runway ready for action. Instead, Sidney Toledano, the CEO of Christian Dior, came on the stage to give a speech in French. With elegant but somber words that somehow felt more emotional in French than a translation would allow, Mr. Toledano summarized the “painful” events of the past few days that shook the fashion world in a rapid and unforeseen manner. As readers of this site are undoubtedly aware, Dior fired its designer John Galliano for anti-semetic remarks at a bar against a French couple and in an undated camera phone recording that surfaced last Monday in a London tabloid, sold for personal profit by an anonymous individual to the Sun tabloid. “The heart of the house of Dior, which beats remain unseen, is made up of its team and studios, of its seamtresses and craftsmen, who work hard day after day, never counting the hours, and carrying on the values and vision of Monsieur Dior. Ce que vous allez voir maintenant, le résultat de leur immense travail. What you are seeing now, the result of their immense work.” With these words, Mr. Toledano yielded the stage--a backdrop reproduction of the grey wall offices at the Avenue Montaigne headquarters--and Karlie Kloss emerged from behind the faux salon doors wearing a large brown cape draping over her cropped leather jacket, purple sweater, and midnight blue velvet pants neatly tucked into thigh high leather boots. Ms. Kloss led the show with her cape flowing in the air. This time her moves were tempered by the soft and un-melodramatic music, her make-up nude rather than painted like some figurines. With 63 looks, the clothes certainly took center stage: there was Coco Rocha in a gray short sleeve double breasted flare jacket and a red print dress; Vlada Roslyakova in red tiered layers of ruffles; Lee Hye Jung in a khaki cotton layered dress; Iris Egbers in a sensible green plaid jacket over a short printed dress. Surely the men and women from the studios and ateliers who created these garments and who took a bow on stage at the end of the show should be proud of their accomplishments and their meticulous work in making these outfits. Yet despite the dazzling choices of clothes, designer fashion requires an imaginative narrative without which even the most elaborately constructed garments are just mere clothes that in a few months’ time we will forget. Over his 14 years at Dior, Mr. Galliano provides us with that precise plot season after season, like a bedtime story taking us away from the utter banality and mundane business of fashion.