Hasta La Ideas

“The test of a first-rate intelligence,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Crack-Up, “is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” We like to keep this bit of wisdom at hand during Fashion Week, as stores and magazines showcase the spring collections that took to the runway back in September while designers debut their visions for fall—which, with New York still frozen, look awfully appealing as right-now wear. And so, by our Fitzgeraldian logic, those who can simultaneously admire a scarf-cape by Tracy Reese and pre-order Michael Kors‘s ultra-covetable spring 2011 take on the Birkenstock, all while wearing a winter coat, are to be praised for their cleverness in the face of a cleaved consciousness. For those who want to focus on the immediate sartorial future, chunky March magazines are beginning to appear on newsstands. Among them is the first all-fashion issue of Wallpaper*, fronted by a glassy-eyed group of models assembled by artist Vanessa Beecroft (inside are 13 more pages of her glorious scenarios). Editor-in-chief Tony Chambers describes the issue as “Smart and beautiful in equal measure, as per usual, but better dressed (and undressed) than ever.” Also between the covers: a look at the world’s best-designed new stores, peeks inside the homes of star stylists, and a mood-lifting poster of 85 key colors for spring. And be sure to save room for dessert. Wallpaper* convinced Texas-born Tom Ford to divulge his failsafe recipe for pecan pie.

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