In a few short weeks, we'll be dipping our toes into swim season.

The good news is that the options for swimsuits in 2011 are more fashion driven than ever.

"It's about the detailing, and swimwear that looks special," Gregg Andrews, fashion director at Nordstrom, explained to StyleList. "The details are like those you'd find in couture dressmaking – ruching, gathering and ruffles." An added benefit of these elements is that they can work for you. "These techniques are flattering – they can disguise bumps and bulges," Andrews added.

"Draping and ruching, particularly in a one-piece, define the waist," said Cynthia Maxwell, swim trend manager at jc penney. "They hide the stomach areas that we'd rather not be seen." And conversely, "ruffles make her look very shapely."

Macy's vice-president and women's fashion director Nicole Fischelis agreed. "Draping and asymmetry is important," she told StyleList. "It's about strapless, one-shoulder suits, deep plunge necks," and, she added, "one-pieces are still very important."

There's a vintage element showing up as well. "There are lingerie-inspired details like bra cup seaming and metal rings on the bands," Andrews described. "There's a skirted effect that we're seeing along with a high-waisted bottom that's a little fuller. It has a 1940s feel like a classic Vargas pin-up girl."

And then there's the classic nautical look. "It's a crisp nautical or South of France look with stripes – orange and white, red and white and royal and white," Andrews said. "The stripes go from one inch down to pencil stripes."

For prints, look for tropical-inspired looks with palm tree leaves or flowers, brightly colored "ethnic" looks, animal prints, paisleys and color -- lots of color, ranging from the ballet-inspired, barely-there hues to saturated, hot tones.

The staple of moms everywhere, the tankini, is not as dowdy as the usual connotation implies. "The tankini definitely remains popular," Andrews admitted. "Women get the comfort of a two-piece suit and it works for longer torsos. There's a time and a place you want to be wearing a string bikini, but tankinis work in the other times."

At Macy's, Fischelis sees the flexibility a tankini provides. "You can infuse fashion. I say play with color and patterns," she said. "Wear a striped top with a solid bottom, or wear a striped top with a printed bottom."

Tankinis at jc penney are a fashion staple that have even infiltrated the junior area. "The girls like the idea that they're wearing a two-piece and the mom's like that they're still covered," Maxwell admitted.

The days of throwing on a hoodie and heading to the beach are over. Fashionable swim cover-ups and complementary pieces are in such demand at Macy's, "whether it's a maxi-skirt or -dress, or a peasant shirt or tunic," Fischelis shared, that it's INC brand has added it as a new category. "We have so many stores in warm regions that we have a strategic policy for them."


The continued popularity of the maxi dress has moved it into the cover-up category at jc penney, Maxwell said. "And crochet, lace, anything with open work looks really modern, but still gives some coverage, she added.

At Nordstrom, "cover-ups" are taking on a utilitarian, yet fashionable look. "It's not about just a sarong or a pareo anymore," Andrews said. "Cover-ups are evolving into pieces that allow a woman to sit in the hotel bar and go to the pool. There are tunic-length or short dresses that allow the wearer to be more 'dressed.' You wear the tunic over your swimsuit, with pants to dinner and over shorts to go shopping."

He added that value and necessity are driving this. "Women want to invest in pieces that are able to do more than just one thing. And in these days when airlines are charging for luggage, everything has to have more than one use."

Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé had a partnership that is cited as the model of what a designer's relationship should be with his or her business partner. Bergé's deft handling of everything from business relationships to lining up the models before fashion shows allowed Saint Laurent to focus on being a creative genius.

But this duo's tale was also a great love story: They were romantically involved for almost 20 years after meeting in 1958, and though Berge chose to move out of their shared home in Paris (he moved one block away), they remained daily companions until the end of Saint Laurent's life. Filmmaker Pierre Thoretton examines the couple's relationship in "L'Amour Fou" (or "Crazy Love") a documentary screening later this month at the Tribeca Film Festival.

After Saint Laurent died in 2008, Bergé decided to sell their incredible collection of artwork, furniture and objects in what became one of the greatest auctions in art history. The film juxtaposes Bergé telling the story of building their 50-year relationship at the same time it shows their collection being dismantled by appraisers, dealers and art movers.

While the film, and especially its interviews with Bergé, has a gray feeling to it, the tone is kept colorful with stills and never-before-seen film footage of Saint Laurent, Bergé and the designer's inner circle of Betty Catroux, Lulu de la Falaise and Catherine Deneuve, among others. (Read StyleList's recent interview with Deneuve, in which she discusses whether she was -- or wasn't -- a muse for the designer.)

One of the first of these film interludes shows Saint Laurent examining the portrait Andy Warhol did of him. The designer compliments Warhol, who is sitting at a table next to him, on not putting his signature glasses in the portrait. In the background, there is a man tinkling on the piano; when he walks across the room, it turns out to be Mick Jagger, but the rocker's star power barely registers in this room full of giants.

For the art-minded, looking at pieces you've only seen in books mixed among Saint Laurent's personal effects is exhilarating, and seeing what goes into a grand scale auction is fascinating.

While not as lively as "The September Issue" or as grandiose as "Valentino: The Last Emperor," for fashion fans this film is a must-see. Much of what Saint Laurent contributed to fashion -- trouser suits, car coats, the safari look, Le Smoking, his ultra-posh Russian collection (for which, de la Falaise shares, he created an astounding 400,000 sketches) -- and his bouts with drugs, alcohol and depression, is already well publicized. But "L'Amour Fou" provides intimate personal insight from the one who knew him best.

Get it together for spring – Piperlime certainly has.

The retailer, a division of Gap, Inc., has joined forces with four brands to create pieces to be sold exclusively on Piperlime.com.

Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, Beyond Vintage, Rachel Pally and Ella Moss have each created capsule collections that contain trend-right pieces like floaty floral tops, maxi-dresses, vintage-inspired tunics and printed party frocks. Each item will bear a special tag with the brand's name and the line "Exclusively for Piperlime." Prices start at $90 and will be available exclusively on the retailer's website starting today.

"We were thinking of a lower-priced line when Piperlime came to me," Pally told StyleList. "The prices are significantly less (about half) of what my collection is."

Her capsule of seven dresses is "geared for a younger customer. It's less sophisticated, and not in a bad way," the designer said. "It has a very youthful feel." Her offerings include several dress shapes: one-shouldered, kimono-style, a maxi length, a halter, and more.

While Pally said she does exclusive pieces for other retail customers, the partnership with Piperlime is "really a brand off-shoot," she said, and not the only new collection in the pipeline. "We have something else in the works," she shared. "Everyone is starting to look at the lower price points."

It's their turn.

American design houses Charlotte Ronson, Costello Tagliapietra and Vena Cava made the Spring-Summer roster of collaborators for Uniqlo's Designer Invitation Project.

They join six other brands -- Zechia, Tiny Dinosaur, Suzuki Takayuki, Theatre Products, Nine and Double Standard Clothing -- in creating six-piece capsule collections for the Japanese chain and its 850 stores worldwide.

The first capsule, by Costello Tagliapietra, will hit stores April 21, with Charlotte Ronson following May 5 and Vena Cava landing May 12. Each piece is priced at $29.99 and will only be available until May 21.

"This is our anniversary of first working with Uniqlo last year," Robert Tagliapietra told StyleList. "We were intrigued by creating this capsule under the moniker of T-shirt dressing. It was an interesting exercise," he added because it is so different from the kinds of clothes he and partner Jeffrey Costello usually make.

The resulting dresses are inspired by the high-end Costello Tagliapietra collection. "There's an asymmetric draped dress like one we have in our Spring 2010 collection. There's one with a cinch waist made from ties that creates this pleating that was inspired by a jacket we did several seasons ago," Tagliapietra shared.

"It makes sense for us to work with Uniqlo -- they're very purposeful about quality," he continued. "The clothes they create are mass, but cared for. It's inspiring us about how we could operate in the future."

We can hardly wait.

Country music is all about good times and bad times -- and so is its fashion.

The red carpet and stage of the Academy of Country Music Awards Sunday evening in Las Vegas were perfect to showcase the best and worst that country has to offer.

Check out which looks we loved and which we think need some work (like two of the biggest names of the evening.)