Behold - women who have waists

NEW YORK - The collections presented under the Bryant Park tents last week took inspiration from several previous decades in fashion.But whether designers chose belts or corsets, strategically placed embroidery or tucking shirts into pants, the emphasis was on the natural waistline.

Michael Kors placed wide belts over trenches - think 1940s chic. Kors also used ruching on waistlines and attached oversized bows to gowns to cinch his silhouette.

Michelle Smith's Milly line was more inspired by the 1970s. To belted, long-sleeved coat dresses, she added vests and floppy hats.

Oscar de la Renta went straight for retro luxe, giving an hourglass shape to a tweed coat with a feathered sable hem. The designer also sent velvet and satin gowns down the runway, with full skirts meant to accentuate tiny waists.

Other designers such as Peter Som, Diane von Furstenberg, the eternally youthful Max Azria and former Main Liners Tory Burch and Behnaz Sarafpour opted to leave the girly and focus on the more mature silhouette.

"It's all about women looking like women," Som said. "No more baby dolls or shapeless silhouettes. Let's celebrate the female body, not disguise it."

"It seems weird to say it, but classic is now trendy," said Waleed Khairzada, creative director for Cynthia Steffe. "There is no doubt that we are bringing the shapes back closer to the body, and highlighting the waist makes things less sporty and casual. It's a return of a polished look."

The natural waist first disappeared in contemporary fashion in the late 1990s, when low waists became the norm. Pants went low, skirts went low. And jeans went so low that the term "muffin top" emerged to describe tummy and backside exposure that often happened when women sat down.

Then we saw the exact opposite trend appear, as high-waisted pants and pencil skirts were put on the runways.

From all of these conflicting views, the natural waist has emerged slowly. First, in the fall, oversized tunics were updated with wide belts. While nipped waists were still outdone by empire waists and trapeze-style dresses this spring, shirtdresses and pencil skirts are being paired with thin belts.

A natural-waistline look isn't easy to wear - which is probably why we left it behind 10 years ago. But its reappearance in fashion is in line with fashion pundits' predictions that fashion rules are becoming stricter.

Some of us may want to rebel; after all, this smooth and sleek look reminds us of a time when fashion was much more about status than about self-expression.

But after years of complaints by countless women that sloppy clothing isn't for them, neatness is a welcome change. It may also help Gen Y'ers, who entered the workforce when flip flops were acceptable, learn how to dress up - without being dowdy.

"What I read into this is that we are approaching a point where baby boomers are continuing to affect fashion, as opposed to little Jen who has just stopped eating alphabet soup," said eBay style expert Constance White. "This is definitely a woman's season, with an emphasis on woman as opposed to girl, or worse, girl with a boy figure."

"It's so much more flattering," added Amy Schaeffer, spokeswoman for Saks Fifth Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, who attended the collections this year. "There were so many women who were shut out of pants and the pantsuit because of the low waist. In a city that is as conservative as ours, I predict it will do well."

Fashion, no doubt, is growing up. The question is: Are we ready to grow up with it? The fashions of recent years have spoiled us. We've been hiding - or trying to hide - a multitude of sins under baby-doll dresses. And by squeezing our bottoms into low-waist pants, we have been hoping to hold onto our youth for an undetermined (and unrealistic) length of time.

But the natural waist has no less an advocate than Patricia Field, the creative force behind the outfits of the cultural - and fashion - touchstone Sex and the City. The trendsetter used tons of belts when she dressed the women for the SATC movie this spring, and she was heard saying that the natural waist is making a comeback.

Field is the same woman who dressed Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in head-to-toe Chanel for The Devil Wears Prada, in essence predicting that fashion was taking a dressed-up turn.

And when have we known Field to make a fashion faux pas?