In a surprisingly fascinating photo essay, New York Mag reveals a denim gender reversal happening in the tween set. The magazine put a bunch of tweens and jeans in a room and let them pick their dream pair. Of the 10 kids, four chose skinnies. Obviously, that is not the surprising part. The surprising part is this: Every single kid in skinnies is a boy! Genius!

Fierce imagery, buttery leather and not a logo in sight. Margiela’s “Loup” bag makes me hungry like the wolf!

Credit: Maison Martin Margiela, 810 euros (untold numbers of dollars).

I wore a dress just like this gauzy-topped marvel by Marc Jacobs for my first meeting with my in-laws. It only took 10 years till they let me marry their son.

Marc Jacobs and I have entered a new phase in our relationship: the tentative embrace. After years of derivative, ugly design and misogynistic provocation, my onetime nemesis has turned a corner and the grown-up thing to do is to acknowledge it. First came the Charlie Rose interview that made me realize his prolific collaboration dovetails neatly with a true generosity of spirit. Next came The New Yorker profile in which he revealed himself to be not only hilariously entertaining, if not completely meshugah, but also in possession of a very forward-thinking viewpoint of ownership — a refreshing change in such a nostalgic industry.

And then there was the collection that came down the runway Monday night. In a word: Awesome. The clothes are flattering, modest yet glamorous, and they are in possession of a distinct, progressive viewpoint that telegraphs hope in a newly earnest, sleeves-rolled-up kind of way.

A lot of fashion people are talking about evocations of 1930s glamour and YSL’s 1978 “Broadway Suit” collection. But I see Jacobs’s collection being about right now. If we get Obama into the White House — shemah yisrael — yes, there will be glamour but there will also be lots of unglamorous, get-your-hands-dirty work to do if we are to better our society in the way liberals have traditionally done. And that is what these clothes are for — especially if your name is Michelle Obama.