New York Fashion Week is always my favorite fashion show of the year. It features the top designers debuting the hottest trends and coolest colors for the upcoming season. The Project Runway finalists also present their collections for the television show's finale. New York Fashion Week Spring 2009 did not disappoint, but some of the styles were a bit surprising.

Jumpsuits, No Really
I admit it, some of these trends are probably not ideal for the average person, but it is always exciting to get a glimpse of the next hot trend. Ralph Lauren, Max Azria and Proenza Schouler are just some of the designers who featured jumpsuits. I normally associate jumpsuits with Joe the plumber, but these were very elegant and fashionable. Tyra Banks wore a jumpsuit on a recent episode of her hit talk show Tyra and, thanks to her height, looked very stylish.

Ruffles
Look for more ultra feminine ruffled fashions in stores next spring. Oscar de la Renta, Betsey Johnson and Carolina Herrera unveiled beautiful ruffled gowns. Some styles were sophisticated and accented with ruffles for added femininity. True to her eccentric reputation, Betsey Johnson's creations were bright, youthful and over the top.

Floral Prints a la Wisteria Lane
Dresses from Oscar de la Renta and Badgley Mischka featured daring floral prints. The color palette and flattering, body conscious cut of the dresses made them fun and modern, unlike floral prints of the past. This hot trend is perfect for the real world, and I expect to see women of different body types wearing it well.

All American Attire
Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs paid homage to the American flag with red, white and blue fashions. That sounds like a perfect clothing choice for an inaugural year.

Metallic Fabric
Shimmering metallic fashions were also popular with designers including Calvin Klein, Vera Wang, Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren.

Project Runway Showdown
Bravo's Project Runway season five finalists Leanne Marshall, Korto Momolu and Kenley Collins faced off at New York Fashion Week. Their diverse collections also featured ruffles, floral prints and metallic garments. Leanne Marshall ultimately walked away with top honors, but it was very exciting to watch the finalists create a clothing line and participate in a major fashion show.

The most highly anticipated fashion show of the year is the red carpet at the Oscars. For designers it's a chance to shine, and fashion week aside, the most memorable fashion moments for fashion followers in the past 20 years have been Nicole Kidman in chartreuse Dior (high point) and Bjork and her swan apparel (low point for style, high point for humor).

It's a little early for Oscar fashion predictions, since the nominees haven't even been announced yet, but here's a rundown of potential nominees, and what I hope they'll wear in February:

Anne Hathaway: Anne Hathaway is my favorite Jersey girl (she grew up two towns away from me), but she's had a very difficult year. The wattage of her superstar smile has dimmed a bit, but surely winning an Oscar would give it a little more juice. If I were styling Anne, I'd put her in severe black Dior with a "New Look" silhouette; it would show off her alabaster skin to perfection, and John Galliano can go a long way toward helping anyone make the transition from girl to woman.

Angelina Jolie: I guess I'm into high contrast, but Ms. Jolie has the severe look down pat, so I'd like to see her sharp edges blurred a bit (anyone who's the mom to six kids and counting has to be a marshmallow at the core). I envision her in a 1930s-inspired, bias-cut satin Verrier gown (Ashleigh Verrier, protégé to Tim Gunn and one of New York's hottest young designers) in a pale celadon.

Kate Winslet: She's been seen at the Oscars in Badgley Mischka before to great acclaim, but in my opinion, the color could use a little tweaking ... Badgley Mischka, yes. Periwinkle, not so much. I'd love to see her in a soft cinnamon with a neckline that shows off her amazing shoulders.

Amy Adams: Amy Adams has that all-American look about her, which is why I'd dress her in "America's Favorite Designer," Ralph Lauren. There's a beautiful champagne satin party dress in his Black Label line that would look amazing with her coloring, but it's only knee-length. Surely she could make an impact this way by standing out.

Miami Fashion Week will be held from March 19-22, 2009 at SOHO Studios in the Wynwood Art District of Miami. While those of us up the coast tend to think of New York as the fashion center of the United States, we can't forget that Miami is the gateway city for all of Latin America, and there are tons of fashion talent and fashionistas south of the border.

Miami Fashion Week was designed to cater to this enormous and growing market. It's the largest international fashion event in the United States with a focus on Central and South American designers and buyers, but the rest of the world is well-represented too, with fashion media and celebrities from such far-flung places as Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, India, Italy, Pakistan, South Africa, Spain and the United Arab Emirates attending. (I wish they'd had it back when I was in ninth grade, it would have made an excellent topic for my World Cultures report!)

There's much more to Miami Fashion Week than just fashion shows. Events will include seminars on topics such as trends, retail and apparel law, a buyer's salon for clothing, a similar marketplace for jewelry and accessories and, as you would expect from Miami, lots and lots of really cool parties!

Miami Fashion Week is also sponsoring several contests. There's a Student Fashion Designer Competition open to any student currently enrolled in a college level fashion design, management or merchandising program in the U.S. who's able to produce one full outfit for the showcase, which includes shoes and accessories. There's also an Emerging Designer Competition for Florida designers who have been in business from between 2-5 years, have their clothes sold in at least one retail store and are able to produce a full collection. Deadline for entry in these competitions is January 15, 2009, and winners will be announced on February 2. Since Miami is a lifestyle as much as a place, they're also planning a competition for interior and furniture designers, though details on that one are sketchy at the moment. For more information on Miami Fashion Week, visit www.miamifashionweek.com.

For those of us who are bored already with traditional fashion weeks, London Swatch Alternative Fashion Week 2009 presents a good, well, alternative. This event will be held from April 21-25, 2009, at Spitalfields Traders Market (an upscale, elegant version of what we here in the U.S. call a flea market, which centers on fashion and home design items).

London Swatch Alternative Fashion Week is free and features runway shows daily from 1:15 to 2 p.m. Hot, young and up-and-coming designers will present their alternative, inventive designs directly to the public, the press and the fashion industry while competing for a Swatch Individual Designer Award or Swatch College Award in recognition of their originality, creativity or innovative use of designs and recycled textiles.

Twelve designers per day will show their designs to live jazz music, and the event is also an opportunity for new and upcoming models to show off their talent. Categories shown include women's wear, menswear, millinery, shoes, loungewear, lingerie, fetish gear and costuming. Designers who showed last year include Pretty Pervy, Rachel Hines, Richard Shoyemi and Victoria Harley. Jasper Garvida, a Project Catwalk (the UK's version of Project Runway) winner, is the most famous Alternative Fashion Week alumni. This 26-year-old major talent combines old-world elegance with modern sensibility to create collections that are truly worthy of rock royalty. One of the standout pieces from his past collections was a white, off-the-shoulder gown with a ruffled mermaid tail that managed to transcend all clichés except beauty. (I have never seen any garment that would enable you to make more of an entrance, and yet it still enhances the wearer rather than competing with her.) The young designer also showed a richly decadent, floral-patterned skirt paired with a combination corset/cardigan and patterned faux-fur jacket that looked insane in a brilliant way, like Edie Sedgwick raided her grandmother's closet to get dressed to go to the hospital after she burned down the Chelsea Hotel. I write about fashion constantly, and it makes you kind of jaded, but I can truly say that Jasper Garvida is the first designer I've seen in a long time for whom I would be willing to blow my rent money on some of his pieces, so why not go to Alternative Fashion Week 2009 and find the next major talent before he or she becomes out of reach?