A: Velvet used to be a holiday thing -- the dark green velvet skirt with the embroidered holly berries, the smocked dress a little girl wore to the Nutcracker.

In recent years it has appeared in lighter weights and colors and in more finishes -- stretch velvet, washed velvet, velour, chenilles, panne velvet, burnout velvet -- and has become more and more a fabric for all seasons, much as cashmere has. You even see lightweight pastel velour T-shirts in the middle of summer now.

So I say: Wear your velvet pants and, sure, wear them with high-heeled strapped silk shoes, and don't wear hose if you don't want to, but do if you feel like it -- or if it's really chilly. (Consider knee-high fishnets.) But stay flexible and have a back-up ready just in case: If your event happens to fall on an Indian Summer day when it's 90 degrees in the shade, you'll feel silly in dark velvet.

Patricia McLaughlin is a nationally syndicated fashion columnist.
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