New York Fashion Week: Diane von Furstenberg shows how to live like a man, but dress like a woman

Diane von Furstenberg may have had the best inspiration line ever in her show notes: "I always wanted to live a man's life in a woman's body."

What did it mean? A study in contrasts, masculine meets feminine, hard against soft -- a chiffon-rosette-embroidered bolero worn over a double-breasted heather-gray pantsuit, a black-felted wool blazer over a pleated school girl glitter-jacquard skirt, and a bronze-sequin jacket over a red-print chiffon dress.

It added up to lots of the versatile, wear-everywhere pieces that keep women coming back to DVF, including the perennial wrap dress, done for evening in black jersey with ruffled organza cap sleeves.

The designer also excelled at offering pieces with details that looked special for the money, such as a black-felted wool sheath dress and sweater jacket with artful metallic chain mail insets at the bottom, that have already made it onto at least one editor's fall shopping list.

New York Fashion Week : Zac Posen, Thakoon tire out while Peter Som gets his second wind

With lackluster collections from Jason Wu, Thakoon Panichgul and Zac Posen, I was beginning to worry that New York Fashion Week was experiencing a young designer burnout.

It's easy to see how it could happen, with the pressure to make headlines and reinvent season after season -- and now in the pre-seasons, too.

But not every designer has the boundless imagination to be an Alexander McQueen. (It's possible even McQueen was having trouble keeping up, and that it led to his death.) And not every designer should try.