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NEW YORK, December 18, 2007 After adding resort to her repertoire earlier this year, Rachel Roy was back in expansion mode today, showing off her first-ever pre-fall collection. Her starting point here was the American southwest, an inspiration that showed up in a subtle, earthy color palette. Toning down her signature embellishments, she stuck instead to plays on texture with metallic paillettes, fringes, and tone-on-tone embroidery. Feminine, day-to-night dresses included a brocade shift (paired with a cardigan for the office or worn bare for evening) and a short, bright yellow number covered in a neo-flapper fringe. A sleeveless waxed linen vest worked as well with skinny, cactus-green pants as it did on its own as a dress. That sort of versatility is a theme with this line and should certainly help tip the scales in Roy's favor come buying time.

Joanna Rodger