CRI听力: New York Fashion

Ronald Burton, 20, is studying fashion merchandising at the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising in New York City. When he's not studying, he's shopping for the must-have clothes for Fall 2009.

One of Burton's favorite stores is Seven New York in New York's trendy SoHo neighborhood. A single shirt here can cost as much as a few hundred dollars, but since Burton is a student on a budget, he keeps his spending under control by limiting himself to just the occasional splurge.(www.hXen.com)

Keeping Ronald Burton up to speed on what is "in" at every price level is the job of Jane Keltner, Teen Vogue's fashion news director. When it comes to youth fashion, Kelter has her finger on the pulse. Kelter says,

"The biggest trend we are seeing at Teen Vogue and that we are most excited about and that you will see in our magazine is personal style. It's all about the way you put the look together - mixing high and low, throwing in unexpected accessories, twisting a crazy scarf around your neck, piling mix-and-match bracelets up one arm - and this is coming out of the street style blog phenomenon."

"Street style" blogs like The Sartorialist have experts like Kelter checking their sites for trends as much as they check the runway shows. According to Kelter, these blogs have helped fashion trends spread all over the world.

"A lot of the trends are overarching. You'll see the same things in London as you see in New York and in Moscow, but that said, I think the way that those things are styled is very specific to places."

And this season, while there are certain things in fashion, like neon colors and animal prints, Kelter says there isn't one strict look.

Back at Ronald Burton's apartment, stacks of fashion magazines from all over the world crowd the shelves. His collection of fashion magazines stands right next to one of his prized possessions, a gold Dolce and Gabbana bomber jacket. That, along with countless other pieces of his wardrobe, hearkens back to the 1980s, when his parents were his age. Burton said,

"I saw my mom's prom dress was like this exaggerated shoulder thing that showed up in the collection of Dolce and Gabbana this fall/winter, so it is defiantly crazy. For a lot of my girl friends, you know, they are pulling out granny's vintage bags and shoes and hats and dresses and they are just rocking out with it. And so it is definitely something that is coming up, and defiantly the parents and the grandparents are reminding you that you know we definitely did this already."

Burton says it's pretty easy for him keep up with the latest trends because he lives in one of the world's fashion centers, but he advises the young and fashionable who live outside the big city to read blogs.

"Magazine subscriptions are down. You know people just aren't interested in spending that much money anymore, but with a fashion blog it is almost like no matter where you are, you can kind of access this life of fashion."

For China drive, I'm Huangrui.