The Stone Age

By Janice M. Horowitz

HOW IT STARTED Stones popular in the '70s are making a comeback

JUDGMENT Nice reprise, but could be a problem at the dry cleaner

Fred and Wilma would be hip: rocks are in. Today's trendiest fashion houses are studding pants, blouses, bags and belts with enough of them to fill a quarry. A Bill Blass evening gown is strewn with coral beads; Valentino adorns a pants-and-top set with turquoise and coral; and the extra-wide strap on Marni's messenger bag is festooned with rhinestones.

Some stones are unabashedly faux, nothing more than plastic made to look like garnet or jade. But this season's top rock is genuine turquoise, valued for its warmth and earthy appeal. "It's all about the ethnic, folkloric point of view. And what says that more than turquoise?" asks Ken Downing, fashion spokesman for Neiman Marcus. "It was such a great look in the '70s, it had to come around again." And again. Word is that turquoise and other rocks will dominate the fall collections, though renewed interest in episodes of The Flintstones seems remote.

--By Janice M. Horowitz