If two is a trend, then black lipstick is already making a splash at New York Fashion Week presentations as the must-have lip shade for Fall 09. It was seen first at Rachel Roy yesterday, then Catherine Holstein. At the former, Roy showcased sleekly silhouetted “monochromatic looks in a cool palette of ivory, pale yellow, ice blue, gray and black and a single marble print,” says WWD. While the collection was distinctly fresh, the hair and makeup (coal-colored lips included) recycled that of YSL 08.

At Catherine Holstein, her FW09 collection was drastically more downtown, with flannel, gray jerseys, and LBDs a plenty. Though Holstein’s troupe of models' pursed lips came in the same black shade as Roy, the overall look was significantly more witchy (think: The Craft, or, as Coutorture’s Megan Zanke remarked, Luella 08). But perhaps even more noteworthy than the crimped hair or black lips is the fact that Holstein’s FW09 collection will be priced lower than seasons past. A red plaid oversized blazer, worn scrunched up around the elbows at the presentation yesterday, will retail for a cool $350 -- definitely a far safer bet than tar-stained lips.