In my previous post on Fashion Week, I noted that the unfortunate grunge look of the early 1990s was, in part, a reaction to the over-the-top, big-shouldered, bubble-skirted, brightly colored 1980s. Now, one of grunge’s chief architects, Marc Jacobs, has given us cartoon versions of that very same ’80s look.

I get it and I love Marc, but, to reference the title of the New York Magazine article that famously summed up that era (those socialites! those dresses!), we are once again “Dancing on the Lip of a Volcano.” As the volcano is a tad more threatening this time around, I can say with some conviction that I don’t want to be staring it down in outfits like the ones worn by the girls in line with me at Studio 54 after it was already pretty much over.

The show itself — The makeup! The towering hair! The soaring shoulders! — was pure entertainment, and God knows, we need some right now. It reminded me of my new favorite TV show, "Life on Mars," in which the protagonist has landed in the New York City of 40 years ago, complete with Harvey Keitel in white, slip-on shoes. You had to grin at the parade of party girls from another time. But will anyone buy the clothes? I suppose there are some Park Avenue princesses left — perhaps Jason Wu’s ethereal tiaras were a hopeful nod to them — but will they wear Marc’s short, yellow bubble with the asymetrical top to the Young Friends of the Frick? There were great coats, and I wanted to snatch the first look — man-tailored charcoal trousers and a slouchy cardigan in paler gray with fabulous detail — right off the model (it reminded me of an upscale version of Marc’s own usual all-American uniform of khakis and Keds).

Still, I’m putting my money in the far more understated glamour of Carolina Herrera and Prabal Gurung, whose best looks channeled the sadly departed Yves St. Laurent, the only designer Gurung ever heard of growing up in Nepal. You could do far worse. I still wear YSL pieces that are more than a decade old. Somehow, I think that’s the timelessness that even women who can still afford lots of clothes want. It’s not about the flash. It’s not the year for, “Oh my God, you nailed the No. 7 look at the Jacobs show!” Rather, it’s, “Where in the world did you manage to find that terrific jacket?”