(Photo: Donna Trope)

The Best Bet
This spring, fashion is playing it cautious: Colors are neutral, and shapes are safely ladylike (pretty dresses, ruffled blouses, high-waisted pants). You’ll need to accessorize with attitude in order to bump these outfits up a notch. Makeup can be just as dramatic as a platform shoe or a gigantic squishy bag, and the current look to have is a densely pigmented magenta mouth, meticulously outlined and filled in to a fare-thee-well. Yves Saint Laurent’s Rouge Pur lipstick No. 19 in fuchsia pink ($26.50 at Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Ave., nr. 50th St.; 212-753-4000) will do the trick: It’s a deep, slightly Pop pink meant for grown-ups, not girls. Wear it with little or no other makeup to make sure your message gets through loud and clear.