FASHION retailers, as battered as they’ve been over the last couple of years, have been pretty upbeat about the fall collections. One reason is the popular layering trend, in which designers have shown jackets over vests over sweaters over dresses, and putting together those looks in their stores will logically require customers to make multiple purchases.  WHAT A FEELING Clockwise from top left, leg warmers at Thakoon, Derek Lam, Rag & Bone and Alexander Wang.  One of those layers in particular has excited retailers, as it represents a potential revival of a category that was long ago ceded to dance-wear specialists and juniors chains at the mall. That would be leg warmers. Variations were shown at Rag & Bone, for men and women; at Michael Kors; in the first look of the Thakoon collection; at Derek Lam; and, with extra-long ones all over the runway, at Alexander Wang.  “Those Alexander Wang ones will be on the top of every cool girl’s hot list for sure,” said Beth Buccini, an owner of Kirna Zabête in SoHo.  Her partner, Sarah Easley, added that the look would be a natural complement to all the short skirts and dresses that designers are showing for fall. It did not appear to faze them that many of the guests who attended Mr. Wang’s show walked away with the impression that he had scoured for inspiration among transsexual streetwalkers. Ms. Easley pointed out that she often wears leg warmers to work out.  “I love the dance roots of them,” she said.  It has been so long since leg warmers were last in fashion — “Flashdance” was released in 1983 — that a new generation of young women might appreciate them with a fresh eye, as they have cottoned to other trends of the ’80s like neon sunglasses and slouchy sweatshirts and harem pants.  “It’s probably the last bit of territory of the ’80s we haven’t yet touched,” Ms. Buccini said.
Layers have retailers optimistic about the fall collections, but leg warmers in particular have made a special comeback.