It's time to put away the bulky sweaters and heavy coats.

Anyone who has been flipping through the pages of any fashion magazine will have noticed that the wintry, dark grey days are over.

Cool blues, hot pinks, soft lavenders and crisp whites are making news this Spring, in a nutshell -- colour is back with a vengeance.

And thanks to Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow and "that dress'', feminine pink is set to become `the colour' for this year.

"Pink is hot thanks to Gwyneth,'' said Smith's buyer Diane Barritt. "The ice colours are also strong, like ice blue. Silver is coming back really strong -- the millennium colour is silver.'' Ms Barritt said women could skirt the tricky issue of hemlines this year by picking up something long or they could avoid the issue altogether by sporting a pair of trendy Capri pants.

"Capri pants, in any colour is definitely in,'' she said. "And draw-string pants are quite popular.'' Ms Barritt said linen will be the fabric of choice for the stylish woman this Spring and anything that has a bit of stretch in it will be top sellers.

"Stretch is the word for this Spring and Summer,'' she explained. "It can be in anything, a skirt, pants, tops -- its all about comfort.

"And linen is so big now, you will be seeing a lot of it used in everything from junior lines to top designer lines. It is so strong.'' For the young set, Ms Barritt said active wear and the hippie look were set to be all the rage this year.

"For juniors, the look is going back to the peace and love look,'' she explained. "Denim has trim and ribbons on the bottoms and pheasant blouses will be popular.

"The active-wear look is really huge too, anything with stripes down the sides.'' Shirley Richardson of Trims Plus said the Front Street store planned to welcome spring with bright colours.

"Spring with us is bright,'' she said. " We have a wide assortment of colours, we have a little bit of everything.

"Linen is very popular,'' she added. "Everyone seems to love linen.

"We have also jumped on some trends like the twin set. We have a lot of those.'' Ms Richardson also said that the longer dresses and flowing skirts were en vogue for the plus-sized woman.

But she said that this was the season of choice and women could follow their own style and tastes.

"Everyone is doing their own thing now,'' she said.

Keith Maderios of the Aston Gunn and the English Sports Shop said the well-dressed man will be sporting plenty of natural fibres and shades of blue this Spring.

"Blue is making a huge reoccurrence in men's fashion at the moment,'' he said. "For men, blue is a great colour.'' Colours back with a vengeance! And he said that no wardrobe would be complete without a pair of trendy cargo pants.

"Must haves are a pair of cargo pants in either khaki or green and flat front, drawstring anything -- pants or shorts,'' Mr. Maderios said. "If they are pants, the legs should be quite full, but not flared.

"A great look, that is very big in Italy, is the new safari shirts,'' he added. "But they are not the safari shirt of yesterday, these are a nice tailored safari shirt.

"A black one is deadly, especially when worn with khaki cargo pants or draw string pants and a pair of thick soled sandals.'' For the business man, a shirt with classically elegant French cuffs is a must for Spring 1999.

"The French cuff is what's happening now,'' he said. "A blue and white stripped French cuffed shirt with a nice pair of cuff links -- that's big and will be that way until the fall.'' Mr. Maderios said the reemergence of the French cuff shirt was in part due to the popularity of the four-buttoned suit.

"The four-buttoned suit, as opposed to the three buttoned suit, is in,'' he said. "But with the four-buttoned jackets, the shirts were just getting lost underneath them, hence the popularity of the French cuff -- you can still see the shirt under the sleeve.''