Forget the pastoral pink rose all over last decade's chintz. So unsophisticated. Everything's coming up roses — in graphic black and white.

Fashion designer Phillip Lim based his spring collection on the white rose. Known for combining formal and casual dress, Lim embellished a white T-shirt dress with hand-sculpted rosettes (www.31philliplim.com).

Less dreamy is Tobias Wong's "ballistic rose" brooch (citizen -citizen.com). Made of ballistic nylon, Wong says, the bulletproof bloom is "a high-tech talisman for the tender-hearted."

If that's too much, try one of Catherine Weitzman's necklaces of small black blooms made from oxidized sterling silver (catherineweitzman.com).

The roses are good and evil, night and day — because sometimes life really is black and white.