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Classic and quirky: '60s styles have modern accents |
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Written by Jackie White — MCT
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
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Fall fashion is a roller-coaster ride at the fair grounds, a trip through the house of mirrors and a picture puzzle where the pieces don't always fit.
You get the feeling you're looking at something pleasantly familiar, but you can't quite remember how or when you knew it.
That's how it's going on the runways as New York Fashion Week rolls on in midtown Manhattan.
The shows, which end Friday night, numbered more than 100 around the city. They are managed by IMG, a sports marketing company that owns the franchise.
You need not expect drastic style shifts: no space outfits or crotch-high hems. Think instead of quirky abstract geometric prints mixed with metallics and lean knits. Picture short pleated swing jackets, ankle-cropped cuffed pants, floppy brimmed hats and boxy skirts. It's a bit of the `60s. Remember snug knits? It has the dressy quality of the 1950s.
The clothes are interesting and often compelling, with as many as three textiles in one outfit. Accessories are, well, different. Models sometimes wear socks with chunky high heels or emerald green ankle boots and long gloves. Print chiffon, satin, boucle, metallic tweeds and lingerie-light jerseys are part of the mix.
Designers aren't straying far from reality. Silhouettes are classic. They want to lure a consumer who has clothes, thank you, to buy more.
Badgley Mischka, known best for beautifully detailed red-carpet evening gowns, opened with a bronze fly-away wool taffeta jacket, matching full skirt and brimmed hat all clearly for day.
There were hounds tooth and glen plaid sparked jackets you might wear to a board meeting. Brocade, boucle, Lurex tweed and a rich evergreen leaf print satin dress are also part of the lunchtime wardrobe.
When the focus turned to evening, the design team chose consistently beautiful. For cocktails, we loved the black satin shirt dress with a narrow row of ruffles down the front. For the gala, it was emerald chiffon, a leopard print chiffon strapless gown and a toss of lace, sequins and feathers.
"Desperate Housewives" actress Teri Hatcher is under contract as an ad model to this house. We can't wait to see what she wears if the Oscars go forward.
The Tory Burch collection seemed at times like a crazy quilt. It was a textile stack, pitting the likes of lame and chiffon in a frenetic geometric pattern in one outfit. Some of the clothes were as complex as an art show; others were simple and well shaped.
One striking long-sleeve black cable knit with a high, squared neckline had no embellishment save for a shiny sequin belt. It was this line, at a Rockefeller Center gallery, where models wore mostly high-heeled chunky shoes with oddly colored socks.
Burch is a socialite who started designing what she wanted to wear and soon gained a strong commercial following.
Meanwhile, Monique Lhuillier is a familiar name to red-carpet trackers. Certainly her affluent celebrity clientele was her muse for fall. She blew out all the stops in the name of luxury with miles of embroidery, lace, chiffon and peacock feathers worked into the fabrics. An olive green strapless dress has a close-fitting embroidered top that runs into an ostrich skirt.
Other details included petals layered across the front and draping that created a bustle effect in back. The models' hair was simply rolled under for a subtle Puritan suggestion, a stark contrast to the oh-wow luxury.
The celebrity quotient seems down. The contingent includes young, mostly blond actresses, but Susan Sarandon was reported to be at Diane von Furstenberg, and Tyra Banks was making the rounds.
Sophia Bush and Jaime King, celebrity regulars through the week, took it all in from the front row at Lhuillier. "Law & Order" actress Jennifer Missoni came to Cynthia Steffe. So did Nigel Barker from"America's Next Top Model."
At Steffe, the aesthetic was said to be inspired by "the capriciousness of nature." The styles were pretty and wearable and included both short "sculpted" and loose, rounded jackets. Pants were also loose and often cropped with wide cuffs.
Hand-knit sweaters, fitted tweed dresses, hounds tooth skirt and coat and print chiffon dresses were mixed and matched.
Whether it's a symbol of the Earth-friendly conservation movement or just another come-around-goes-around trend is uncertain.
Green in everything from apple to emerald is a runaway for year's end. If it is seen in a leaf print, long gloves or mixed with saffron, black or deep blue, green is a hit.
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