Adolfo Show Creates Some Double Takes
Question: Name an occasion when two women caught wearing the exact same outfit aren’t mortified beyond belief.
Answer: The seasonal unveiling of the Adolfo collection at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, where almost everyone wears almost identical Adolfos.
Although Adolfo was sick with pneumonia and remained in New York this time, his most loyal Los Angeles customers were lined up like soldiers earlier this week for the showing of his spring creations. Seated in the following order were Betsy Bloomingdale, Chardee Trainer, Harriet Deutsch, Erlenne Sprague, Virginia Milner, Marion Jorgensen and Betty Wilson.
Wilson was wearing a suit that did not appear to be an Adolfo knit, but the others were definitely wearing designs by their favorite suit maker. Trainer and Milner both wore identical kelly green suits, although neither one seemed to mind. Trainer, however, did point out that “Ginny’s has black in it,” while hers had navy.
On the other side of the runway sat the Chanel-clad contingent, including Candy Spelling in Chanel couture (“I’m a bad girl--oh well”), Annette O’Malley and Maxine Bookman. Nancy Vreeland was one of the only women in trousers. Elsewhere were Barbara Davis, Keith Kieschnick and Suzanne Marx, all in Adolfo.
Everyone agreed that the collection was “very Adolfo,” as Davis put it, adding that she was interested in the nautical-look suits and the short taffeta dresses.
Two From the Line
First Lady Nancy Reagan will be seen wearing at least two dresses from the line: a red-and-white floral gown with a bustle train and low back, and a red-and-white chemise with gold buttons.
This season for the first time, Saks will sell Adolfo separates--jackets, trousers, skirts, blouses. It’s a brand new concept exclusive to Saks, explained the store’s Geri Blakely, an idea born when everyone realized that “the Adolfo customer already has a lot of Adolfo” in her wardrobe, and she may just want to embellish here and there. Prices start at $550 for a silk blouse.
Like Adolfo, Alan Austin is a fashion independent. Ask him what’s new, and the Beverly Hills retailer--a man of few words--just looks perplexed.
“I don’t know,” he says. “I don’t pay much attention to fashion trends.”
Nevertheless, a standing-room-only crowd packed his 17-year-old shop last week to see what he was up to. For spring, that includes gabardine and linen suits in delicious sherbet colors as well as black and white; gray linen Jacquard suits, dresses and pants; and crisp tan poplin separates.
When pressed, Austin offers more information.
“I think jacket shapes are a little closer to the body. Pants will stay just about the same. Straight. A little full coming off the hip. Not tight.”
On skirt lengths, he allows: “I have no stand. They have to please my eye when I work. If they don’t, I say pass.
“I like things that stay around for a while. Things that give you the feeling the person’s comfortable wearing them. I don’t try to make any statements. I do whatever I can creatively, for a concept and a look. And then I pray.”
The Costume Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art received a gift last week of a black-velvet-and-silk-taffeta gown with a low back, designed by Bill Blass. Size: 10. Value: $2,500.
The designer wasn’t there for the presentation, but his public relations director, Tom Fallon, said the dress was worn by Pat (Mrs. William F. Jr.) Buckley to a Metropolitan Museum gala in New York in 1980.
“I remember Pat saying that even with no back that dress was so hot because of the velvet,” Fallon said with a laugh.
Troubled Look
The gown was presented at I. Magnin, along with a showing of Blass’ spring collection. Afterward, Keith Kieschnick, president of the Music Center’s Blue Ribbon, appeared troubled.
“It’s kind of frustrating,” she explained. “I love Bill Blass. I love the prints and some of the colors. But this time I thought: ‘I’m too short for some of that.’ I tell you, it’s a definite motivation to lose another five pounds,” said Kieschnick, who is 5-foot, 4-inches tall.
Fallon reassured her that other customers her size don’t have any problems.
“Mrs. Reagan is the same height as you. It’s all to do with the proportions. You need to keep the silhouette narrow at the skirt. A fuller skirt is wrong for you. You don’t want to widen yourself out at the bottom,” he advised.
