Fashion 88 : Variety Is the Spice for Fall
The leggy look is alive and well on Italian runways. But those who still haven’t acquired a taste for it will find an amazing number of other options for fall. In fact, if retailers adopt all the styles shown on designer runways these past three days, stores will be crammed with short, long and longer dresses along with pants outfits of every description.
Buyers here for the shows say they were relieved when it finally became evident that short skirts are still running rampant for next season.
“It would be unfair to women if designers had suddenly shifted course and dropped their hemlines precipitously,” said Monty Ventura, fashion director of Bullocks.
“We’ll be seeing a little bit of everything, including short skirts,” said Basha Cohen, fashion director of Associated Merchandising Corp.
‘Everything Goes These Days’
Joan Kaner, fashion director of Macy’s, said she was “happy to see top-of-the-knee hemlines along with everything else.”
“It wouldn’t be right to direct customers into a trend and then rush them right out of it, but it’s really time to stop saying that women should wear all this or all that,” she said. “Everything goes these days.”
Kaner’s own skirt was just above the knee, a length she says she’ll continue to wear for fall.
“I like top of the knee or quite long,” she said, pronouncing anything just below the knee “a little bit dowdy, especially for those with good legs.” There wasn’t a dowdy minute at the Byblos show Tuesday morning. Designers Keith Varty and Alan Cleaver began with a monotone tableau of oyster-color wools: suits with short jackets and wide pants cropped at the ankle. Suits with short skirts and fitted jackets. Suits with ankle-sweeping circle skirts topped with nipped-waistline jackets. Another group teamed black and white tweed jackets with lantern-shaped tapestry print skirts that stopped at mid-thigh, and yet more tweed jackets were shown with wide velvet trousers.
The most applause went to a monotone group of pantsuits in exquisite chalky pastels. These had loose jackets, wide-leg pants and turtlenecks dyed to match the same confectioner’s colors. Brilliant red, purple and pink Tyrolean embroidery festooned black jackets shown with black velvet riding pants tucked into boots, and some ankle-length skirts were embellished with Turkish embroidery in gold below matching bolero jackets. The audience loved it all.
More Sophisticated Look
Gianfranco Ferre caters to a more sophisticated crowd. His show Monday night offered lots of red, black and white in a variety of sleek dress and pants shapes. A red rib-knit dress flaired from the shoulder to a few inches above the knee. A short black slim suit had double-breasted gold buttons on the skirt as well as the jacket. And there was an abundance of pants, usually belted at the waistline beneath short jackets and white blouses with stiffened collars that projected toward the chin or out in front.
Accessories buffs applauded Ferre’s use of a circle of fox fur. Sometimes it was wrapped around the shoulders for a portrait neckline effect; at other times it showed up around the waistline or hips to dress up the simplest slim knit dresses or pants outfits. For a bit of glitter, Ferre attached what looked like gold Slinkys to the edges of cardigan jackets or around dress necklines and sleeves. One evening outfit was composed of a black mink strapless bodice above gray pinstripe pants. The finishing touch was a huge black lace hanky spilling out of the bosom. Also for evening, a bunch of shiny fake grapes was attached to evening jackets also adorned with appliques and embroidery, shown with satin pants.
Furs From Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld’s furs for Fendi took the prize for undiluted opulence. Mink, fox, lynx, sable and broadtail were worked into patterns resembling plowed rice paddies, parquet floors, corduroy and crushed velvet, then shaped into a staggering variety of long and short capes and coats. The Fendis have now mastered the art of fur smocking, as well as bonding one kind of fur to another, so that a leopard coat can reverse to mink or sable.
The most dramatic shape was a trapezoid style that slanted from a high, shawl collar neckline straight down to the sleeves, with no shoulder definition at all. Lagerfeld’s daytime ready-to-wear for Fendi was a bit ambivalent as to lengths. He showed knit outfits with long, slim skirts beneath tunic tops that could be worn as dresses if the wearer wants a higher hemline. It was an unusually on-the-fence approach. Some evening dresses, however, were unequivocally short. These were mostly black and featured ruffled tulle.
