A Long, Lean Look at Jump-Suits

Jumpsuits have never really been out. They’ve just been lying low since World War II, when thousands of Rosie-the-Riveter types went to work in factories, replacing the guys who had gone to war. Jumpsuits in those days, practical and protective, were worn by Winston Churchill “at the front” and by the world’s working men. But once women zipped into them, they never really zipped out.

Sophia Loren told The Times a few years back that she loved a zip-front, elastic-waist jumpsuit she had gotten from the L.A. firm Saint Germain. George Rudes, who heads the company, says he’s been making that same zippered jumpsuit style for years, and “it’s as big a hit in ’88 as it was a decade back.”

Jumpsuits can make a woman look taller and slimmer because of the simplicity of design, he said. This year, his best-selling fabric is brightly colored washable silk, at $125, and “stores can’t keep it in stock.”

Actress Stefanie Powers took a load of jumpsuits on her last trip to Africa, designer Sandra Garratt said. Garratt, who designs for Multiples, said the suits Powers bought are big and baggy but can be fitted to the body by wearing a stretchy tube around the hips or waist. She explained: “There’s nothing new about jumpsuits, except that current styles are much more comfortable to wear.” Advances in fabric technology have expanded options in design.

Eddie Fernandez, an L.A. stylist-about-town, remembers winning a 1978 “American Bandstand” dance contest on nationwide TV while wearing a white, zip-front jumpsuit purchased at a Judy’s store.

“Jumpsuits were the rage that year, when I was 17,” Fernandez said, seeming to recall the entire unisex/disco era at the mere mention of the jumpsuit style.

This year, for reasons unknown, designers all over the world have discovered the jumpsuit--again. In Paris, Jean Paul Gaultier’s versions are exquisitely simple and loose. In New York, Geoffrey Beene’s versions are fitted and complex. Isaac Mizrahi, Calvin Klein, Michael Leva, Michael Kors and Mary Ann Restivo are among other New York designers to join the jumpsuit trend for fall.

In L.A., designer Michelle Lamy said: “I never liked jumpsuits. Six months ago I would have said I’d never wear one. Now I am designing them and wearing them. Maybe you can explain it; I certainly can’t.”