Lament of the N.Y. Shows: What’s for Working Women?
Spring fashion week kicked off here Monday with hordes of retailers and press--just back from Europe--lamenting the lack of clothes suitable for working women.
Of course Bill Blass, who headlined the first day’s shows along with Carolina Herrera and Marc Jacobs, does not cater to a nine-to-five crowd, either.
Ivana and Blaine Trump, Betsy Bloomingdale, Estee Lauder, Pat Buckley, Anne Ford Johnson, Fran Stark, Georgette Mosbacher, and Patty Davis Raynes, daughter of Marvin Davis, all held seats front and center.
They applauded madly for his pantsuits, with jackets in baby pink or baby blue, shown with pale chiffon front-wrap blouses and straight-leg trousers in cream color.
The debonair designer stayed with slim and simple lines for daytime, featuring sleeveless shift dresses that skim the body from a sleeveless, high neckline straight to the hem just at the knee.
For evening, Blass pulled out the stops, showing a variety of shapes and fabrics both tailored and romantic. Long, slim, navy silk crepe gowns were topped with crusty white-lace fitted jackets, reembroidered with patches of navy lace. A black sleeveless sequined vest was shown with floor length, knife-pleated pants that were so full and graceful they looked like a skirt. And for the ultimate in throw away chic, Blass lavished clear, see-through sequins on a series of classic, ivory cable-knit sweaters which he teamed with cream-color straight-leg pants.
Romantic evening dresses were of sleeveless chiffon, with scooped-out shoulders and graceful cowl necklines. The skirts were cut on a bias. Blass’ chiffons were in pale solids or combinations of peach, gold and tangerine, many with scarfs flowing from the shoulders.
Estee Lauder thought the clothes were “so beautiful, so fresh, so exquisitely colored that Saks Fifth Avenue ought to put them in all their windows.”
Blass’ palette was actually sparked with sharp tomato red, acid green and tangerine. But it was the pastel shades and ivory that seemed most memorable to the crowd, who hurried straight from the designer’s show at the Hotel Pierre to the show of socialite-turned-designer Carolina Herrera across the street in the grand ballroom of the hotel plaza, recently purchased by Donald Trump. Both Donald Trump and his wife Ivana sat in for this show along with author Fran Lebowitz, Jamie Niven and almost the whole crowd from the previous show.
Herrera offered elegantly trim daytime dresses with jackets, also in pale shades of lemon yellow or gray and white. Skirts were slim, just to the knee and jackets were either long and easily tailored or short with flyaway backs and loose fronts.
Here, too, white and pale shades looked crisp and refreshing after seasons of brilliant color. And here too, shoulders were bared in a variety of dresses for day and evening, many of which were shown with cropped white pants that moved as gracefully as skirts. A group of white brocade jackets with red or black motif were teamed with white evening pants. Glittery threads gleamed on red- or black-and-white check evening jackets, shown over white, bare-shouldered tops with sweetheart necklines and white evening pants. More white pants were offered with glittery navy and white sequined evening jackets. And a series of floaty silk coats wafted above slim white dresses on which bloomed green or pink flowers.
After both of these shows it would be fair to say that white looks right for next spring, that romance is back in terms of color and shape. There was not a harshly padded shoulder, a tight silhouette or a garish color combination in the carload. Jewelry was at a minimum, and chiffon was the fabric of choice. One slim Herrera evening dress could have come from a ‘50s film. It featured pink roses on a white background with a halter neckline and a gently flairing, bias-cut skirt.
Marc Jacobs’ show, earlier in the day was a throwback to “I Love Lucy” and the heyday of Miami Beach as a resort. Grape, aqua, pink, lemon yellow and lime combined in a series of shimmering pastel outfits that included tight capri pants, straight leg trousers and shorts worn with sheer blouses or tailored jackets. Another Jacobs invention for spring is the see-through camp shirt with ric-rac trimming worn over a knit tank top and body-hugging capri pants. He also offered shiny gold leather short shorts with a see-through blouse and a blue tailored blazer. But in among all this 1950s fun were some handsome suits in pastel colors that featured simple, boxy jackets and straight knee-length skirts. These, indeed, were suitable for the office.
