Fashion 88 : Holidays Call for the Classic Party Dress

In the heyday of froufrou fashion, just a few seasons back, the elegance of a simple, all-purpose evening suit was a bit too drab to make news. But times changed--more quickly than usual--and the Barbie Doll phenomenon deflated faster than you could say Lacroix.

Instead of poufs, petticoats and other outlandish embellishments, an understated opulence has taken hold. Women in need of theater, restaurant or party clothes are reaching for slim-line suits or dresses with jackets, the kind of outfits that can work for almost any after-six event except a full-dress ball.

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Retailers probably weren’t prepared for the return to sanity. While sales figures for other categories of clothes have been sluggish, the simply styled, almost-classic silk, velvet and beaded evening outfits have been sailing out of stores.

Albert Nipon’s rose-print suit, for example, is a hit at Robinson’s Beverly Hills and Santa Barbara branches, perhaps because it combines so many timeless elements: a slim skirt, shawl lapels and stitching to stiffen the jacket peplum.

The black sequin dress shown on Page 1, with spaghetti-strap bodice, at Bullock’s stores, is basically a remake of all those slip-top dresses Jean Harlow wore. It is colorized, to a degree, by a classic jacket with an argyle sequin pattern in white, silver and black.

Givenchy’s dotted dress that ties to one side with a large bow is, at $1,700, a bit too expensive for many women. But big spenders seem to love the retrospective, wrap-and-tie styling and the fact that the dress offers the conservative, covered-up quality of a suit.

And as we went to press, the velvet suit with rhinestones scattered on the jacket, by Julie Duroche, was almost sold out at Nordstrom, I. Magnin, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.