Soft, More Feminine Ladylike Look Is In

The faithful had gathered in the lingerie department, 300 of them sandwiched somewhere between the bras and teddies, to hear Beverly Purcell spread a bit of fashion gospel.

“In the ‘80s, women had to look efficient. We feel it’s time to move on. It’s time for a more feminine look,” preached Purcell, a petite blonde in a smart, cream-colored jacket.

Nobody doubted her word, for these commandments of spring, 1990, had been handed down from a place on high: Vogue magazine.

Purcell, a merchandising editor for Vogue, recently joined with Robinson’s in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, to present a spring fashion preview to benefit Priority Living, Professional Women’s Division, a personal growth and leadership group for business women.

As her visit illustrated, Vogue carries considerable clout in influencing fashions.

Purcell serves as a kind of special envoy for the magazine, working with retailers such as Robinson’s to “plot out Vogue’s fashion point of view using what’s in the store.”

She conducts fashion shows in stores around the country to show customers how to dress like the women in the pictures of her slick magazine. She acts as a liaison between retailers and Vogue’s fashion editors, who in turn work with designers to stay on top of trends.

If Vogue’s predictions for spring prove true, then the season will bring a crop of Jackie Kennedy look-alikes. This new-old look, dubbed “Lady’s Day” at the Robinson’s show, calls for softer, more feminine clothing.

While “Camelot” played on a stereo system and photographs from Vogue flashed on a small screen, Purcell ushered in the first lanky models. They appeared on the runway wearing teased bouffant hairdos, cat-eye sunglasses, strands of pearls, short skirts and wide headbands that emphasized smooth foreheads.

“The ‘60s!” buzzed several women seated on fold-out chairs.

“It’s a very ladylike look,” Purcell said. “It’s a tribute to Jackie Kennedy or Audrey Hepburn in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s.’ ”

A tribute, but not a carbon copy.

The ‘90s version of Camelot is softer, Purcell said, lacking the rigid look of ‘60s styles. The sleeveless chemise is back, but designers have tapered in the shift at the waist to accent the figure.

“Dresses wrap gently around the body. They don’t grab.”

Jackets have softer shoulders--pads are out, Purcell declared--and they’re longer, often falling to the thighs. They flow with a pair of walking shorts or a short skirt. To convey the look, Purcell chose an elegant lineup of silk jackets, blouses, straight skirts and shorts, including a peach-colored set of linen shorts and matching jacket with a silk blouse by Anne Klein II.

Vogue shows models wearing the softer clothes with a half-dozen strands of choker-length pearls and “gutsy-sized” earrings.

“Accessories are very bold in size. There are lots of big gold bracelets,” said Purcell, showing a slide of an arm laden with heavy bangles. “Do we really feel you should wear 10 bracelets? Only if you’re in the mood. It looks pretty in the picture.”

Vogue predicts sorbet colors will bloom for spring in clothing and cosmetics. Instead of a sweet “candy pink,” there’s a palette of pinks in softer tones and stronger textures, such as suede or brushed leather. The editors also expect white to replace black as the uniform color in the ‘90s.

“White is key, whether it’s pure or in shades of cream. It’s less harsh than black,” Purcell said. She put the models in combinations of white and cream, once a fashion no-no, and proved that an ivory silk jacket by DKNY can look terrific with a white knit skirt by Liz Claiborne.

Warmer, richer colors and contrasting black and white polka dots will flourish through the season as well. Orange, in hot hues or pale corals, is “making news for spring,” Purcell said.

“There are still a lot of Crayola brights, a lot of dots and a lot of florals,” she said. One model sported a flouncy bustler dress by A.J. Bari in iridescent coral taffeta.

Sling-back shoes in pastel colors, hosiery in natural, ivory or champagne shades and short hair styles complete the look for spring, she said. Hemlines can be short or long, “depending on what’s appropriate,” although it’s clear that Vogue’s editors prefer them short. To get hemlines as short as the magazine portrays them, models who measured 5-feet-9 and up wore skirts from Robinson’s petite department.

Purcell was a merchandising editor for Vogue in 1968, then she left to raise her children and work as an interior designer, before returning to the magazine in 1979. She’s married to a pediatrician and lives with her combined family of six children in San Antonio, Tex.

“I have one of those jobs where most of the work is done on the telephone,” she said.

She spends 12 to 14 weeks in New York planning promotions and holding fashion seminars in Vogue’s offices, and travels frequently throughout the year, appearing at promotions.

She finds out where styles are headed from Vogue’s fashion editors.

“They work with actual designers. A designer may do a skirt and the editors will say, ‘That looks great, but do you think you can . . . ‘ They can make suggestions to the designers. Whether the designers take them or not is questionable.”

Once the editors identify trends, Purcell contacts retailers to discuss the magazine’s point of view on the upcoming season. She presents fashion seminars for buyers before they purchase their seasonal lines to give them Vogue’s viewpoints.

Vogue’s input is important.

Retailers know they had better buy pearls, if the magazine shows them piled high on their models’ swan-like necks.

Purcell’s in-store fashion shows spread Vogue’s word to customers across the country.

Ever the diplomat, she swears no town is more fashion-savvy than the next.

“My own theory is that wherever you go, you’ll find that fashion-forward customer. It doesn’t matter if you’re in New York or Montana. You’ll find that customer who will fly to Chicago to do their shopping.”

The most common fashion blunder she sees: People who overdo a new trend or wear clothes that aren’t right for them, just because they’re “in.”

“Fashion-victims get carried away by trends,” she said. After seeing styles come and go for decades, she can take clothes a little less seriously.

“You have to be amused by this whole world of fashion,” she said.