Designers Resort to the ‘60s : Fashion: Silhouettes for the 1991 season recall floating trapeze, Empire-waist dresses. Even unitards are given a ‘60s flavor by wide, hip-hugger belts.
Los Angeles women’s wear designers are loosening up for the 1991 resort season.
That much was apparent in fashion shows hosted last weekend by the California Mart, the wholesale shopping center in downtown Los Angeles.
Except for a few skinny little suits, mummy-tight clothes are being edged out by swinging ‘60s-shaped ensembles. Trapeze, A-line and baby-doll shapes are in. Women who wax nostalgic for the decade might also welcome the return of dresses and suits with geometric graphics, Pucci-like prints or hippy flowers.
More baby boomer reveries of their wonder years take the shape of teased hairdos. Chin-length bobs, long-haired flips and Audrey Hepburnesque, restrained beehives are back. So are false eyelashes, heavy eye liner and frosted pink lips.
At several shows, silhouettes recalled floating trapeze and Empire-waist dresses; flyaway vests; short, James Bond trench coats, and Hugh Hefneresque pajama sets. Newer were the very ‘90s unitards and body suits given a ‘60s flavor by wide, hip-hugging belts. O-rings, plastic rings centered at the breast bone to anchor fabric, are also popping up. Designers Magia, Hot Lava and Saelee are among those using them for their cruise/resort wear.
Flashes of bare skin, free of ‘60s-nostalgic tattoos, crop up everywhere. Upper arms are bare to the shoulder in every designer’s collection. Halter tops, as well as circular and triangular cutouts across the bodice, are featured on jackets and tops.
Hoda Meysami seems particularly fond of circular shapes. In her very ‘60s signature collection, Meysami appliques huge navy, brown and white polka dots on her trapeze dresses.
Knitwear--especially the Lycra/spandex fabric blends popular this summer--takes a back seat to wovens, except for a smattering of Pucci-like prints shown by Hot Lava and Roberto Robledo. These look as if they’ve been lifted out of a “Laugh In” rerun. Linen, crepe, chiffon, cotton and other floating fabrics take on fluid shapes with Marie Antoinette-like fichu collars on jackets.
Some of the most wearable looks in the new resort collections are the Audrey Hepburn-inspired dresses and suits. Sleeveless linen chemise styles that graze the knee round out almost every resort collection. Among the best are the wispy confections of Holly Sharp, who uses muted shades of butter, rose and mint.
Cynthia Steffe, the only New York designer featured Sunday night at the Biltmore, also showcases chemises. Hers are less fitted and shorter (mid-thigh) than most other chemises shown but were fresh nonetheless.
Perhaps the newest revived look is the baby doll, worn as either a top over leggings or as a dress with bare legs and teamed with platform-heel shoes. The baby doll look is made of lingerie-sheer chiffon prints or more modest solids. Junior boutiques are already carrying baby doll tops this summer, but not everyone is sure the look is destined for a long life.
Vanessa Klopmeyer, market representative for Directives West, a store buying service, calls it a “questionable trend at best.”
The retro tribute to a past decade also showcased relevant details. Dainty covered buttons, minimalist shapes with darts, “op art” printed scarves and hat-and-glove ensembles are just a few of the accessory must-haves for fashion plates.
Small bags with straps short enough to swing flirtatiously are another must-have. Triple-strand pearls, slightly smaller than those worn by First Lady Barbara Bush, are an au courant extra.
Interestingly, denim didn’t make an appearance during the Mart’s resort shows. Likewise, all but designer Roberto Robledo left bell bottoms inside the ‘60s time capsule.
Most of these resort collections will be in stores by Thanksgiving. The term resort--used interchangeably with “cruise” by swimwear companies and “spa” by New York’s young spirited designer, Isaac Mizrahi--once signified clothing created exclusively for winter vacations, purchased primarily by the jet set and sold out of stores long before most people even thought about their spring or summer wardrobe.
For some, resort will forever suggest the well-to-do. But lately, the clothes have become more directional, giving strong hints of where fashion is going for the spring-summer season that follows.
What the models wore down the runway in last weekend’s shows was far more fashion-forward than the once-predictable array of nautical looks associated with winter vacations in warm climates.
Designers like Mizrahi say they use resort lines to flesh out concepts for future seasons. “Stores are not only able to tell what will sell during the spring, they will also be able to tell what their customer wants for summer,” Klopmeyer says. “What they will find here are creative, individual designers who are not afraid to do their own thing.”
The most individual definition of the term “resort” comes from designer Tina Hagen. She sees it as a time of creative cleansing.
“The season is a way to put the heaviness of fall behind you,” says Hagen, “so you can concentrate on fun and the newness it will bring for spring.”
