‘I’d Like to Be Under the Sea’ Is Back in Fashion, in a Slick Wet Suit Look

They’re called scuba suits, but you don’t wear them diving.

Such designers as Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Geoffrey Beene and Donna Karan have taken the wet suit out of the water.

They’ve created elongated jackets with zip-up fronts that mimic the wet suit’s sleek silhouette but substitute sequins, double-faced wool or stretchy Lycra for black rubber.

Scuba suits are just one of the many spring styles inspired by the sea.

Tropical fish, seashells, waves and other sea-life motifs are turning up on printed tunics, leggings, unitards and dresses. Oceanic colors such as sea-foam green, aqua and marine blue are especially strong.

Sea motifs offer a fresh alternative to the navy-and-white nautical looks that have dominated fashion in springs past.

“It’s a new twist on nautical. Instead of on the water, it’s under water,” says Shairee Collins, fashion coordinator for Nordstrom in Orange County.

“Even the colorations are sea-inspired,” she says. “We’re seeing a variety of blues and all different types of green.”

The under-the-sea look is so pervasive this season, Nordstrom launched an “Out of the Blue” spring fashion promotion based on seafaring fashions. Virtually every department in its stores has clothing or accessories that look as if they’ve been reeled in from the ocean with a net.

Among the more fashion-forward offerings in aquatic attire: a flowing scoop-neck tunic by Biya featuring a blue and aqua underwater print for $98, to be worn with aqua leggings. The sea print also comes in an A-line halter dress for $156 and full walking shorts for $130.

In contrast with Biya’s watercolors, Escada is introducing more cartoon-like fishes on a white-knit tunic sweater and skirt.

“Each designer has his own interpretation of the look. Some are more playful, others are more sophisticated,” Collins says.

Karl Lagerfeld’s scuba suits--doused in blue, yellow, red, white or black sequins--can make waves at more formal affairs.

“It’s fun to wear for evening,” says Anne Fahey, spokeswoman for Chanel Inc. in New York City. “It’s more modern than the traditional cocktail dress.”

Lagerfeld, showing off his spring collection in Paris, sent super-model Linda Evangelista down the runway in a blue sequined scuba suit, toting a surfboard under her arm.

“The reaction to the scuba suits has been just amazing,” Fahey says. “They’re flying out of the stores.”

Chanel has customers putting them on reserve--cornering them before they reach the racks.

The Chanel boutique in South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa had just one of the suits in stock--the blue one sported by Evangelista--for $4,110. Vogue showed the suit on the cover of its January issue and quoted Lagerfeld as saying: “I simply took the sporty style of the surfer and stamped it out in sequins the color of the California waves.”

Like cat suits and leggings, the scuba suit owes its popularity to stretchy Lycra-blend fabrics. The jackets themselves hug the torso and look best paired with biker shorts, leggings or a short, slim skirt.

Scuba suits can go from casual wear to evening, depending on their fabric and design.

For a more casual look, Lorraine’s in Corona del Mar has a white scuba suit adorned with gold-braid trim, matching bicycle shorts and a gold Lycra T-shirt for $250, or a mustard-colored knit scuba jacket with fuchsia piping for $250 that can be worn with matching mustard body suit.

“They’re darling and they’re easy to wear,” store owner Lorraine Benson says. “You can wear them with bicycle shorts for a luncheon. It’s a little younger look, but I’m in my 50s and I’m wearing them.

“Scuba suits look better on people who don’t have big hips, but you don’t have to have a tiny waist. I don’t have a perfect body, but I can wear these well.”

For casual daywear, she has a hooded fishnet sweat shirt trimmed with gold starfish and sea-horse charms, to be worn over a cat suit, bathing suit or leggings.

Some designers use actual findings from the sea to adorn outfits.

Mi Place in Laguna Niguel has silk tank dresses by Victor Costa with tiny shells and faux pearls sewn around the neck and on the front to form a cluster of starfish. They’re available for $775.

“We’re so close to the water,” says Mary Rubenstein, owner of Mi Place, “people are looking more to nature, so the designers are using more natural objects.”

Mi Place also has beige denim jeans and a bomber jacket by Opal with pink-and-bronze leather trim on the lapel and a matching black top decorated with pink seashells.

Accessories too are laden with seashell charms and oceanic ornaments.

At Nordstrom, one can find a gold-chain belt adorned with three starfish and handbags in turquoise, white, gold or silver leather, set with gold-shell charms and pearls. A more subtle approach to the sea is seen in a line of patent leather purses by Emilio Pucci, featuring black, blue and aqua appliqued in a wavy pattern, for $105 to $180.

Designers of footwear also waded into the waters.

Zalo’s “seascape” pumps have metallic appliques of sea horses, starfish and shells on taupe leather for $158. Zalo also introduced sling-back sandals with the sea appliques in gold for $118, and a tote bag of sheer mesh netting with metallic leather shell appliques for $179.

This season’s costume jewelry resembles creatures inhabiting coastal tide pools. Nordstrom has big gold earrings shaped like crabs and studded with colored stones, clam-shaped clip-ons and shoulder dusters dangling with sand dollars and sea horses. There are charm bracelets made of gold sand dollars and clamshells, and a big starfish pin embedded with rhinestones and dripping with tiny shell charms.

Lucite, in watery shades of aqua, green or clear, is used to create liquid-looking bangles, pendants, necklaces and pins by designer Carol Dauplaise.

The sea’s influence this spring is in part from the renewed awareness of the environment, which was visible in the resurgence of earth tones last fall, according to Collins.

“Everyone’s so much more concerned for the Earth,” she says.

Sea-inspired fashions allow people to get closer to nature, and they don’t even have to get wet.