FASHION : SHEER ECSTASY

The look started in Southern California last year: see-through skirts and dresses over tights and body stockings. Sometimes it was a way of taking aerobics wear straight to a club dance floor; other times, it was a style worn just for the sheer thrill of it.

This season, designers are borrowing from this very L.A. street fashion. “The more layers and heavy fabrics other people were showing, the lighter and sheerer I went,” says California designer Bonnie Strauss. She was not alone. Designers in London and Italy also have introduced tops and dresses in silk chiffon, rayon and light cotton, which reveal the body through light and shadow.

The effect of these diaphanous fabrics, most in pretty floral prints or muted pastels, is light, romantic and sensual. And though the look is bare, the nudity is only a tease. Underneath, camisoles, leggings and body suits both cover and underscore the feminine form.

Makeup: Jeanne Townsend/ Celestine; hair: Nello Addabbo/ Celestine; model: Jane Burd/ Nina Blanchard