THE L.A. SHOWS : For Fall, Backward Glances at Style
Prof. Henry Higgins’ cry of “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?” echoed in Los Angeles last weekend as menswear styles for women, many of them English-inspired, cavorted in three fall fashion forecasts.
Along with dandified pin-stripe and tweed suits--often combined with vests and fedoras--designers embraced motorcycle chic and ‘40s-style Hollywood glamour.
Long, lean skirts with thigh-high slits in the front, back or side, and frequently topped with curvaceous suit jackets, were the most obvious of the backward glances.
They were teamed with such nostalgic accessories as faux leopard or feather-trimmed hats, long gloves, dramatic stickpins, chunky pearls, boxy handbags and sheer black hose with forever askew back seams.
Show participants were drawn from the tenants of the CaliforniaMart and the New Mart Building. As usual, the result was a sparse display of local talent, mixed with designers from San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Paris.
The activity started Friday at the CaliforniaMart with runway snippets from 20 collections. Sue Wong Studio showed a pin-stripe jumpsuit that demonstrated the new leg appeal in pants.
They are slimmer, often reduced to stovepipe proportions, and shorter--anywhere from ankle-grazing to an inch or more above the bone.
Bonnie Strauss’ high-waisted, button-front skirts--in leather or wool jersey--demonstrated the sex appeal that separates the new long lengths from their recent predecessors.
And Saelee demonstrated that he has gone from blatantly sexy to discreetly feminine in a retro suit with a calf-length skirt.
The glamorous fitted jacket carried a lavish topping of rooster feathers around a sweetheart neckline.
In a season of yin-yang options, Jan Micole mixed metaphors in a short, flirty shirtwaist dress with French cuffs. Julie Weston for Westonwear added fake fur to the neckline and sleeves of her gray skater-style dress.
Both designs smacked of European street chic thanks to the essential accessories: opaque tights and thick-heeled pumps, preferably on platform soles.
Sue Wong popped up again Saturday at the New Mart, where the show was tilted toward Europeans such as Chantal Thomass.
Wong showed pieces from her more expensive signature line, which included an English plaid jacket over a matching vest and a short, perky, fan-pleated skirt.
More perky pleats hit the runway the next night during the CaliforniaMart’s more elaborate show at the Variety Arts Theatre.
They were from Rated R by Biya in olive rayon-crepe, and played nicely under a matching swing jacket loaded with personality.
Norman Todd’s menswear inspirations included a pale tweed sport jacket--smartly fastened with three small black straps--and a handsome black gabardine pantsuit with a double-breasted, single-button jacket.
The evening’s whistle bait came from Robin Piccone Sportswear and Van Buren, the line by Maggie Barry and Stephen Walker.
Piccone used faux leopard to trim long dresses and evening pants or as the fabric for a miniskirt and hot pants.
She turned more demure with a clinging, long black dress trimmed with a white satin collar, French cuffs and big, gold, heart-shaped cuff links.
Van Buren, which showed motorcycle chic during the Friday forecast, ended the Sunday show with lingerie dressing, some of it Flamenco-inspired.
But the most wearable confection was pure Hollywood nostalgia: a long, slim-line evening dress with a diaphanous silk-organza bodice that was tastefully--and tactfully--appliqued in jet bead-decorated leather leaves.
