Spellbound Styles : Fashion Show Plays on Theme of ‘Music . . . It’s Magic’ in Benefit for Philharmonic Society Youth Programs

Although it’s being called “Music . . . It’s Magic,” don’t expect card tricks or disappearing models at Monday’s fashion show and benefit for the Orange County Philharmonic Society’s Youth Programs.

“They don’t want rabbits jumping out of hats,” says Kitty Leslie, fashion consultant and coordinator of the show, presented by Fashion Island Newport Beach at the Hyatt Regency Irvine.

Instead Leslie will play off the magic theme by showing how fashion casts a spell over music, and vice-versa.

“During the birth of rock and roll, fashions went loose,” she says. “I call it ‘the Indian bedspread look.’ The music had ethnic overtones, and so did the clothes.”

More recently, the resurgence of country music has been linked to the Western wear craze, although “it’s hard to tell which came first,” Leslie says.

At the fashion show, Leslie will orchestrate clothes and music to illustrate one of the latest trends--the return of “that slinky black nightclub look of the ‘30s.

“The era of the chanteuse is back. Think of Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich, who sang torch songs to the accompaniment of a piano,” she says.

To create the nightclub atmosphere, she’ll park a rare handmade grand piano on stage with a piano player in a white tuxedo at the keys.

While the pianist plays numbers by Cole Porter and George Gershwin, the models will drape themselves around the piano, wearing clothes that complement the music--what Leslie calls “the black slink” styles now in vogue.

“The models will all have long, clingy chanteuse gowns,” Leslie says. “And lots of paste diamonds. No one wore real diamonds. We were just coming off the Depression.”

The segment will feature fall’s long and lean fashions from Modasport, including black skirts that fall to the ankles with slits up the front, slim black and white column dresses and Dietrich-style jackets.

Among the clothes suitable for would-be torch singers: Modasport’s slinky black knit skirt ($289) that can be paired with a white blazer with black collar, cuffs and buttons ($598).

There’s also a ‘30s-influenced slim sleeveless dress made of black spandex with white trim around a square neckline and armholes and a white silk flower in front ($189).

Because the show salutes music, Leslie will include Modasport’s black tulle ballerina skirt with a lace-up waist ($195).

“Philharmonic supporters enjoy the theater, so it’s perfect,” she says.

Other show segments interpret the magic theme in a more literal way.

Models will parade down the runway in ethnic clothes to the strains of Moroccan music for a segment on “the magic of the Middle East.”

“We’ll even have a simulated flying carpet,” Leslie says.

The segment was inspired by ethnic clothing with draped, flowing silhouettes from Laise Adzer. Models will sport exotic styles such as Laise Adzer’s cranberry-colored silk tunic top hand-painted with a bird motif ($250), available with shorts ($135) or pants ($180), and a loose cocoa-colored lamb suede jacket with fringe ($450) with matching pants ($395).

For the show finale, models will sport magical ball gowns, some with full peau de soie skirts and beaded tops, from I. Magnin.

About 600 people are expected to attend the 33rd annual benefit fashion show staged by the Orange County Philharmonic Society Women’s Committees.

The $50-per-person event begins with reception and silent auction at 10 a.m., followed by luncheon at noon and the show at 1:15 p.m.