THE SPRING COLLECTIONS: CALIFORNIA : In L.A., the Clothes That Expose : Ready to Wear: It was fashion lite Downtown as designers unveiled lines in sheer, thin fabrics that showed skin--and then some.
The global fashion Zeitgeist revealed a propensity for exposed tummies, thighs and breasts in recent weeks as the spring and summer women’s collections traveled from East to West. Now, the trends that surfaced in Milan, Paris and New York City have landed in Los Angeles.
During a four-day fashion tour for store buyers that began Thursday in Beverly Hills at David Dart’s new store and continued Downtown in the giant California Mart and New Mart, lean bodies slinked the catwalks in tissue-thin layers that looked as if they were born on a summer wind. Long vests, apron dresses and wide-legged pants were secured by ribbon-like strings or single buttons--more hardware would have been too heavy for the gossamer materials.
To enhance the flyaway feeling, colors were kept pale. White, off-white and taupe appeared again and again. Accessories were just as lightweight: wooden beads, raffia ropes, tiny seeds used as beads and all manner of earthy bits and pieces have replaced the heavy-metal decorations of seasons past.
California designers have a knack for the unconstructed look, and their spring offerings were some of their best in recent memory. Too bad gossamer layers can’t be worn in more places--like the office.
Dart, a local boy doing well, opened his second eponymous store (the first is on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica) in less than a year and kicked off the fashion weekend.
His collection contained one of the best jackets of the lot, a boxy gardener’s jacket (aptly named--it’s easy to imagine Martha Stewart in one) with patch pockets and mother of pearl buttons. As loose and body unconscious as the rest of his clothes, it looked as if it would be pleasant to wear in the heat. Other standouts were his long, lean apron dresses, something to wear with last summer’s hats.
Daniel Norzagaray, showing his collection for the first time, set off an audible buzz. His line, Cielo by Daniel, is already hanging at the big B stores in New York--Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman and Henri Bendel. His appeal to the big leagues was apparent in a group of layered rayon knits; Norzagaray has a good eye for proportion and the dramatic.
Tiny textured sweaters topped extra-long blouses with tails cut like dragonfly wings. They wrapped around long, narrow skirts or wide-legged pants. Cropped tops with ties that snaked around the torso and tied at the waist were worn with long wrap skirts.
Wallace Muroya and Saelee were two lines that did not forget the working woman. Muroya’s bathrobe coat in blue plaid with wide white pants and Saelee’s deftly sculpted butter-colored jacket and high-waisted, full-legged pants were architecturally clean, soft and decorous (a word that doesn’t apply to a lot of next season’s clothing).
Some designers stopped a layer shy of opacity so often that the runway-side photographers became blase about sightings of nearly bare breasts. To make such garments socially acceptable, customers can add modesty sweaters or long vests. Both were seen in abundance as replacements for jackets.
Short, midriff-baring sweaters were worn over sheer blouses and dresses, or alone with loosely gathered pants. Long, often mid-calf-length vests also camouflaged what sheer blouses could not.
Artful exposure of skin is one of the byproducts of float-away clothes. They tend to play peek-a-boo with body parts as they waft around the body. Thighs and tummies received most of the exposure, enough to ensure gym memberships won’t lapse.
It’s tricky layering so many pieces. The best combinations paired such extremes as Misc.’s ankle-length, brown-and-white striped tube dress with a close-fitting, extremely short sweater.
Tantrum Apparel’s floor-length dress fastened at the neckline with a single button, then fluttered open to reveal short shorts.
Carla Freeman put a tiny crocheted vest over a knee-length tank top and full pants made of rayon georgette.
Van Buren showed short shorts with a cropped top, safety-pin-pierced hip-length jacket and thigh-high hose in a deft combination.
Tiar Tiar offered the littlest of the cropped sweaters, cut above the bosom, over a mid-thigh-length T-shirt and a floor-length broomstick-pleated skirt.
The long, floral-print dress, a dreary staple of last year’s wardrobe, was replaced by the apron dress. They’re similar--each is long and can be worn with flower-bedecked hats, but the latter moved this look a few decades closer to real time. Urban Outfitters showed patchwork Depression era-apron dresses. Odessa did the newest spin on them, putting a narrow, pale floral print apron dress over a sheer chemise.
Another throwback style, the baby-doll dress, also made appearances. With their full skirts, empire bodices and thigh-high length, they looked like a mix-up from a mother-daughter pageant.
Other popular items included broomstick-pleated skirts and pants, tight-fitting short vests embellished with beads, straw skull caps, hemp and jute fabrics, and heavy boots (thankfully, the only remnants of grunge). Leggings were absolutely, totally, M.I.A.
