Close Cutting Body-conscious clothes are making the most news
The fitted clothes which proved the biggest news out of the Paris collections for spring are a suitable reward for all the women who have worked so hard to perfect their bodies.
But the designers of the revealing garments, as well as the retailers who have to justify their shapeliness to customers, are quick to insist that close cutting is not for everyone. In fact, Karl Lagerfeld, whose collection for Chloe was one of the most body-conscious in Paris, has said bluntly, “Fit is not for mass-production. It simply doesn’t work without being fitted individually.” He’s not wrong. Any family album worthy of the name will prove that the dart-indented clothes of the Forties and Fifties failed to fit all but a handful of consumers. With luck, that memory will dissuade manufacturers from making the same mistake again.
Jean-Pierre Allemand, who buys the Chloes in depth for Holt Renfrew stores in Toronto and Montreal, feels strongly that narrower clothes are one wave of the future. But the customers for the most defined waists “are fairly limited,” he admits.
That doesn’t worry him. The wide corselet’s Lagerfeld used for emphasis “are all removable, of course. They give the customer the option of being very fitted one day and more normal the next.” Under the cinching, the dresses are softly shirred into shape, leaving the purchaser the alternative of a soft sash or much narrower belt.
Mr. Allemand says Lagerfeld is “our best seller in all our ready-to- wear.” For fall, between the two cities, Holt Renfrew sold around 60 daytime dresses at an average of $1,000, about 20 “very fancy” evening outfits from $2,500 to $6,000, approximately 65 of the $600 blouses and about 20 suits at around $1,500. For spring, Mr. Allemand estimates blouses will be $650 to $1,000 and skirts $450 to $1,000 – “the line was well-priced, it was equal or less than last spring.” And defining his devotion to Lagerfeld, he says, “He is one of the most innovative designers in the world. He understands women, in fact, he makes women look pretty. His clothes are not mass-produced, they are all hand- finished, and the quality is superb.” And as a dedicated woman-watcher, he insists “these are all high-heel clothes. “Our customers are looking for a slimmer look,” he’s noticed. “Our younger customers are already in very fitted skirts. It’s not a bad silhouette on the right body; but if a woman doesn’t feel comfortable in it, she shouldn’t wear it. There are so many options. The narrower feeling can be a chemise. And there are still plenty of voluminous clothes; there will be lots of layers again for fall. It’s a question of mood. I think both looks are valid but the slimmer is trendier.” Lisa Dalholt, newly-named vice-president of Creeds, also buys from Chloe but admits, “We bought the more classical end” for spring. Her purchases included chemises as well as the cinched ruffles “because the important thing is that there is an alternative. The news right now is in the waist-conscious, fitted dress, but that certainly doesn’t mean that there is nothing else. “For the fashionable woman who watches her figure, it’s her heyday. But the designers now are so diversified that everything goes.”
Incoming search :
- body conscious clothing (7)
- one cut garments (4)
- which designer is about the cutting of the garment (2)
- lisa dalholt (2)
- fitted clothes fashion show (2)
- cut garments (2)
- body conscious (2)
- body illuminations (1)
- search for the perfect body (1)
- perfect bodies - clothed (1)
- new designed clothes from the forties (1)
- body conscious clothing definition (1)
- body conscious cut (1)
- body conscious dresses (1)
- close cut clothing (1)
- body concious clothing for men (1)