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FALL CLOTHES WITH CLEAN-CUT, TAILORED LOOK

February 13th, 2012 Leave a comment Go to comments

The difference is the spare, casual, clean-cut approach of the American designers. In Italy, the clothes were dramatic, exaggerated and wholeheartedly mannish, especially when worn by models in crew cuts, men’s oxfords and no accessories. American designers don’t go to such extremes. The clothes are soft, unconstructed and – oversize proportions and firm tailoring notwithstanding – decidedly feminine.

Bill Blass, among Seventh Avenue’s foremost tailors, is particularly adept at this sort of unaggressive, menswear-influenced sportswear, and his Blass port collection was one of the past week’s biggest hits.

The classic components – blazers, cardigans, cuffed trousers and long, substantial coats – are put together is such a way that the overall look is light and effortless rather than a Brooks Brothers knock-off.

The favorite Blass port coat is a wool trench coat in camel or flecked tweed that is tossed over layers: jacket, sweater vest, man’s shirt, pleated trousers.

Colors and patterns are in the haberdashery idiom: charcoal, taupe, beige; pinstripes, plaids and checks.

Yet for shoes Blass chooses black patent ballet flats, and his models have short, swingy hairdos and prettily made-up faces. Nothing severe about this look at all.

Besides the tailored separates, there are some attractive knitted styles, among them thick, ribbed pullovers and long cardigans teamed with calf-length straight skirts or loose pants cut somewhat like non-clingy sweatpants.

Not one to overlook a trend, Blass includes lots of bright, crayon-box colors in the collection, in cheery yellow and red rainwear, bright leather separates and two-color mufflers.

Albert Capraro, the designer who is a favorite of Betty Ford and Cristina Ferrare (he reportedly did the wardrobe she is wearing to her husband John Z. DeLorean’s cocaine-trafficking trial) is also on the casually tailored wavelength. But his clothes are a bit jazzier than the Blass port line.

For example, he teams a glittery Lurex turtleneck with a window-pane checked, charcoal flannel trouser suit. Beneath a blanket plaid mohair coat are sapphire velvet pants. And a gray cashmere turtleneck, worn with a matching circular skirt, has a narrow band of rhinestones at the collar.

It’s a style that mixes Greenwich, Conn., with Beverly Hills and is not without appeal.

In the evening scene there is a continuation of the relaxed-yet-glamorous look in iridescent striped Lurex “sweatshirts” teamed with long satin skirts or gray flannel pants worn with a silvery Lurex pullover inset with a small rhinestone appliqué.

For more formal occasions, Capraro provides strapless velvet or satin dresses with glittery striped bodices.

There is nothing casual about Venezuelan-born Carolina Herrera’s collection of sleekly tailored luncheon suits, black dinner dresses and richly embroidered evening gowns.

Yet even Herrera, once dubbed “Our Lady of the Sleeves” because of her penchant for balloon-size puffs, has opted for a simpler, no-frills style. Herrera’s basic silhouette is long, lean and broad-shouldered. Her suits have long, square-cut jackets over slim, calf-length skirts with a slit or pleats in the back.

Day clothes range from an elegant plum-colored coat with fox sleeves to vibrant, African-inspired printed skirts worn with matching shawls tied over mohair sweaters.

Evening clothes, which make up over half of the 62-piece collection, include the obligatory group of black dresses as well as more extravagant fare, like a group of animal-printed satin gowns and slinky velvet halter dresses worn under satin jackets appliquéd with crystal “icicles” on the sleeves. But it was a perfectly simple white wool evening suit with white satin lapels and a satin panel in the back that reaped the most applause.

The closest Bern Conrad comes to evening clothes are his decollete white angora sweaters and long tube skirts worn with a rope of marble-sized fake pearls. Casual knits are Conrad’s forte, and he acquits himself quite nicely with oversize, crunchy, tweed pullovers worn with leather pants or jersey culottes. He also shows some crisp white “trench coat” shirts, which he teams with gray flannel jodhpurs held up by suspenders.

Suspenders, by the way, seem to be among the season’s newest and snazziest detail. Willi Smith used wide, criss-crossed suspenders on his baggy tweed pants, and Danny Noble added narrow black suspenders to his cherry-red little boy suit of puffy pants and one-button jacket.

 

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