So we all know by now that fashion is cyclical, right? The past trend or decade reinterpreted is only as good the what was added to the look that makes it relevant today. Now you may or may not remember the tumultuous seventies, but designers for the Fall 2011 New York Collections sure have. But I want to take you beyond that smell of old garb inside a vintage store to someplace more nasally desirable. Like for example, swapping Qiana and Banlon synthetic fabrics for silks and "Polly and her sister Ester" fabrics for languid wools. I want to take you to Jill Stuart's Fall 2011 Collection, a great modernization of the sometimes sourpuss, sometimes sophisticated seventies.
What Ms. Stuart showed was a thorough collection of American sportswear that hit sweet notes with color, fit and execution. The color palette was vibrant earth toned shades of sunset oranges, deep corals, adobe reds, clay beiges and seaside sun-kissed metallics anchored with cooler tones of teals, blues and greens. What stood out about the collection in particular was the way she seamed fabrics to create the playful but more streamlined collages commonly seen on vintage seventies prints. Her silhouettes were long and lean without be constrictive and her choices of sumptuous knits, silks and wools lent an air of softness and fluidity to her cable knit sweaters, pouty blouses, full skirted dresses and long pleated skirts. Her furs, especially the speckled deer prints, seemed fresher and leaner than the severely belted 'Superfly' lore of yesteryear. It was a perfect change in direction to the "are those jeans or leggings?" craze that's infected womenswear by showing that print, fluidity, a natural waist and feminine silhouettes without all the harsh studs, legs bared and deep plunges can be quite sexy, alluring and empowering. Dare women dress with sophistication again that leave something to the man's imagination? I hope so.
Jill Stuart Fall 2010 Finale
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