New fashion trends for the new year

The silhouette this season is gracefully feminine with a gentle drape and subtle cut.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
girl in dress 88 224 (photo credit: Hamashbir)
girl in dress 88 224
(photo credit: Hamashbir)
September 21 officially signified the start of the autumn season, but the thermometer continues to say otherwise. Heat notwithstanding, it's safe to say that some of the fashionistas will weather any and every discomfort to appear at High Holiday services in the trendiest fall/winter outfits. The younger generation may not realize that they are wearing designs reincarnated from the Sixties, along with some of the influences of the Seventies and the Eighties. True, there's lots of hype about Sixties revivals, with DJs playing Sixties music, Sixties style sports cars appearing in the streets in the once favorite colors of bright red or canary yellow, and even Sixties style architecture and furniture. But unless one is in a déja-vu situation, the alt-neu of fashion has only the impact of the new. Among the most prevalent revivals is the skirt length. The mini skirt, popularized by British designer Mary Quant in the 1960s, did not become a fashion sensation until 1966. Although Quant has been credited with its introduction, French designer Courreges came out with it a year before, but the then outrageous length did not immediately catch on. Quant's skirts rode higher on the thigh and became the craze of London, with the rest of the world quickly following suit. But the Sixties were not the founding era of the above-the-knee skirts. The flapper dresses of the 1920s also grazed the knees without covering them. Quant was just a little more daring. Since then, fashion pundits have been forecasting the demise of the mini. But it's something that simply won't go away - and certainly not during fall/winter 2008/2009 when it has triple duty as a garment in its own right or as a tunic to be worn over pants, leggings or a long skirt; or to peep out from beneath the hemline of an even shorter coat. The Sixties were also noted for the cinch waist, accentuated by wide belts with fancy buckles; wrap-around leather belts that looked like cummerbunds but were somewhat firmer than the cloth wrap-arounds; pinafore dresses worn over polo neck sweaters; cardigan coats in a multitude of textures; crocheted tops; layered looks; pin-tucked and lace trimmed sleeveless blouses in the most delicate of fabrics; baby doll dresses and sweater dresses; pencil skirts, pleated tartan and polka dot skirts; shift dresses; military style coats and jackets in non-military hues; flared trousers; paisley prints; and high-heeled knee-high boots. All this and more rode the fashion-go-round from almost half a century ago into the final year of the first decade of the second millennium. In general, the silhouette this year is gracefully feminine with gentle drape and subtle cut, which are the hallmarks of the softly elegant Maya Negri collection. The flattering drape effect is also seen in the elegant Macaw knitwear collection in which the chin-high polo neck sweater and the cardigan coat feature prominently. The mix-and-match collection created largely in shades of gray from pale silvery tones to deep charcoal is so classic in its concept that it is timeless. Gray, in all its nuances, shows up in many collections, along with the wide variety of violet to lilac shades, giving way occasionally to electric blue and turquoise. Vibrant red is there to enliven the neutral grays and browns. And, of course, there's black. The little black dress, which never goes out of style, can be dressed up or dressed down and runs the gamut from high-necked sweetly demure to low-cut vamp. Though subscribing to the layered look, Kedem Sasson's collection is uniquely different from most others. Indeed, anyone familiar with Kedem Sasson's fashion cachet knows that he is prone to exaggeration. Volume is the name of his game, but he wraps it, tucks it, turns it into huge bucket pockets, obviating the need for the wearer to carry a purse, and demonstrates a puckish sense of humor in some of the fabric combinations, such as a tulle fantail emerging from the hemline of a short wool coat. All his creations are expressive - evocative of high drama, which is perhaps why he recently chose to show his current collection in the small, intimate premises of a Tel Aviv fringe theater. "The theater is an ideal place for a fashion show because the garments are not simply garments but play an actual role in the performance and become costumes," he said when introducing the show. It takes courage to wear Kedem Sasson because his creations are not mainstream. They are larger than life and not meant for women who like to hide in corners. Modest because they cover so much, they are simultaneously flamboyant and pair mismatched fabrics and concepts with an experimental audacity that somehow works. Sasson successfully combines precise symmetry with carefully planned asymmetry, providing a meeting ground for the casual and the formal. Although he has a large and growing clientele in Israel and abroad, there is a stronger likelihood that most women - at least younger women - will opt for the more figure-revealing options available under labels such as Sigal Dekel, Naama Bezalel, Golbary, Renuar, Castro, Honigman, Mango and Zara, whose size range for the most part does not take the needs of the more endowed into account. An exception in this regard is ml, which prides itself on giving the fuller woman the opportunity to be as fashionable as her slimmer sister. The Discreet line, which has both small and large sizes, takes not only the proportions of different women into account but also their budgets and even the lifestyles of their respective communities. Most Discreet dresses, for instance, feature short to elbow-length sleeves so that Orthodox women can wear them without qualms and don't have to wear a sleeved garment on top or underneath. There's a particularly recognizable style favored by women living in Judea and Samaria, and this can always be seen in part of the Discreet collection. It also includes items that are ultra trendy and not quite modest enough for the Orthodox client. Discreet's quality is more than reasonable, and the prices are usually well below those of the competition. Women who are not label conscious and prefer to shop in department stores - where choices are more extensive, sales staff do not exert pressure, and specials are frequently available during holiday seasons - will find inexpensive basics that fall into the new trend categories at fairly affordable prices. Of course, the beauty of shopping in department stores such as Hamashbir Hatzarchan Hehadash or H&O is that that the terms for credit card payments are often more generous than those of boutiques. This means that a new garment can be paid off over a long period with installments so small as to barely make a dent in one's bank account. Children's wear often comes in small-sized versions of what is being offered to adults. But for mothers who don't like to dress their children that way, there are plenty of kids' clothes ranging from tomboy to angelic.