Auntie Fashion

Oscar de la Renta

I’m tired of dresses.  Ten years ago, most designers wouldn’t dream of sending four dozen dresses down the runway during a fashion show.  They’d show day dresses, suits, separates, evening wear, etc.  Collections were collections of garments, meant to appeal to a broad base of consumers.  In retrospect, it seems as if designers were trying harder to court new clientele.

Then we entered the decade of the dress.  I can’t remember as many consecutive seasons where one particular garment dominated the runway.

Now we’re at a point in time when the contestants on Project Runway not only identify themselves as dress designers, but also get through an entire season without creating a single pair of pants or a simple skirt.

It’s a very unrealistic way of designing a collection.  It’s also a very unrealistic way of dressing a client.  Experienced designers understand this, and that’s why the dominating theme of the Pre-Fall 2009 shows so far appears to be — get ready for it — SEPARATES!

Dolce & Gabbana and Oscar de la Renta, for instance, have shown lovely collections composed of numerous mix-and-match pieces.  It’s as if they want someone to buy what they’re selling.  It’s such a novel concept, I’m having a difficult time getting my head around it.

It’s better to sell a skirt than to sell nothing at all, I guess.  It also challenges the woman buying the skirt to coordinate that item with other garments in her wardrobe.  Customers are actually required to style their own looks when separates come into fashion!

I’m all for that!  We’re on the cusp of a trend that requires an actual sense of style.  As the saying goes, it’s time to separate the men from the boys.