Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 10, 1991 TAG: 9102070276
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BERNADINE MORRIS THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: PARIS LENGTH: Long
As other designers worried about the wisdom of presenting fashion shows at all, he proved that fashion can be comforting in troubled times.
"It didn't stimulate you in the wrong way," Deeda Blair, one of the American clients, said after the show. "It was just serene and beautiful."
One of the cobwebs he swept away was the fuzzy question of where to place the hemline. Conventional wisdom has it that skirts have become short enough: They have to come down. But when? How far? In what shape?
Saint Laurent provided such definite, conclusive answers it would seem the search need go no further. They are, in order, right now, just above the knees and with some fullness.
Oh, he's a reasonable man. An occasional saucy number will be a little shorter than the norm. Some full skirts for evening dip a little longer, including those with irregular hems that are shorter in front but cover the bend of the knees in back. This is a moderate version of the swooping hemline arcs for evening that most designers are addicted to this season.
But grazing-the-knee hemlines are the obvious solution. It is where the majority of women are wearing their clothes today. Nobody wants to revive the hemline battles of the early 1970s. Saint Laurent's solution seems the proper one. The defense rests.
Moderation is of course the key to the success of this spring and summer collection, which the designer called "the summation of my work, all my effort over the years," adding that he considered it "a poem to women."
The presentation itself was punctuated by frequent applause as viewers, who included Catherine Deneuve, Helene de Rothschild and Josie Natori, experienced the shock of recognition.
Here come the tailored shirtdresses women lived in before they were swept away by the shifts of the 1960s. Here are the Bermuda shorts, the navy suits, the square neckline blouses, the coats and dresses cut full and gathered around the neck like a smock, the women's suits based on men's evening clothes.
An occasional Saint Laurent style looked dreary, like a navy overblouse dress touched with pale blue around the neckline. Nobody's perfect.
But the bulk of the 94-piece collection had the assurance demanded by women who do not regard their clothes as props to their self-importance.
In general the colors were mild, focusing on navy and a whole army of beiges, and there was not too much jewelry. But when the designer did go for color, he had a sure hand.
An example of his perfect pitch was the orange bolero lined in Mediterranean blue over a pink shirt and long saffron skirt. It was sashed in lime green which made all the tonalities work.
Probably his most significant revival was the tailored day dress. Most of the fashion world, at both the retail and the design level, has been touting the return of the dress. But few had a strong handle on how it should look.
Saint Laurent decided it should look like a shirt, be meticulously tailored in silk crepe or shantung, have a belted waistline and stop at the knees. Problem solved.
To vary his long, tailored suit jackets, he introduced a loose style that reaches to the hipbone and has no closings. The program calls it a bolero, which usually stops at the waist.
It has the informal air that represents one of his major contributions to fashion over the decades, even when it is decorated with elaborate bead embroidery for evening.
Knickers, a recurring favorite of the designer, turn up this season with not-too-full cuts and silk shirts, presumably for evening. They are an acquired taste. The long pants are more successful.
Long evening dresses are soft and fluid with the crepe and organza fabrics smoothly folded into seductive slender lines.
Perhaps the most arresting outfit was the sleeveless dress in tobacco brown topped by a loose gauzy coat the color of chestnuts. The two shades of brown could not be more muted - or more effective.
Pleasant alternatives were shirt dresses with long bouffant skirts that looked demure and wisps of black lace that looked as sexy as lingerie. And no Saint Laurent collection could be without its shocker. This time it was a gauzy black dress draped around the body but leaving the midriff bared to well below the navel.
The best accessories were the shoes, all high-heeled. One had about a two-inch-high platform, another gold strings that wrapped around the ankle; the third was a pump with an instep plus an ankle strap.
Each provided the appropriate punctuation for the knee-high dresses and sheer natural colored stockings without causing any mental disturbance.
The total effect of the collection was soothing, the work of a man who understands his craft and the people he hopes to serve. In gratitude, the audience broke into the rhythmic applause that indicates they were pleased with their entertainment.
by CNB