Think On It

Summer 2008 Clothes that move

March 10th, 2008

Choosing soft over crisp is easy this summer. Day or night, ready to wear shows slippy, loose-fitting dresses made of fabrics that move. Some have T-shirt styling, some have Grecian pleating and some are made big enough for two to wear, but with such soft fabric it seems just enough. In many cases the dresses are made extra generous for modesty, because the fabrics are so thin. These are all dresses, but there were tunics and tops like this as well, and the pants from a week ago included some very drapey ones.

Both of these are Max Azria for BCBG

In general, the colors are soft as well. They tend toward neutrals or very toned pastels of gold, nut or sea.

Left Bottega Veneta; right Narciso Rodriguez.

Detailing is beautiful, from the row of tucks at the neck of a charmeuse shift to the openwork embroidery that provides body to all but the yoke of the frock of silver silk jersey, it is clear every time that without that detail the dress is nothing, it is not just for show.

Left Donna Karan; right Bottega Veneta (sigh.)

Fabrics to look for to make the look yours are thinnest knits, jersey, challis. gauze and crepe for daytime. For the evening you could add the thinnest and lightest silks and satins I’ve seen. They remind me of lining fabrics.

Here’s a tip in case you don’t know it. Rayon challis, which in its lighter versions is cool and pretty to wear in summer, is generally dry clean only. If you are having something made or making it yourself, however, you can wash and dry the fabric beforehand as you wish to wash and dry the garment and almost all of the time it will then be stable to wash. I pre-wash in the machine at a low temperature then hang on the line (or in the shower) to dry. It presses quite easily or sometimes looks just nicely summery un-ironed. It makes the difference between a dress you constantly have in the dry cleaners and a dress that is fantastic for traveling. All the above daytime choices travel well, as a matter of fact.

On the street, Bloomingdales has some dresses that move by Eileen Fisher and Free People, for a start. I didn’t look at the upper end of the price bracket where I am sure there are more choices. Banana Republic also had some nice choices, although since dresses are not their specialty, the range is not as wide as Bloomie’s. J. Crew has some beautiful dresses that fit this description. I was tempted to order a couple myself, except I remember how long everything from them was.

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