After last week's winter weather wallop, most of us are more than ready for spring.
So to get into the spirit, let's examine some of the splashy trends displayed during the recent Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York (which technically features fall fashion, but still).
Here's what designers have in store for us:
• Clown/Kid Couture: Designer Jeremy Scott's collection was The Greatest Show on Earth ... in that it resembled the circus. Models with technicolor hair and face paint wore oversize polka dot frocks, high-voltage harlequin garb and clunky, colored footwear.
When he wasn't channeling Ringling Bros., Scott was channeling a Target baby registry with nursery print dresses that could double as baby blankets. It was enough to make a grown woman cry for a bottle ... of wine.
• Boyz in the Hood: Never mind his dresses with slits up to there, Shayne Oliver's Hood by Air line is designed for boys. And burglars. This season's show featured male models not just rocking shirtdresses and skirts, but stockings over their faces.
• What a racket: Lacoste served up retro 1970s-style track suits, complete with sweatbands. One of the athletic jackets was printed "Tennis Anyone?" All we can say to this is: "Love!" Love, in the tennis world, means zero.
• Leader of the pack: Designer Marc Jacobs sent sunglasses, berets and studded thigh-high buckle boots down the runway, but no accessory caught our attention more than the leather fanny packs he had fastened to his models' midsections. They were more sophisticated and sleek than most, but still we feel the need to bag on him.
m Sheer madness: Alexander Wang showcased see-through dresses on dour, militant-looking models in combat boots. We too would look livid if we spent so much money on so little fabric.
• Go West: For his first collaboration with Adidas, rapper-designer Kanye West debuted slouchy sweatshirts, stocking caps, cutoff shorts, exposed underwear -- the bummy attire people wear around the house while laundering their real clothes. No wonder 20-month-old daughter North West, in the front row wearing a bulletproof vest from the collection, threw a fit.
Someone who won't be wearing his fashions: Fern Mallis, Fashion Week creator. The former executive director of Council of Fashion Designers of America was quoted by the New York Post's Page 6 as saying: "I'm kind of over Kanye. I mean, I'm not a fan of his music, and the attitude and agenda is not my style."
But his style resonates with sneaker buyers. His limited-edition clumsy, strappy $350 Yeezy 750 Boost Adidas shoes have already sold out and are now selling for thousands on eBay.
Oh, yeez.
So now, thanks to Fashion Week 2015, we have had a glance at the seasonal looks to come.
Long live winter.
Skirt the issue, email:
jchristman@arkansasonline.com
What's in a Dame is a weekly report from the woman 'hood.
Style on 02/24/2015