"SPARKLE PLENTY!"

Get Ready to Shine for the Holidays
Barbara Barton Sloane

Festive dinners, receptions, concerts, theatre and yes, the dreaded office party. You’ve waited all year to break out those flashing Christmas tree earrings, so ready, set: Glow!

Two designs from Carolina Herrera’s Winter/Holiday season are stand-outs. The designer has used an Edvard Munch painting to inspire her palette. She offers a dress of shiny silver fabric stopping just short of the knee, the neckline a large key-hole that dips almost to the waist. It is paired with this season’s “must-wear”- black tights. Another, a sweetheart strapless number, bell skirted, the fabric streaked boldly with black, champagne and red. The full skirt features deep patch pockets encrusted with shiny colored stones and worn with, you guessed it, black tights. Knee-high black leather boots complete the look.

Think luxe and thoughts inevitably turn to Bottega Veneta. Tomas Maier defines true style this way: “Clothes are a means of expression, not an end in themselves.” Amen. What he offers up are fashions for the woman who looks like a woman: curvaceous, individualistic and beautifully grown up. His holiday look: a stunning black column topped with flesh-colored crepe chiffon. Also, a girly yet sophisticated black dress, short, cap-sleeved, with five layers of chiffon comprising the skirt, striking just the right note for a festive party and making a powerful statement in just one word: Fabulous! For sheer, icy coolness, there’s a white satin design, full skirt stopping at the knee, the neckline a voluminous cowl, and the sleeves cut at ¾, full and floaty.

Luca Orlandi of Luca Luca likes glitz, from filling his fashion show’s front row with the likes of Carmen Electra, Petra Nemcova and Amber Tamblyn to his Winter/Holiday collection which is chock-full of metallica. He worked glitz again and again in all manner of sequins, Lurex and iridescent silk. Orlandi shows a pretty white sequined top and a shiny, above the knee white skirt. He surprises us by pairing this with sheer black legs. One exception to shine but a sure holiday stunner: his bright red, sleeveless knit top, a small frill around the neck, and a full, swingy skirt to the knee covered with over-sized red flowers. Not for a shrinking violet!

J. Mendel. Ahh, J. Mendel. Can it get any more “red carpet” than this? Giles Mendel tells us that “this collection is not about colors but textures.” Thus, he’s restricted his palette to ivory, slate and “blacks of many shades.” One heart-stopping example: a closely-cut, just below the knee black crepe dress, the sleeves long, tight and sheer, the top see-through black net, all except for two small panels of black crepe that rise from the waist to the neck, just wide enough to cover the bare essentials. Perhaps this is not the best choice for the office party. Otherwise, go for it! Guaranteed, you’ll be a stand-out.

At Badgley Mischka, the boys’ Winter/Holiday is inspired a bit by Wuthering Heights with a moody, platinum gray color scheme and a bit by India’s jeweled embroideries in their evening dresses. Still, a few of the more understated sparklers stood out. There’s a festive strapless mid-thigh design, black flower-patterned lace over pink satin. Direct and to the point. The point? You’re working it!!

Winter/Holiday for Stella McCartney’s show was unpretentious and playful. There were knits, cardigans and jumpsuits. It wasn’t all lighthearted, however. If you want to be noticed, go with her bubble-gum pink dress with tiny, spaghetti straps, short, short, with a flirty flamenco flounce crawling up one side of the skirt. Count on McCartney to bring on the charm and have everyone asking “who’s that girl?”

Speaking of girls, that “forever-girl”, Betsey Johnson, she of the cartwheel down the runway to close each of her shows, had her prototypical sex-bomb baby models stride the catwalk this season. One wore an irresistible, below the knee champagne satin confection, thin straps, with three huge satin roses cascading down the skirt. Betsey, true to form, letting her playfulness shine through.

Marc Jacobs, with his surfeit of cool, has designed a number that is the be- all and end-all fantasy for the most important event you’ll attend this holiday season. It is a teal blue velvet gown falling unencumbered to the floor, a wide strap of darker teal satin on one shoulder and a large bow of the same
sumptuous fabric covering the décolletage. Over the top? Not really. If not at this happy time of the year, then when? Gals, it’s your time to shine!