This Is Spring

The Age

Friday July 14, 2006

JANICE BREEN BURNS

Only dregs are left of winter. Fashion editor Janice Breen Burns gives a nuts-and-bolts overview of the new season arriving now.

THE first bubble skirts and muu-muus of spring 2006 were shipped and racked last week. The dribble of deliveries will be a gush by the end of this month, a veritable flood by mid-August. And we don't even blink at these incongruities of weather and frocks any more.

It's just the way it is: bitterly cold and dark before dinner, shops bulging with floral cotton baby-dolls, hot-pant playsuits and nostalgic-pop bikinis.

Once, we'd get cross: "Spring frocks in winter? Can't we fix this silly system?" Now, spring can't come quick enough. Fresh frocks, please, and make it snappy. We don't always buy them right away (up-down-up-down-down-down-retail figures attest to that), but we do like to know they're there.

So here they are. The dominant items to define a new season. Remember that there is no "out" trend in fashion's wildly chaotic and fragmented tapestry any more, only trends that are more "in" than others. Such as ...

BOTTOMS

Pencil skirts, bubbled hemline knee and mini skirts, tailored shorts and patio trousers, often with matador waistlines that reach up to the bust, are the most flattering news for women who covet a classic, womanly silhouette at the true waist or empire line. The re-entry of thin, gripping jeans, knicker-flashing micro mini skirts, including ra-ra skirts, is an equal blessing for jolly young girls.

1. The tailored city short has moved from the fringes and into both casual and smart day wear.

Bracewell "Marella" short, $110, worn with "Belle De Jour" jacket, $285. Phone: (02) 9212 4166, www.bracewell.com.au

2. The full micro-mini dirndl or "ra-ra" skirt.

Bettina Liano gold lurex ra-ra skirt with net petticoat shown in Sydney for summer 2006-07. Phone: 9529 2499.

3. The thin jean.

Vicious Threads "Siena" skinny jean, $159, worn with "Latanya" top $99. Phone: 9829 9301.

TOPS

The empire silhouette and its perfect complements, short puffed or cap sleeves, dominate blouses that look as "right" for this season as a T-shirt or boob top in any other. Tiny "jacklets" are moving into the space occupied exclusively, once, by the shrug or half-cardie. But, don't throw either of those away yet.

1. The short-sleeved empire blouse.

Zentini white embroidered blouse, $245. Phone: 9640 0940.

2. The puff-sleeved blouse.

Chloe by Phoebe Philo sheer chiffon frilled blouse shown.

3. The chopped tailored "jacklet".

Country Road half-sleeved trench jacklet, $189, worn with lace cami, $59.95 and pencil skirt, $129. Phone: 1800 801 911.

BAGS, SHOES, JEWELS

There was much ado about the fashionable waistline travelling from hip to ribs, but it can be defined wherever you like, depending on your age, shape and tastes, with a belt that's one, two or up to 10 fingers wide. In fact, consider belts a potentially "vital item" for spring, as well as any large handbag more structured and solid than last year's crumpled swags, any high-heeled shoe - platform or not - that looks fresh from a Christie's sale of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, and any jewellery that drapes a little, utilises light-sucking stones or nostalgic motifs, and appears to have been commissioned from an artist.

1. The roomy structured handbag.

Kenneth Cole "Hook and eye" black and white bag, $595. Phone: 9417 4420

2. The bright-coloured open-toed bombshell pump .

Nude Footwear "Marilyn" twist detail pump, $129.95, in black, red, electric blue, yellow, sea green, pewter and purple at Myer, Cactus Jam, Chambermaid, Denim Lab and other stockists. www.nudefootwear.com.au.

3. The unique or limited-edition jewellery look.

Chosen Pieces one-off "Femy" charm and chain necklace by Kerry Mansfield and Robin Bowles, $360, can also be worn as a bracelet. Phone: 9532 9527, www.hunteraccessories.com.au.

PLAYSUITS

Some bright spark first stitched a matching top and bottom together in the 1930s and - voila! - the girliest fashion item since corsets was born. Be clever when choosing for your playsuit's end-use, and those on the sunset side of 25 should probably steer clear of any in denim.

1. The loose and easy weekend playsuit.

Alice McCall "Release the Bats" suit in piano check, $429, at Gloss by Blondies, Charlie and Co., www.ozdesigner.com and other boutiques. Phone: (02) 9280 0333.

2. The sleeker micro suit for club or smarter day wear.

Prada flesh knit monotone co-ordinates shown in Milan for Euro summer 2006.

3. The classic bib-front playsuit.

Imitation of Christ denim playsuit, $599. Phone: 9425 9250.

DRESSES

The muu-muu has caused some havoc in the current US-Euro summer, billowing, as it tends to do, on rock stars and Hollywood starlets, who may, or may not, be pregnant according to the pop-goss magazines. This is one curse of spring's most playful frocks: the muu-muu and empire baby-doll. The solution is to choose a "bombshell", with or without a full skirt that grips the ribs and spans the decollete, often with a squared neckline and twisted, or block shoulder straps.

1. The muu-muu.

Just Cavalli frilled micro-mini dress shown in Milan for Euro summer 2006.

2. The block-strapped empire dress.

Natasha Gan "Dancing in the morning sun" dress, $290, at Myer and boutiques. Phone: 9696 4424.

3. The bombshell dress with shaped waistline.

Bracewell "Florentine" dress, $225. Phone: (02) 9212 4166 or www.bracewell.com.au.

© 2006 The Age

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