milan fashion week: dolce & gabbana
(images via style)
first off, we should take the time to note that even dolce & gabbana is not immune to the pains of global recession: they’ve heard our cries and have included a couple of dresses in their s/s 2011 lineup that will retail at around $500.
having noted that benevolence, which doubtless colours one’s opinion of the collection toward the positive, i’d like to say that this was a show that moved me more than the fall.
while that collection harkened toward the sexy with a noticable absense of pants, this felt more sweetly alluring, with a range of looks for many customers and no inappropriate skimping on garments simply for shock value.
for spring, the idea was, “a young bride-to-be who, after second thoughts on the church steps, runs home, breaks into her hope chest and starts sewing, turning bed covers, sheets, window lace and a million deconstructed doilies into the stuff of sartorial delight.”
there were plenty of lingerie-lacy bits on display here, sheers and bras exposed, but it wasn’t the overt ‘okay, i see a decent blazer, but it looks like she forgot to put on a pair of bloody trousers’ of fall. the dresses fit with the theme, fit with what a number of girls are going to want to be wearing.
and then, there were the pieces for the older girl, the pieces that filled in a bit more and had a conservative-if-shapely silhouette (hey, their muse of late is madonna. i know she still thinks she’s lourdes’ age, but how many women inspired by her are getting to be a bit older than these models?). for them, there were some of the most divine looks, such as vlada’s closing dress (bottom).
the problem with the show, as i’ve often found this season, came in the lack of pants, i.e., there didn’t seem to be any of the runway. yes, there were bloomer-like shorts and rompers, but i’m guessing ladies my mum’s age aren’t going to feel comfortable gadding about town in those.
certainly, spring’s mood is a joyful romp, but doesn’t the girl who wants to cast off the shackles of a shaper and slip have a right to play, too? not so much, according to designers. maybe they’re keeping company with the so-called ‘conservative feminists’. flaunting your status as more than a yummy tidbit is out this season.
in the end, though, it was a good show. the designers did what they do best here, and they deserve more credit than not for giving us beautiful, carefully-crafted looks that work on a variety of levels for more than one type of girl, at one type of party. is it a shame that this is the new bar? yes. seems even when we win, we lose.
(see the full show here)
