Dresses are back with a splash, writes Deirdre McQuillan
IF THE TREND for florals this season doesn't exactly whet your appetite or send your spirits soaring, take heart, there are tempting alternatives. Just when all directions seem to point to longer and flashier dresses, or dainty looks that are all frills and flounces, along comes a neat, safe little suit or two-piece with all the right details in place to keep it modish and alluring.
A taut jacket, well-shaped trousers, a chic white shirt plus some serious hardware or a ridiculously expensive belt generally cuts it whatever the situation. A brilliant accessory can do wonders.
Serious or silly, glamorous or demure, there are no unattainable ideals when it comes to spring-time fashion, whether it's safari jackets and animals prints (always dependable, always a safe bet) or a sensational dress in an unforgettable colour. The new statement dresses transmit ideas of dramatic entrances to summer parties but, like long gypsy skirts, are hardly everyday chic on wet June streets. Some of this season's prints border on the painterly, the graphic, or have dark hues like those in Prada's fulsome milkmaid silhouettes. A cardigan in a solid colour tames a wayward shape or highlights a pattern's shade. Short dress shapes vary from the wrap and the tunic to the shift and shirtwaister.
"We buy into the core of the brand," says Stephen Sealey, group buying director of Brown Thomas. "And then we edit. You can't buy from the fringe of a collection. If a brand is about sexy dresses and you are looking for tailoring, you buy into the spirit of the brand, even when that changes with a change of designer or direction." Chloe, for instance, went from a strong feminine look under Phoebe Philo, into one with a harder edge, he points out.
Full-length dresses, fuller skirts and the layering of light fabrics is the romantic message, but clean lines and a certain polish are also bang on trend this spring.
Check out www.thesartorialist.com to see what stylish women (and men!) are currently wearing on city streets in the fashion capitals of Milan, New York and Paris.