THOMAS Wolfangel's spring collection. This is full of bright suits, fetching dresses and fancy ball gowns. This is unmistakable Wolfangel, one of the few remaining couturiers who listens to his clients and dreams up complicated ways to woo them.
Now that suits are top of the spring list, Wolfangel has come into his own again with his perfect tailoring and eye for detail. Wool crepe, and wool boucle, often in primary colours, are often used, cut neatly, with careful thought going into flattering necklines.
There is the classic navy, outlined in white, a black and white houndstooth of body skimming fit while others are in peppermint green, cornflower blue, and a soft yellow (around £265-£380). And the suit also proves effective in a heavy embossed cotton, very stunning in a vivid emerald green or scarlet.
Both the sheath dress and the shirt waister have surfaced again. The shirt waister was shown in navy wool crepe, smartly bound in white (£260), and the general buzz was that it looked not just attractive but comfortable.
The sheath, a less comfortable style, came over as pretty impeccable in black crepe, worn under a jersey coat patterned with zebra squiggles (£160).
Cocktail and evening dress is fanciful, calling for a glamorous kind of life. Busy, brightly patterned silks are used for suits with pleated, or bias cut, skirts, or, in chiffon, with circular skirts and printed chiffon blouson tops (£320).
Wolfangel is among the last to produce full evening wear, with sumptuous ball gowns in rustling paper taffetas (£450), silk chiffon, with beaded tops, and a shimmering black sheath, in that never say die Hollywood vamp tradition.
The collection is available at 158, Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin.