Masculine line is ‘in’

Press, 29 February 1984, Page 12

Masculine line is ‘in’

In vogue

Paula Ryan

In line with international preferences for winter, New Zealand designers have opted for the layering of garments with strong emphasis on a masculine line.

This is no less evident than in Barbara Lee’s winter collection, shown to a packed audience at Panache last week. It was a lavish production of fashion without the theatrics of past seasons — 10 tall models graced the catwalk in moving fashion without a pause. The layering of the Japanese worker influences opened the show, after which came the strongest winter stories. Jackets, coats and suits stole the show, and the variety in Barbara Lee’s winter ’B4 collection surpassed expectations.

For day it was the Prince of Wales masculine wideshouldered topcoats in brown and cream and black and white that caused the excited murmurings. These were worn over colourmatched houndstooth checkmated jackets and cuffed Oxford trousers, and as additives for completing a total package. There were trilby hats, silk men’s shirt detailing and half-knotted Windsor ties, leather gloves and woolly mufflers. The great topcoat appeared over and over again in several guises — ir. plain shades, winter brights of red and electric blue, braided, and double or single breasted, but always accented with winter’s black in sheer legs, pumps and trilby or fedora hats. In suiting, the starting point was a different jacket, a jacket that is squared shouldered, strongly shaped on top but straight falling from there. Another inviting option was a much longer, below the hip jacket. In each case, these jackets always suited one of the new menswear-inspired checks,

plaids or tweeds and created wardrobe mileage over a skirt or pants in a complementary but unmatching pattern or texture. Designer detail included the insertion of leather trim in one singlebuttoned short jacket in herringbone.

This winter’s skirts have clearly been reworked. All were narrower.

Without being tight or curvy. There were narrow to the knee skirts in leather or wool, or longer below calf skirts. The outstanding pants for day were based on a man’s trousers with cuffs, or waist pleated and cropped wide in leather or tweeds. Barbara Lee has even paid homage to Coco Chanel this season with a collection of classic cardigan jackets and braid-edged jackets designed to team with special lean and lengthy pleated skirts. Several of these jacket styles are detailed with small gold buttons in true Coco style, and for show level they were accented with masses of gold, pearl and jet jewellery. These highly detailed feminine jackets were also shown over classic printed dresses. But the dress to watch was the chemise in bold primary colours or in the perennial best seller — simple black. The introduction of designer Brigid Brock’s new

architectural range in leather also proved a showstopper. Her bold lengthy kimono coats with leather ties over narrower trousers and leather leggings clearly had people talking, as did her waist cinched jackets and lean, short skirts. So too, garments by designer knitter Margaret Milne, proved her continuing national popularity with lean and lengthy co-ordi-nates in grey on grey.

Barbara Lee’s own knitwear collection this season continues on a lengthy theme favouring black and cream. Sweaters are neck rolled in plains or stripings, skirts narrow and pleated long. Jackets and cardigans are loose and pants cropped wide. A smaller but high profile collection using knitted fabrics also proved popular. These “Missoni-like” knitted fabrics were multi-toned in berry shades. All pieces — sweaters (lengthy), cardigan jackets and full, long swinging skirts — were edged with knitted cuffs and hems in the dominant shades.

Evening showed lashings of silk velvet, long narrow and side split, or just as sexy in short draping Vbacked variations. The strongest colour — black. Glamour evening looks recalled the 1955 body con-

sciousness, being strapless and bodice hugging with billowing skirts of lace held wider by stiff underpinnings. But probably tKe strength of design showed at its purest in the beading for evenings. All over beaded loose fitted tunic tops, over all-over beaded narrow skirts in black beading on black or multi-beading on black, proved designer dazzle. Evening jewellery included crystals, rhinestones and jets — always massive and loaded with exuberance all the way.

In contrast to the black evening looks this season’s Barbara Lee bride was in white top-to-toe — sharp white bordered lace and harlequin collar in a lean, long silhouette with a show stopping head piece with stiff, short veiling cascading from a glorious white headhugging helmet.

Without doubt, Barbara Lee’s national winter ’B4 collection makes no attempts at over-naturalness, no attempts at joining the youth band waggon and contains no jokes. It’s all out style within style and encompasses the strongest messages out of the Northern Hemisphere.

The photographs for this column were taken by Euan Sarginson.