More classic up-dates for 1986

Press, 9 July 1986, Page 12

More classic up-dates for 1986

Revived, in part by the movie “Out of Africa,” the classic safari is updated in sophisticated weights. Very polished levels of dressing will come from this look — again it is superb in white ... big, light and airy, but properly at home in khaki when it’s best worn with black.

Another recurring refrain, and a good one for the home sewer searching the piece-goods sales, is that shorts will be hot again once the summer comes. They turned up in the European collections in every possible guise from tailored walking “city” shorts to camp-fire. They ranged in widths from as wide as a skirt to body-moulded knit bicycle pants. Tailored walk shorts, finishing just above the knee are sporty and sexy, easy to walk in, comfortable and practical.

It is noticeable in all the advance fashion news, the message is not so much in the shorts themselves, but in the balance and construction of the top ... white walk shorts topped with a navy leather, fitted jacket at

Chanel, for example, becomes more than just a statement about shorts. The history of fashion and its revivalist intent is always fascinating. Coming through strongly ‘for summer is a cult, again

begun by Chanel. The gold button brigade is spinning through the season as a “new” signature. Long cardigans and precise jackets are buttoned in gold, gold buttons are strategically placed as

a shoulder fastening on a navy dress. Gold buttons set up some of the. best of the swimwear, and touch shoes, cuffs, collars, pants. There is lengthy reporting on the “newness” of silver and gold accessories. Both metallics have been in and' out, whether real or fake, for a long, long time. What will be "new” about silver for the summer will be some bold accessory pieces in modern and simple shapes — spirals, geometries, graphic designs interpreted in either matte or higly. polished silver.

With black or white, which are high on the colour barometer for summer, silver looks superb. Very cool and refreshing for summer —

against navy it assumes an almost translucent air.

The new signatures in gold (if it is real it becomes the very personal signature that outweighs any pompous fake) come in sports wear jewellery for summer.

Not necessarily sporty, although certain pieces may be, it can be piled up in very personal mixes and matches. Charms,

amulet?, collar pins, cufflinks to add snap to the season’s crisp white shirt, huge hoop earrings are all looking very good in gold. So are gold belts, little flats and big discs for ears.

For summer, the very newest “jewel” is a plaited leather wristband with an elaborate new Western style buckle. The simplest rule, whatever the season, is that nothing ever beats the classics. The variations in their contemporary revivals is what makes fashion interesting.