Dresser’s-eye view of a fashion show

Press, 10 February 1988, Page 16

Dresser’s-eye view of a fashion show

By

Liz Davies

Launching a new season’s collection is always a traumatic time for a designer, and naturally the method with the most impact takes the most painstaking preparation: a parade! Not just a single dress to be judged on its merits, but a whole series of garments blending subtly together. How to show the clothes at their best? How to make the show an exciting spectacle with the tensions held high and to end on a breathtaking note? Then how to cope with the desire of the clients to rush and try on the clothes they have just viewed? Timing is all important. As a student I can recall wriggling on my little gilt chair at a Paris show wondering, in spite of the glamour, when it would end. To stop the show with people still wanting more is a vital point. Time and place of the occasion are first to be decided, and this gives the deadlines that seem so necessary to get things going. Models: who is available, how many and do they complement each other? Luckily the local girls seem to grow taller and more beautiful every year, but overseas talent scouts are quick to spot them so the more experienced are often away filming on some tropical beach or hustling in a large city across the world. Great! All the models picked are free and ex-

cited to be chosen. The next task is to sort out the outfits for each sequence, always allowing enough time and space for the next set to be ready. Clothes must be ready on hangers for fittings — it is amazing how different nine girls with the same measurements can be. Last minute zips have to be put in and hems shortened. In a shop the effort would end with the clothes on their hangers, but at a show all the other necessities have to be gathered. Belts! Some designers create their own, others have to rely on belt designers and spend time co-ordinating styles and colours. Hats have to be created and stockings matched for shade and

texture. Jewellery has to be chosen and clips and brooches placed on jackets. Is everything ready? Help! Where are the gloves and what about shoes? Again, there is the problem of fit: with the height of the models also come longer feet. Will the sizes available be right? The girls look marvellous, all ready to perform. What next? All important is the choice of music: it sets the ambience and, of course, has to be suitable to move to, and suit the clothes. Music is chosen and the method of presentation worked out. Should there be a surprise “something” a little special to be choreographed? If so, the extra talent for this section is organised. Countdown begins, the invitations have gone out, the clothes are ready, the models chosen, what now? Dressers; one for each model. Many dressers, it seems, are mere mortals of 1.6 m: “Please may I dress a short model,” is a plaintive cry. Short these days means 1.75 m. The day dawns. Racks are ready for each model with their lists of clothes and accessories pinned to the wall. Dressers check through the lists to have an idea of what is what before we start as there will be no time for queries later. Is the hairdresser here? Models start arriving still in their casual gear but

their faces are immaculate and hair perfect. What a thrill it is to see them looking so sensational. What about the prompt, the invisible person who sits like a guest in the front row with, her lists to make sure that if there is a hitch out the back the model does just one more stroll down the cat walk and there are no hideous pauses. We are ready! The music man organises his machine, the lights go out and we are off. The girls go out in sequence, pass the hairdresser, and have a final check by the designer. Dressers pick up and hang up clothes in the lull and sometimes have a chance to glance at someone else’s girl as she goes out. Do they like it? How are the clothes being received? Spontaneous ripples of applause reach us. At last, the finale with the bride and the grand parade of all the girls in their glamorous evening gowns. The dressers can relax, it’s over, but not the designer, who has to appear and receive the reactions of the audience. The word goes out, “the video is ready.” This is the time the “back room gang” can sit and watch what the audience saw. Would we swap that nerve wracking bustle for a front row seat? The thought is tempting but as we see “our girls” coming out the answer would have to be "No.”