European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 13, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Designer Oscar de la Renta inspects shirred shoulder evening dress. Major fashion change Fri mics by duh Nadine Morris new York times seventh ask nuke is tooling up for a major fashion change. This time it is not the length of hemlines or the pants versus skill question that Are exercising designers. For the first Lime in years it is the shape of clothes themselves that is under revision from full and flowing some say droopy and draggy cloth to Are becoming leaner and More defined. The shift became apparent in the fall collections in new York where it was dramatized by shoulder pads of often alarming proportions designers have by now finished with fall the clothes Are already appearing in the stores and Are concerned with their next collection. This is usually described As Holiday and resort and it involves clothes that Hill be shipped to the stores from october to december. Holiday refers generally to the More festive kind of clothes women will be wearing to parties from thanksgiving through new year s eve. Resort centers on warm weather clothes for women who head South for Winter vacations. But these kinds of distinctions Are becoming increasingly arbitrary. People dress non seasonally today said Oscar do la Renta. You get bundled up when it s cold you Wear As Little As pos sible when it s warm. The same silk Blouse is worn with a Wool skirt in the Winter and a Cotton one in the to most designers Holiday resort refers simply to the collection that follows their fall Winter one. This year it provides an. Opportunity to develop the new shape of clothes broader at the top and tapering to the base. A year ago. 1 designed some slim dresses for the first time in years and women loved them said Calvin Klein in the fall collection i put some shoulder pads in them and they acquired a much More dramatic it is of course not enough to slap some shoulder puds in clothes. Clothes still have to in soft Ami Union Klein insisted. The pads help but they re not the whole kor some the Challenge is to broaden the top of the Silhouette wit haul resorting to shoulder pads. "1 refuse to get into shoulder pads said Geoffrey Beene. There arc ways of getting the effect without sticking tilings into clothes that hinder movement and arc Unco fort lie nevertheless eels Hal clothes will be cleaner sharper and there will also be mores lioness. Probably in suits. I m most concerned with preserving movement in he said. I can t be Lieve women who have been liberating themselves in other areas will go Back to tight restrictive clothes. Liberation extends to fashion one Way that Bill Atkinson achieves a broader top is by inserting self fab Ric ruffles inside his sleeves at the Point where they join the shoulders. He Calls the unseen ruffles the Ameri can shoulder referring to the Gargantuan football shoulder effects that were shown in Many european collections for fall. Still. Atkinson is not averse to using shoulder pads when he deems them Neces sary Fie Lucks a soft modest one into the top of some of his longish jackets just enough to set the he said. Nobody is particularly concerned about hemlines at this Point. You la probably find More variation in the length of pants than you will in skirts " predicted Donna Karan of Anne Klein skirts she prefers on the longish Side _ midcalf or below. I really never liked really Short skirts Karan explained pants Are different. She s Experiment ing with styles that have raw edges so they can be rolled up to any length the wearer refers. Silk Page 10 the stars and stripes sunday August 13, de a Renta s dresses Iare much Shorter just about 4 knee. That s the length that abroad shouldered belted working on Aren t important he said. It s what looks Geoffrey Beene however variety for Bill Blass went even in i like clothes that Fil l and have a Little Extension 1 but that s not the Iro Porter the clothes have to be f ing and. Yes. Sexy want any time but eur in a party or play a noon ii what we in the Busineau Rys Slit skirt by arme Klein Resart w7w i m aiming Way nne Mem. Prettiest clothes i can
