Véronique Leroy has long been an admirer of the neatly tailored look of stewardesses, as well as other efficient, uniform-clad groups of women. Aptly, her muses for today s show were ambitious secretaries. But Leroy s Tess McGills and Peggy Olsons aren t the kind to sleep their way to the top, at least not as evidenced by these clothes, which put heft, volume, and texture at a premium.
Woolen dresses reached past the knee and had bobbling, full silhouettes. There was one that Leroy called a dress-coat, which essentially looked like a coat you pull over your head—the designer went one better and put a matching coat over that. What are we trying to say? These aren t the clothes that will be at the top of your shopping list, unless your ambitions are the convent. You d be a relatively chic novice, but still.
What was interesting here was how Leroy echoed pieces in shearling with a creamy knitted jersey that had a great nubbly texture. A slim, medallion-belted dress cut in the stuff certainly stood out. Another great effect was a light-as-air alpaca textured to look like astrakhan that was used in a full-sleeve coat and pencil skirt. A few well placed shots of slick patent leather added a necessary whiff of sex, in a Matrix-y shearling and a pencil skirt worn with a heavy cabled sweater and pervy-cool wire-rim specs. Perhaps it s a uniform for the career-minded girl who knows that a little fun never hurts.
