The new Sharon Wauchob collection had an unlikely starting point. As Wauchob explained today after her show, she was looking at military insignia—and then, in her words, she "went on a journey with that." Indeed! Anyone looking for military rigor here would come away rather disappointed—albeit, with the consolation of Wauchob s fairly extraordinary embroidered coats, which were cut sharp and fastidious in their embellishment. But the rest of the offer seemed, in a very conscious way, to be about the ersatz. Perhaps the key looks of the show were the collaged dresses that combined various silks and laces and leather thinned to a satin-like weight. Some of those dresses were quite compelling, with a certain louche sex appeal, but overall the results were mixed. More than a few came off a bit slatternly, to be frank, and messy. Meanwhile, aside from the embroidered coats, the plain standouts here were the trim dresses in a thin printed jacquard that Wauchob had pleated into a kind of plissé, and the cocoon-ish curly and longhair wool furs. If Wauchob decided to start her own army, those are definitely the looks the generals should wear.
