Who you callin a bridal designer? Vera Wang may be the first name you think of when someone says "wedding dress," but anybody who knows the designer will tell you she s not a beads-and-bows kind of woman. Backstage she was rocking an old gym tee and leggings with platform boots. And while her new Fall collection wasn t quite as casual as all that, it was very much made in her image. "It s reflective of how I live and dress," she said. Designers are always strongest at doing what they know, and this was a good Wang collection, built mostly from tailoring—evening looks included—and nearly all in the color black, which is shaping up to be the color of Fall 15.
The first outfit out, a boxy but cropped man s jacket and long satin skirt with the wide drawstring waistband of boxing shorts, pushed the concept too far—the bared midriff feels a bit overexposed at the moment. Button-down shirts with wool coat sleeves likewise seemed a bit try-hard. But otherwise, Wang made an interesting and often unique case for marrying elements of classic men s tailoring with more traditionally feminine pieces: Inserting the waistband of a pair of pants—pockets, too—into a long silk velvet dress gave it a cool, slouchy attitude. And a crepe bustier top with lace detailing at the back retained a tomboyish vibe thanks to the oversize trousers it was paired with. The crinkly vinyl outerwear pieces looked particularly good: girly but irreducibly tough. Extra points for the white lug sole black leather boots that accessorized all but the shortest of the looks. We bet a few of her models tried to make off with a pair to beat today s ice and slush.
