For Spring, Oscar de la Renta gave us a refresher course on all the reasons we love him. The taffeta ball skirts! Those handkerchief lace dresses! The embellished gowns! The pre-fall collection he presented today on Park Avenue wasn t the ode to joy he put on back in September, but it served as a reminder that ODLR still has his charms when he s performing in a minor key.
Chief among them were a series of dresses, both to the knee and floor-length, cut from crinkled and pleated silk. Whisper-thin and nearly weightless, they re the kind of frock you ll turn to again and again when the weather warms: fabulous, but also easy. This may be the "awards season" season, but de la Renta didn t put a lot of red-carpet showstoppers on the runway. (We re guessing his Hollywood gals go to the atelier for some one-on-one time with the designer along with their one-of-a-kind gowns.) In their place were narrow beaded or sequined column dresses worn with matching bolero jackets that sparkled without being flashy.
That s a fitting description for this line all around. Out went Spring s harem pants in favor of elegant trousers in bold shades of marigold or ocean blue. And the show s most unforgettable coat came in wine red double-faced leather, not a stitch of embroidery or passementerie or what have you. On the more embellished side of the equation, silk Mikado dresses in Rothko-esque color blocks and Monetlike botanical prints, as well as a hooded fox vest clinched by a dragonfly brooch, stood out.
