When it comes to occasion dressing, Stacey Bendet sure knows how to go all-out. Case in point: the confetti-hued, voluminous gown she wore to the CFDA Awards two weeks ago. Typically, her designs for Alice + Olivia are just as attention-grabbing, but her Resort lineup was a mostly more subdued affair, full of monochrome pastel looks like a bedazzled lavender silk slipdress worn over tonal stovepipes. Priced between $190 and $250, which is the "sweet spot" for Alice + Olivia s young customer, the label s colored jeans have been thriving, and she s expanding her denim offerings to include styles like slouchy chambray trousers and sequined skinnies. Highlights here included tailored shorts suits cut from a metallic burnout linen as well as an on-trend oversize coat with bracelet sleeves in a shardlike mosaic pattern. It s "exactly what you need for patrolling the streets," Bendet said of the collection. Compared to Alice + Olivia s usual flashy fare, we d say these clothes will blend in on the sidewalks but still earn some "what is she wearing?" double takes.
