Thin Pickings

The Age

Friday February 9, 2007

JANICE BREEN BURNS

The lean black winter fashions in New York this week will look better off the catwalk than on, writes fashion editor Janice Breen Burns.

THE models' legs were most shocking by far - all bony bones and no muscle tissue to speak of, pony-stepping in high clomp heels and black tights that only accentuated their poor little joints and sticky-stick thinness. No flesh to plump them out. No pretty kinks or womanly bumps. No curves, naturally. Only occasional, angular flashes of hips, clavicles and collarbones that were - frankly - startling.

After New York Fashion Week's first two crammed catwalk show, days of more (eye-poppingly more) emaciated models than usual, the so-called "skinny" debate had no choice but to erupt again on Monday. "Why?" was the obvious question. "Why so skinny? Why so many?"

President of the American Council of Fashion Designers Diane von Furstenberg reminded media of her recommendation last month that the event's mostly teenaged model population have nutritious snacks dished up backstage, and a liberal dose of education about eating disorders and a healthy diet thrown in. She stopped short of banning models with a body mass index below 18.5 from the catwalk, as did Milan's fashion industry body, Camera della Moda, last year.

The Americans prefer a less strict approach but its concern was no less deep than the average Italian's. Two Latin-American models who died recently from complications caused by anorexia would not have died in vain, if only common sense could prevail.

Yeah, right. Backstage, cigarettes and champagne stuck fast to the top of many models' food pyramid. And, after a resourceful Reuters reporter cornered a couple of backstage cleaners for comment, it was found the unmistakeable stink of bulimic vomit might be another clue to the eating habits of the Modern Glamourpuss.

Why so skinny? Could it be a trick of the light? In the 1960s, and again in the late '80s, the emergence of a lean, un-fussy silhouette with simple block shapes juxtaposed into wide and narrow patterns (an A-line shift on stick legs, a black body-tight and froufrou skirt) also produced - voila! - an explosion of twig-like models. Their physical featurelessness fit neatly with the angular, architecturality of it all. And it was a look that made the skinny appear even skinnier.

This week, NYFW's designers - including Australians Toni Maticevski, Josh Goot, Sass & Bide and Aurelio Costarella - also responded to the zeitgeist with a sleek, lean, often black aesthetic. It's not the only stream of consciousness in current fashion, but it's the most compelling and bound for the widest uptake.

When the pared-back look does return, as it has again, it's enthusiastically welcomed by voluptuous woman who practice the "suck in, stretch up and tuck under" technique as an improving fashion accessory. (Statistically, that's between 52 and 87 per cent of us.)

Black opaque tights, thin-legged trousers (providing they are not too tight), shift frocks, straight-draped swing and opera coats, even second-skin leggings, can smooth a body's edges and lend a stark, cartoonish simplicity to pared-back fashions. They can conceal a body's least-loved details and distract beholders with an illusion of smooth, chic perfection.

From the plethora of such thin pickings at the midpoint of NYFW, this is a critical selection of designs that exhibit the desired illusory effects. Or not.

TEMPERLEY LONDON

YES AND NO - the swagged graphic "poncho" could be a disaster for a chunkier wearer, though the persistence of chic black in the neckline and flipped A-line skirt could save the look if the silly sleeves were scrapped.

SASS & BIDE

YES - a neat, sharply tailored knee coat and toned black leggings cut so long they disappear into the lean-toed platform shoes. Long, lean, exotic as a Black Russian cocktail and just as warming.

AURELIO COSTARELLA

YES - never underestimate the power of a corset to define minimalist chic, in this case with a baroque twist in the milky expanse of decolletage and pleasing symmetry of hip and shoulderlines.

DONNA KARAN

YES - zip-front coat in fleshy wool fabric cut to kink at the waistline and swell gently into neat, swinging A-line skirt. A perfect "overlay" of neat, clean silhouette.

DOO.RI

YES AND NO - I know what you're thinking: "No!" But the bulbous frocklet, like any wider-than-the-thighs hemline, can provide enough dimensional contrast to make your black-opaque-encased legs appear half the size they really are. Some people revel in that.

MARC JACOBS

YES AND NO - Like the Doo.Ri bubble frocklet, this boxy micro mini offers the illusion of slimmer legs. On the especially voluptuous however, it has the potential to look really appalling.

BCBG MAX AZRIA

YES, BUT - sheer drop frocks continue to endure but, only the relatively small breasted should rejoice. The gathered drop is free and comforting, looks funky with contrasting pair of black tights or leggings but should never be attempted by the big breasted lest they are heavily pregnant or fancy the look of a mobile ski-jump.

© 2007 The Age

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