This Autumn/Winter season, meet the Modern Lady
As autumn encroaches on the green perimeters of summer, we unwillingly wrench ourselves away from the glorious warmth of long, lazy days and look towards a cooler, more sombre future. As the girlishness of summer drifts away, there is someone more substantial, adult and sophisticated waiting in the wings to take her place centre stage.
A mood of womanly elegance prevailed on the fall runways – cinched in waists, gently flared skirts and neatly fastened coats tastefully emphasised the innate sexiness of the female form. Gone are summer’s immature fripperies, in it’s place are clothes made for ambitious, sophisticated women of substance and ambition. Raf Simmons’ Dior collection paid homage to a classically feminine New Look silhouette whilst drawing on influences from Andy Warhol and surrealist artwork. Raf’s juxtaposition created a look that is intrinsically womanly and fiercely contemporary.
At Celine, Phoebe Philo created a softly restrained vision of feminine dressing; colours were muted and tasteful, shapes were serenely draped over the body to emphasise, but not to reveal, feminine curves. This season’s erogenous zone is the shoulder, exposed and ready for a lover’s kiss.
Alexander Wang’s first collection for Balenciaga was crafted in reverence the house’s heritage, whilst looking forward to the strong, go-getting achingly chic woman. Balenciaga’s woman has a feminine purity about her, her skirt is perfectly proportioned, she shows just enough skin to be sexy, but still within the strict discipline of exquisitely good taste.
The beauty of this look is it’s modernity, even though it harks back to the mid 20th century’s unabashed femininity, the modern lady isn’t about reverting to pre-feminism dark ages. She is practical; her clothes are easy to move in with scrupulously clean lines – she doesn’t have time for flounces and frills. The femininity comes from paying reverence to the female form. It’s this attention to a womanly body that makes the look sexy – the modern lady has a smouldering sexuality that isn’t advertised or peddled. She exudes womanly charm in her unadorned simplicity – a flash of shoulder, a glimpse of back as she walks away, the shapely curve of her calf framed beautifully by a modest length skirt. These subtle hints at sexuality is all the modern lady needs to captivate, charm and mesmerise.
