``I think women have realized that they are prettier when they don't show so much skin.''
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She must've watched the Democratic National Convention. |
Posted on 09/13/2004 12:09:05 PM PDT by Lorianne
Tuck away those sexy tops. Cover up the belly. Dismiss the short skirts to a dark corner of the closet.The new business fashion for women says goodbye to bare sexiness and say hello to flirty femininity.
``You can't find a suit with a miniskirt anymore,'' said Erin Bianchi, public relations manager at Bloomingdale's at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Calif. ``I think women have realized that they are prettier when they don't show so much skin.''
After years of outfits oozing sex, it seems people have overdosed on bare bellies, barely-there tops and cleavages so wide and deep, double-sided tape is required to keep the R-rated look from turning soft-porn.
Vogue had a cover story titled ``Naughty vs. Nice. Why showing skin is no longer in,'' where fashion icons discuss the new, more covered professional fashion trend.
Even bare-skin poster child Donatella Versace -- who sent shock waves through the entertainment world when Jennifer Lopez wore her green dress held together by only a clip below the navel -- has a fall collection with humbler suits.
Instead of clothes that scream sex, the new business fashion for fall whispers sensuality. Jackets with nipped-in waists emphasize the female shape. Little puffs on the shoulders add playfulness. Pencil skirts cover the knee but hug the body to hint about what's underneath. Slacks are fitted but flow out over the leg, to distinguish a woman's pant from a man's.
``The nipped-in waist is an outgrowth of a young person going to work and not wanting to look oversized,'' said Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association.
Women can now wear dresses to work too, something Metchek hasn't seen in years. They come with polka dots, or other playful patterns.
``Women know they can make it in the workplace now,'' Bianchi said. ``Everything is very feminine. We've moved away from dressing like men.''
The dresses, or skirts, or pants for that matter, can all be worn with one of fall's most forceful fashion comebacks: the cardigan. Cover two fashion bases by buying cashmere cardigans.
Try to find cardigans that pick up on the explosion of new colors this season. Seafoam green, pink, yellow, the list goes on and on.
Colors are creeping into even the most conservative business wear. Pinstriped suits now have pink or red stripes, said Diana Jennings, a wardrobe consultant in Coto de Caza, Calif.
``It's a classic but updated look,'' Jennings said.
A lot of mixing and matching is going on with that classic suit. The jacket can be worn with a separate skirt. The pants can be worn without a jacket, and with -- gasp! -- a bow blouse. Yes. The bow blouse of the 1980s is back. Its flowy lines and buttoned-up style is exactly right for the times.
Slap a big brooch on the blouse (or on the cardigan) and the outfit is complete.
No, wait. No outfit is complete without shoes.
Heels are a must with the feminine styles of the season, Bianchi said. One option is a round-toed shoe.
``They have to be feminine shoes,'' she said. ``No loafers or chunky heels.''
Some of those new shoes have fur accents. Fur is in again. Faux as well as real. It can be a full coat -- sometimes colored in a bright appley green or cherry red -- or details, such as a stole, a collar or cuffs.
After almost 20 years in the business world, Marla McCutcheon, 40, has seen it all. In 1986, when she started working at a law firm, women wore long skirts and suits. They had some femininity, McCutcheon said, but mostly mimicked men's' suits. Then the pendulum swung to the other extreme. Lacy underwear-like blouses peaked up from cleavages. Skirts resided high above the knee. Then the business casual business wear hit when anything seemed to go. Now fashion is more sexually toned down, yet celebrates femininity.
``I think this is probably the best-case scenario,'' McCutcheon said. ``The pencil skirt makes more sense. You can't bend over in a miniskirt.''
Slacks are ``completely acceptable,'' for women to wear now, McCutcheon said. Today's styles give women pants that are comfortable, practical and yet feminine.
McCutcheon herself often wears slacks with a top or a jacket. She now is a principal of Echo Media, a public relations firm in Tustin, Calif. While her own office is a creative environment with more tolerance for choices of clothing, some of her clients are law firms, where the dress code is usually stricter. It's important, McCutcheon said, to be sensitive to the dress atmosphere of customers.
While a sleeveless shirt could be acceptable at McCutcheon's own office, it would be inappropriate to wear it without a jacket on visits to a client's law firm.
``Women need to think about how they portray themselves,'' McCutcheon said. ``You don't want the attention to be on your clothing, you want it to be on your work.''
How women dress can be function of how long they have been working. Some older women tend to get more conservative as they work their way up the career ladder
You say that like it's a bad thing.
For every hottie with a bare tummy I have seen, I have (rather unfortunately) seen two or three tummy-rolls where the shirt really SHOULD have been covering the space between ribcage and waist.
Hey, during my 6 years at the U Dub (I played football), I only saw what was underneath the goretex after the sun came out Spring Quarter...
hahaha
>>El natural or poll dancer...
I think you meant a "pole" dancer. LOL. That's all right, it's an election year. The mistake is el natural.
That reminds me of the classic scene in the movie "LA Story" (which satirized a whole lot of "California culture"):
Harris [in bed with Sandee for the first time]: "Sandee, your breasts... They feel so strange."Sandee: "Oh, that's because they're real."
Good one!!!
And, just when did appreciation of a good looking woman become the exclusive preserve of liberals. That is a piece of high ground this member of the VRWC is not prepared to concede!
We have one. Skin-tight everything. Plunging necklines, exposed belly-buttons, mini-mini-mini skirts, low-rise slacks...with thong. I'm told she's trolling for a husband and she certainly grabs the attention of everyone in a room. The men ogle, the other women seethe (and gossip later on). Her clothing is such a distraction that no one takes her seriously. The environment is anything but professional when she's in the room.
I read the other day that the bare tummy look is already out, although you still see it on the street. I couldn't decide whether that was good or bad, because, as you said, there are so many out there who should never attempt it.
Hey, I may be 48 y/o but I have worked damned hard at the gym for the last 3 years for these arms and I'm not covering them up unless I'm cold.
That's a visual I really did not need.
LOL. Very good!!!
Does that mean the little slut is pregnant? There really are some people who should be sterilized rather than burden the world with their pathetic offspring.
"I can't believe an Freeper would try to deny someone their right to bare arms"
Upper arms. Designers have pushed the sleeveless look on dresses for years now and it can be gross. Alot of women are too old to wear sleeveless or too fat. It's OK on the tennis court or golf course,in the house, or generally outdoors but not at the office. Covering up is not just for the legs or stomach. Just my thoughts.
Hey, I may be 48 y/o but I have worked damned hard at the gym for the last 3 years for these arms and I'm not covering them up unless I'm cold.
Ditto--My arms come from pulling wires, carrying boards and digging trenches. They ain't dainty, but they ain't ugly either. And this here is South Georgia...I have to go sleeveless or faint.
Free country. I'm going to darn well wear what I want as long as it's legal, It's going on......
Fancy meeting you here!
Oh great.................
All the chicks at the office are going to start dressing like barbara bush.................
I quit!
``I think women have realized that they are prettier when they don't show so much skin.''
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She must've watched the Democratic National Convention. |
What about bare flirty femininity? That would be an acceptable compromise wouldn't it. Please, wouldn't it? Please?
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