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Dress reversal

The dress is back for all occasions this spring, coming full circle after falling out of favor for years.

By SHARON FINK
Published March 31, 2007

"The return of the dress" is the spring trend with more buzz than a 5-year-old on a sugar high.

This must be puzzling to those who could swear the dress never went away.

Strip away the hyperbole and you find the real meaning: Designers are bringing back the dress from exile on Special Occasion Island for everyday wardrobes again.

But are women ready to give up their pants - and shorts, and skorts, even their all-purpose skirts and tops - to wear a dress for work, for running errands, for a night out?

Ivanka Ska and Cristina C. Beyer think so.

Ska is a St. Petersburg designer who recently opened the House of Ska, a store in which she sells her clothes and other lines. Her clients include professional women in St. Petersburg, and she says they all want dresses now.

"In the 1980s and 1990s, women were fighting to be the vice presidents, directors, presidents of the companies," Ska said. "They had to . . . wear the men's suit and sort of look like men.

"And now I think the female energy is rising so much, so that we know our position, we know that we, as mothers and wives and sisters, can handle everything, but we don't have to look like men anymore. We can look pretty and sophisticated and feminine and elegant, and be taken seriously."

"That's key, I think, and society is really starting to turn," said Beyer, who owns the Bliss boutique and La Tea Da tea room in St. Petersburg. She also is a stylist and window-display designer who works with Ska.

The turn from the everyday dress began during World War II, when women moved into the factories as men went to fight. Pants were on their way to being ensconced in women's wardrobes, and dresses were on a boat to the island where special occasions dwell.

Not that the dress hasn't had its moments - the style of Jackie Kennedy, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, the genius of Diane Von Furstenberg's wrap, the mini - but women haven't been inspired en masse to turn the dress back into the staple it once was.

Unlike previous dress moments, however, this year's isn't keyed to one kind of look. So many designers have flocked to the dress, they've produced styles that should appeal to everybody.

Ska breaks them down into six categories, each with a theme that covers its inspiration, colors, prints, fabrics and looks.

If it's been a long time since you've worn a dress, remember that finding a good fit is the same as with any other piece of clothing. Start by taking an armload of dresses you like into the fitting room. A friend whose taste you trust would also be helpful. As would patience, a sense of adventure - and appropriate shoes and undergarments a bra that properly fits is key, Ska and Beyer said; get yourself fitted at least twice a year at a specialty store or department store.

To help, we give examples of how Ska's six style categories are represented in what you see in the stores and how they can work for your life and body.

Organic

WHAT IT IS: Outdoors is the inspiration, manifesting in floral, animal and reptile prints in greens, stone grays, sandy browns and wood tones. The dresses are casual, loose and layered, and some have Asian-influenced wraps. Fabrics are natural or synthetics that feel natural.

HOW TO GET IT: These influences are channeled into floaty, flowery cotton sundresses for toned bodies; kimonolike dresses for those not comfortable with their shoulders and arms; shifts that hit at the ankles if you don't like your legs; and wrap dresses, which work for everyone.

1920s, '30s influence

WHAT IT IS: Colors are primary in combinations of two and three, with black and white and navy and white dominating. "Everybody's using bi- and tricolor, which is usually more elegant," Ska said. "That's what makes it classic and retro." You're seeing a lot of polka dots because of this movement, along with geometrics, novelty prints and nautical inspirations. The look is sophisticated, clean and well-constructed.

HOW TO GET IT: Try a coat dress, which is good for work and suits every body type. For nights out go with a bias cut, which can hug a toned body or drape to hide bulges, or a drop waist, exemplified by the 1920s flapper dress, which camouflages a thick midsection. Detailing includes scarves and bows. Fabrics are either light and fluid or crisp.

Less is more

WHAT IT IS: These dresses are "tailored, with details and narrow cuts," Ska said, sleek and modern. The colors are basic and neutral, such as cool blues and grays, the fabrics sateen, glazed or coated.

HOW TO GET IT: A good example is the sheath, a fitted dress that can work for every body and occasion. Pair it with an equally sleek jacket for work. Switch to a shawl for evening. Worn alone with a hat it can go to a wedding.

Industrial

WHAT IT IS: The trendiest of the trendy, these are dresses in silver and dark tones mixed with intensive colors, and accented with hoods, toggle buttons, heavy-duty zippers, snaps, big pockets and bungee cords.

HOW TO GET IT: Look for dresses in denim and high-tech material, like wicking, a synthetic designed to absorb perspiration. These are generally for young, toned bodies out for a big night of clubbing.

Romance

WHAT IT IS: Neutrals, golds and pastels in small-scale nature motifs, damasks and jacquards, with details such as ribbons, pleats, buttons and draping. Fabrics are sheer, lace, (intentionally) wrinkled, cotton voile, gauze, linen and silk.

HOW TO GET IT: Look for empire waists and baby doll dresses, always good for midsection camouflage. Usually long and floaty, it's a good style if you don't like your legs. But they also tend to expose your arms, so get a wrap if that makes you nervous.

World music

WHAT IT IS: This is the international melting pot: patchwork, ethnic, pop art, bandanna, paisley, Latin influences, even camouflage and military details in "denims and silks and whatever else you can use from different countries," Ska said.

HOW TO GET IT: Look for mod-style op-art minis for young women with good legs. The world look also can be very casual, the figure-forgiving, baggy bohemian toned way down. Avoid overly busy prints unless you want to look like a cartoon gypsy.

Florida has a special niche in each group because of our weather, Ska said. "We have our bold blues and greens . . . and vibrant and live colors." And they're already in our stores because our spring has been here for a few weeks tempting us into dresses.

No special occasion required.

Sharon Fink can be reached at (727) 893-8525 or fink@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 30, 2007, 17:21:08]