June 2, 2016 |
Resort, for those of you who do not come from the British Isles, is in our fair land, also known as cruise. Not as in cruising, though, cruising being a popular activity in our office, also requires a specific wardrobe, but cruise as in the idea of going off to warmer climes on a cruise ship when the weather gets colder and the nights get longer. You might think that there’s something a little country and western to this. It’s in the flounce of the hem lines, the bell of the sleeve, the sweetness of the grosgrain ribbons tied delicately at the neck. A young Dolly Parton on her first cruise, strumming her guitar and singing of a dress of many colours. But then you’d be wrong. For this was born out a visit to Japan. To quote Erdem himself, via the means of press release, the collection, “interprets the cross-cultural exchange between East and West of the 1930s. The boyish modern guru- the Japanese ‘modern girl’ counterpart to the French la garconne personifies the decade’s fascination with Western style, reciprocated by Old Hollywood’s obsession with Japan where actresses such as Mary Pickford would play Japanese characters.” Think contrasting elements of classic menswear contrasted with overtly feminine, almost ballgown silhouettes made of men’s shirting and delicately embroidered organzas and leathers to give the feel of a debutante Harajuku girl. Dolly Parton on a cruise she is not.
