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[[double line]] FASHION FORECAST The glitter of Paris couture by Michelle Moore [[image: black and white photograph of runway model in long, close fitting gown, with ruffles]] Anyone who yearns for the good old days when clothes had dash, skirts swept majestically and feathered headdresses towered as women entered a ball room or restaurant ―― after pausing in the doorway to make sure they were noticed ―― should stop in at a Paris couture show. The feathers will tell you you're in the right place. They embellish the tops of sleeves of short evening dresses and ballgowns at Hubert de Givenchy. They decorate soft, rounded pouches that dangle from the wrists of the mannequins at Nina Ricci. Pierre Balmain, which is one of the more sedate houses, shows a jacket made of feathers that lie flat against the body to insure that the black dress it accompanies does not fade into the woodwork. And Yves Saint Laurent, who certainly knows a trend when he sees one (he starts so many of them), had his audience first swooning then applauding madly as he sent a flamingo pink jacket with big sleeves out on the runway over a jet-studded black lace dress. He followed with other balloon sleeve ostrich feather jackets in jade green and black and, in addition to feathered headdresses, also cuffed a pair of long gloves with feathers. They were worn with a very simple black velvet shift of course. No sense overdoing things. Saint Laurent is always the last major house to present its collection. After that, many people who come to Paris each season for the fashion openings feel they can go home. (The individual houses repeat their shows two or three times a week until it is time to work on their new collections. Admission is free, but it is necessary to call the house in advance for reservations. Anyone can go except members of the fashion industry, for obvious reasons.) By the time Saint Laurent had showed his collection, it was clear that feathers were in. A few viewers worried about the fragility of the feathered styles and the fact that it was next to impossible to put any kind of wrap over, say, feathered sleeves. But these are mere quibbles. It is clear that not only are feathers back in fashion but so is the kind of grandeur they connote. Any number of designers felt compelled to sweep skirt fullness to the back and create bustles (as in the Saint Laurent dress shown) If this suggested the milieu of Proust, it probably was not unplanned. For the splendor of the clothes shown for 1982 recalled the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century grandeur. That's when ladies traveled by carriage and had personal maids to fluff up their feathers and press their gowns. They didn't rise much before noon and then only did a bit of shopping or left their calling cards at an acquaintance before they dressed for dinner or a musicale. The concert was often in somebody's home so their elaborate headdresses didn't disturb the sight lines of the person sitting behind them, and if they went to the theater, they sat in a box, where those things could be arranged as well. They didn't, at any rate, have to be at the office at 9 a.m., and have to run home to walk the dog or feed the children before going on to festive evenings. The couture isn't concerned with such pragmatic details. The clothes they offer are opulent in an old-fashioned way, with plenty of furs as well as feathers ad a good deal of glitter. 58 [[end page]] [[start page]] [[advertisement]] [[image: color photograph of two models in draped evening gowns]] Photograph by Gideon Lewin Bill Blass Ltd. [[/advertisement]]
