Paul Smith Women

LONDON, September 18, 2007
By Tim Blanks
After decades of practice, Sir Paul Smith gives good sound bite. "Hockney meets Bloomsbury" was his succinct summation of his women's collection for Spring. If that evokes a mélange of primary colors and florals with a twist of haute bourgeois eccentricity, then you clearly understand Sir Paul's shorthand. The color was strongest when applied to classic shapes, as evidenced by a cornflower-blue shirtwaist dress, a green parka, and a tomato-red blouse (the matching bow tie a prissy flourish). The elongated proportions of a knee-length cable knit with a dropped half-belt suggested Bloomsbury's bohemian languor, just as a silky floor-sweeping skirt or the floral print on a kimono-ish top hinted at the gardens of Charleston, where Vanessa Bell entertained her sister Virginia Woolf and their coterie.

The outfits had the artfully thrown-together quality you might find among the guests at a country house party: Formal and casual elements combined in such looks as a black velvet jacket over white cotton Bermudas, a little gray cardigan pulled over a red shirtwaist, or a blue cummerbund wrapping the waist of tiny shorts under a cardigan jacket. The same notion was elaborated on in a full white tie rig trimmed down to a shawl-collared tap suit, as well as in a rugby shirt stretched to the floor and given dress collar and cuffs. If there was a slightly random quality to the whole affair, you could argue that's always been Smith's charm.

Style.com

Style File Blog

november 09, 2009

Shopping alert

On Our Radar: Oscar De La Renta Silk Flower Dress

04:11 PM
I know some people don't like to dress their toddlers like grown-ups, but it's almost impossible...

Trend tracking

Yea, Nay, Or Eh: Mendes Misses A Button

01:11 PM

Outside sources

Moises’ Youth Group, Boys In Skirts, And More…

01:11 PM

more from the style file blog ›