Designers Show a Return to the Past With a Mixture of Art Deco and 1970s Styles

Sep 2
18:53

2011

John Greyling

John Greyling

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

When it comes to designer pant suits, we all have to thank the late Yves Saint Laurent, the father of the designer pant suit for his contribution to stylish evening pantsuits.

mediaimage
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }st2\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}

Since the mid 1960s,Designers Show a Return to the Past With a Mixture of Art Deco and 1970s Styles Articles designer pantsuits have come a long way, and there is no designer that does not include them in their evening range. People wait with anticipation to see what designer pant suits are going to look like for the coming season, and they are not usually disappointed.

Designers are harking back to the women’s tuxedo in the 2011/2012 Fall Season, with the Yves Saint Laurent’s Le Smoking being the inspiration once again. The evening pant suits are immaculately tailored and a display a return to the androgynous look, with glints of the 1970s styles shown in the wide lapels and relaxed flared pants or wide-leg pants paired with tuxedo jackets, the styles can lean either towards the classic elegance of the nineteen forties or the nineteen seventies. Whichever style you chose, the look is sleek, sexy and somewhat tomboyish.

Styles are quite open to one’s own interpretation, but fabrics are the important thing. Choose between cashmere, wool, silk, velvet, satin, and tweed. Buy separates in different fabrics and mix and match them. Wear your suit with a cummerbund, or a bowtie, chiffon neck tie or suspenders. Invest in a plain jacket or an embellished one that sparkles whenever you move.

Pants with a trim or contrasting stripe down the leg; a sheer or open neck shirt; high heels with tapered pants; leather brogues with cropped pants; long flowing or bolero styled jackets, the choice is yours. The emphasis is on style and comfort and whatever suits your figure is what you should go for. Simple hairstyles and bold colours on the nails and lips add to the sensuous and mischievous look.

Some of the styles, such as those shown by Karl Lagerfeld of the Coco Chanel brand hearkened back to the 1930s and 1940s, when the founder of the company was revolutionising the fashion world for women, and the designer pant suits showed some classic Art Deco lines. Sculpted jackets and fluted waists were the order of the day, and the collection showed influences of both Chanel and Schiaparelli.

Ralph Lauren’s collection took its inspiration from China after he travelled there for the first time last year, and his creations combined the timeless glamour of the Art Deco age with modern Chinese patterns. His collection included a red silk shantung embroidered smoking jacket, velvet quilted jackets, tuxedo jackets, and pinstripe pantsuits with matching vests. A pair of black sable tuxedo trousers with a silk velvet wrap smoking jacket was also a huge hit. André Talley, Contributing Editor to Vogue raved about the collection.

One thing is for certain, the designer pant suitsfor the next season all have the same idea in common, and that is that the lines are clean, the feel is one of understated elegance, and the idea is that women return to the ageless elegance of bygone eras. Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn would be shopping up a storm if they were alive today.