Rate the Dress: ’20s plays with paisley
Last week I showed you an 18th century Robe a la Francaise made up in a floral cotton. It lost some points for the asymmetrical front fastening (which I actually thought was brilliant – it repeated the rococo serpentine line of the dress fabric), and even most of you who loved it felt it was not quite a star of the show dress, giving it an overall 8.4 out of 10. Since last week’s dress was a formal garment done in a fabric that we think of as informal, this week’s dress is an informal garment, a playsuit, done in a fabric that we think of as formal, silk. This simple ’20s playsuit is made from lightweight blonde (unbleached) silk, trimmed with bands of silk printed in an unusual paisley inspired design in turquoise, vermillion and lime green. The playsuit has a matching tie belt and bolero in the same paisley silk, the bolero further trimmed in the lime. While the playsuit is identified as Japanese, it was almost certainly Japanese for the Western market …