Remember in old New York there was an Uptown look and a Downtown one? Uptown was Chanel suits and ladies who lunched, Nan Kempner and the socialite hairdo. Downtown was CBGB's, and punks, and drag queens, and anything goes. In the cutest way possible, bebe Black rehashed that scene for the millenium at Style 360 on February 16th.
Back in the day, finding vintage goodies at Love Saves the Day, Unique Boutique, or Cheap Jack's that were mixed with punk/metal clothes from Trash and Vaudeville was a downtown girls's mission. It was about mixing messages, taking things out of context, and juxtaposing them in a way that struck fear and loathing into the hearts of all who witnessed your gloriousness. Every outfit was performance art, planned to get a reaction from normal folk. What bebe Black has done is to distill the essence of the look, smooth it out, and create a candy colored world safe for tourists...like new New York today.
Bouncing down the runway to remixed songs from West Side Story, the models hair and makeup was a squeaky clean 50's look of red lips and swingy ponytails. Except the ponytails had punk color streaks in them. The 50's vibe continued through revamped versions of pedal pushers and pleated skirts with Pink Lady style baseball jackets. The 80's (which referenced the 50's, so it's all one) element came from a tutu skirt in 'limoncello' mixed with a punkish t-shirt, and bell shaped floral skirts with Stephen Sprousian neon pink piping.
Shoes were a strong presence, too. Especially the bright pink, blue, black, and citron pairs with silver capped toes and silver stilletto heel. If you get nothing else, try to work a pair of these into your wardrobe for an instant lift in spirits.
The collection is fun, happy, upbeat, and young. Standouts were the pleated skirt and moto jacket made of gold coated tweed. Put the pleated skirt with a black turtleneck and tights for w inning fall/winter look. Color was everywhere, with sassy cocktail dresses in pow candy hues and silky sateen shine. Thecollection was very New York, very sophisticated, but incredibly innocent at the same time. Grease plus Blondie equals Madonna from the Borderline era.
Definitely, something to look forward to next fall!
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