Paris Fashion Week: Stella McCartney’s refreshing take on the pantsuit

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The pantsuit has been MIA for a while now, so it was refreshing to see Stella McCartney open with an updated version in oyster-colored silk Shantung, with modern-looking, high-waisted wrap front trousers and a boxy jacket finished with a feminine frill.

Because sometimes in life a woman needs a pantsuit, and God knows there are enough people out there making dresses this season. It was the start of a collection designed with real women in mind--skirts that weren’t too short, lace tops that weren’t too sheer, and pants that weren’t too tight. Plenty of basics that were anything but basic, in bright blues and pinks, offset by earthy neutrals.

The boyfriend jacket was back in blue silk Shantung, topping a frilly cream blouse and loose-fitting khaki pants. And a soft white crepe camp shirt, worn tucked into a button-front, stonewashed denim skirt, with cork-soled low wedge ‘Linda’ sandals, was the epitome of relaxed summer cool.

The ‘Linda’ shoes, which McCartney said in the show notes were named after her ‘mum,’ were sensible but chic; so were the higher heeled sandals with ergonomic-looking footbeds. (Further evidence that the platform shoe’s days are numbered.)

For evening, flowers were hand-painted onto pleated babydoll tops and one-shoulder dresses that fell in circular volumes of micropleats and ruffles. And while the short versions of the dresses may have been fantasy-like, it wasn’t that or nothing. McCartney offered longer versions, too, and they were just as exuberant.
-- Booth Moore

Photos: Stella McCartney’s spring-summer 2010 runway

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