Feb 5, 2008

Bird motif, taffeta friends of a feather

Herrera debuts flight-worthy frocks at N.Y. Fashion Week

Associated Press

NEW YORK - When Carolina Herrera does country, only an English countryside manor will do. The fall collection she presented Monday at New York Fashion Week was full of brown, blue, mustard yellow and a lot of feathers.

Models donned Peter Pan hats with their windowpane coats, riding pants and even taffeta cocktail dresses. Many of the outfits also featured ornithology-inspired prints: one was a delicate wing print and the other was a more colorful bird print.

The bird print was stunning on a chiffon embroidered gown dotted all over with ostrich feathers. For those who prefer a more subtle look, there was a strapless gown in bronze taffeta with a feather waistband.

Daytime ensembles included a sleeveless blouse made up of a series of rust-and-black patches paired with a mustard-colored embroidered skirt, and a double-face wool cape with a tweed vest, bronze silk blouse and riding pant.

Herrera definitely continued with the emerging trend of adding something fancy to an otherwise more casual outfit, or the reverse of adding something cozy to an elegant evening ensemble.

"The ease and sophistication of the outdoors. A riding jacket you grab from the mudroom over a crinkle chiffon gown for an elegant dinner on the farm," Herrera said in her notes. "The city life left behind."