3/17/2011 - Authors Dish in Fashionable Attire
In their new book "What to Wear, Where," Hillary Kerr and Katherine
Power, the Los Angeles-based masterminds behind the popular fashion
website WhoWhatWear, instruct readers on what kind of outfit to put on
for many an occasion.
There are individual chapters devoted to how to attire one's self for
such things as an art gallery, a barbecue, the country club, the
courtroom, the farmers' market, a game night, job interviews
(conservative and creative), a ladies' luncheon, a music festival, New
Year's Eve! (exclamation point, theirs), a picnic, polo and horse races,
the rain, a somber occasion and three types of wedding (black-tie,
cocktail and daytime).
In other words, for many women, this could be a very useful primer.
One thing the guide does not outline, however, is what to wear to a
dinner in celebration of a book like "What to Wear, Where." So, many of
Ms. Kerr and Ms. Power's New York friends had to get dressed in the
dark, shall we say, as they approached Il Buco Wednesday. Thankfully,
they are all in positions of high fashion esteem, so this was not,
really, truly a concern, but more of a challenge. "You want to dress up a little, show that you have style and why they
picked you to be here," said the fashion designer Charlotte Ronson, who
popped by for a glass of wine before dashing off to another commitment.
"Of course, I've got to wear some Charlotte Ronson."
"It's a fun, festive occasion,"
explained Erika Bearman, the vice president of public relations at Oscar
de la Renta, but perhaps more famously known as OscarPRGirl on Twitter.
"Look at these two girls. They are incredibly fashionable. If you're
going to turn it out for a night, why not with them?"
Ms. Bearman had changed from Look One from her work life¡ªa day dress
with stretch¡ªto Look Two for evening: a coral hammered satin gown with a
sparkling rose gold sweater over it.
"Hot-colored with neutral," she said. "That's how I'm expressing the trends."
"For me, this is also Look Number Deux," said Sara Riff, the director
of entertainment relations at Jimmy Choo who knows Ms. Kerr and Ms.
Power from the West Coast. "Look One was a Missoni day dress with biker
boots. Look Two is an Anna Sui dress with an over-the-knee suede boot
and a Jenni Kayne motorcycle jacket."
What trends was Ms. Riff exhibiting? Ms. Kerr stepped in to offer
commentary: "You can see the bohemian pattern in the dress. That's
really happening right now," she said. "Meanwhile, the uppercut halter
situation is very in, and it shows off her toned arms." And then there
were Ms. Riff's "statement rings." Ms. Kerr said extreme accessories
were a must for an evening like this. "Tonight is about festive attire. It's as if a cocktail party and a
fashion party had a baby," Ms. Kerr explained. "So you want to take a
step above what you're wearing to work. You wear a slightly more
plunging neckline, you show a little more skin, while still trying to
embody the trends."
"There's a revival of the bare midriff right now, but that's not for
me," Ms. Kerr went on. "I haven't done enough Tracy Anderson. Tonight,
I'm more about the disco glam, a little bit of that '70s vibe."
For her part, Ms. Power chose to bust out a vintage red dress. "At a
fashion event like this, you can be a little more daring," she said.
"Lately, I'm taking more risks with color. I wore this at a co-ed baby
shower and I've never gotten a bigger response from men. Gay and
straight."
"That poppy red is the perfect spring color," remarked Eva Chen, the
beauty and health director at Teen Vogue who was wearing a pink J. Crew
top. "I'm wearing color for the first time in ages. I've actually been
buying a lot of poppy red and Kelly green and hot pink. I don't consider
cappuccino, camel, khaki, black or gray as colors, but that's been my
wardrobe for three years. For the first time, I'm staring at that fire
alarm over there and thinking, that's a great color too."
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