FASHION Alternative Evenings

THE MEYERSON GAVE THIS CITY’S glitterati new cause to sparkle this fall, and well-heeled throngs dressed up to beat the band. Fashion police on after-dark duty reported a broad sweep of feminine fashion that ranged from try-hards in Ann Taylor to diehard Valentino fans. Which augurs discussion about a dilemma that has plagued womankind forever. It’s a point of view thing that gets especially pesky as the dreadful/delightful (pick one) holiday season looms/glimmers (do it again) on the horizon. What to put on when the occasion demands evening dressing but the formal gown is a bit much and the little black dress with pearls (yawn) is not quite enough? Happily, this fall American sportswear designers divined a two-part plan that seems to be working. The first step involves a luxe sportswear approach to evening dressing. Classic separates, jackets, vests, tunics, bathrobe wraps, hooded parkas, pieces that are pivotal, hard-working parts of daywear, have been sewn in highly desirable, money-is-no-object fabrics: quilted, embroidered, and panned velvets, miles of cashmere, and a king’s ransom in brocades, textural silks, and sheer chiffons. These upper-body pieces are in loose, easy shapes meant to be pulled on over sleek, narrowed pants, skirts, leggings, and shorts. Length is not an issue here since designers offered every imaginable hemline. The key is proportion: softer, looser on top, sleek and narrow at the bottom. And theme: a modern romance where exotic details, fabulous fabrics, and folk-loric influences meet the all-American good sport’s wardrobe, providing women with glamorous and comfortable evening options. Ever shivered over champagne in a strapless gown in December?

“I hate freezing to death and pretending to be comfortable” says Jackie Stewart, teacher, filmmaker, social shaker, wife of Peter, and mom of four little Stewarts. “I bought Rifat Ozbek’s embroidered velvet baseball jacket this fall, and I’m wearing it with Michael Kors’s black velvet jeans and a silk charmeuse tux-pleated camisole with a pair of flat, black velvet shoes. I never wear a real ball gown unless I absolutely have to.”

These new classics are meant to be shaken up and mixed thoroughly. That’s part two of the plan: a giant leap of faith for womankind, especially in Dallas, where more than a few well-heeled women routinely rip a page out of WWD and shop for label and look in toto. The key to successful dressing for day as well as evening involves picking a piece from here and another from there and reusing one from last fall. Scary at first. But the result is a wardrobe that will work over and over again, in your life, on your body.

Kelli Quest rum. wife of Allen Questrom, the president and CEO of Neiman Marcus, developed her ability to pull smashing evening looks together years ago while she was a fledgling editor at FASHION Mademoiselle. “I didn’t have much of a budget, but I was required to attend lots of functions, forced to be creative and still look absolutely right,” says Questrom, whose svelte size-four frame and penchant for mixing star-status designer labels has triggered multiple flashbulb attention from local and national paparazzi.

“I’m definitely not the ball gown type. I’m flat chested and long-waisted and I’ve always had a sportswear attitude toward evenings. I’m most comfortable in a pair of evening pants. This fall I’ve worn Gigli’s gold lame” cutaway over his bronze cigarette trousers.”

Questrom has also been captioned at cocktails in Ralph Lauren’s honey suede jodhpurs and a Donna Karan honey cashmere turtleneck with Gigli’s honey velvet donut stole. Flat, brown suede, laced jodhpur boots are the finish.

“But I also love wearing a favorite jacket I’ve had for several seasons, a winter-white double-breasted Armani dinner jacket, over Gigli’s gold lace leggings and bandeau with his sheer olive skirt that’s knotted and pointed at the hemline and his flat, pointed-toe, coppery shoes.”

Even one piece from Gigli’s eveningwear collection for fall would make many a fashion follower think she’d died and gone to heaven. But for women with real-life budgets and the reality of body as work-in-progress, all that’s necessary is time and the willingness to experiment: guts if not Gigli.

As a visual display consultant for Neiman Marcus, Christy Whistler routinely gets her hands on some of the world’s most beautiful evening togs. “That’s probably why the last thing I want to think about is suffering through a formal evening in something stuffy that I can’t afford,” says Whistler, who as wife of gallery owner Barry Whistler is occasionally required to put on an artful version of the ritz. “When coerced to put on eveningwear, I have a pair of silk Gaultier evening pants from several seasons ago that are still good. Sometimes I’ll wear an Armani jacket that was a hand-me-down from a well-dressed male friend and pull out a vintage thing or two to finish it off. When in doubt, I put on really big earrings.”

The best evening wardrobes this fall are the sum of several interesting parts: the modern, classic separates designers hope you’ll shop for, and the appealing, unconventional way you make them work on the parts God supplied.