After a brief excursion across the prairie this Spring, Luella Bartley returned to the city for Fall, with a smart collection aimed at prepsters with a rock 'n' roll edge.
Bartley clearly spent time in study hall; she has the preppy vocabulary down cold, from three-quarter coats with toggle closures to navy poplin pieces with red topstitching. Also on the syllabus were pinstripe shirts, chunky wine-colored sweaters, soft corduroys and lots and lots of denim (including the show opener, a mini-trench worn by Gisele).
Although the collection was entitled "Some Girls" (the Rolling Stones were featured on a CD given out to accompany the show), Bartley can clearly be mother's little helper, too. Sweet jersey dresses, a simple navy sweater that buttons up the sleeves or a swinging, boxy black-and-white jacket easily jump the generation gap. And moms with hippie inclinations will definitely want to sneak into their daughters' closets for the superfly fringed belts by Katie Hillier or the nifty white sheepskin jacket.
While some of the '70s references were stretched too far—like a poncho made from red leather hearts crocheted together—the collection as a whole put a fresh, modern spin on some ever-popular classics.
