"Katharine Hepburn meets Audrey Hepburn," is how Rose described her Spring look. What, exactly, does that mean? A new sportiness, for starters. The show's standout piece was a bottle-green belted taffeta anorak coat-dress—hardly a new concept, but one that added a peppy zip to the other, more elegant, fare. The same silhouette topped a strapless, floor-length dress with embroidery at the hem, just the thing for a black-tie garden party.
The Katharine part of the concept meant more pants than usual on her runway. Rose called them knickers, cut them in cotton canvas or dungaree twill full to just below the knee, and paired them with long tanks or tunics. Audrey came forward in the form of a sweetly feminine day dress in a subtle polka dot; and, for evening, slim, skimming cocktail numbers in Matisse-bright silks with scalloped hems.
Rose loves texture. She experimented this season by layering corded or pinwheel lace over linen sackcloth in contrasting colors. "How do you make burlap couture?" was the challenge behind a strapless persimmon-and-ginger number. It¿s the sort of High WASP, lo-fi concept that would have appealed to Kate the Great and, very likely, will to the swans of Park Avenue.
