When it comes to occasion dressing, Stacey Bendet sure knows how to go all-out. Case in point: the confetti-hued, voluminous gown she wore to the CFDA Awards two weeks ago. Typically, her designs for Alice + Olivia are just as attention-grabbing, but her Resort lineup was a mostly more subdued affair, full of monochrome pastel looks like a bedazzled lavender silk slipdress worn over tonal stovepipes. Priced between $190 and $250, which is the "sweet spot" for Alice + Olivia's young customer, the label's colored jeans have been thriving, and she's expanding her denim offerings to include styles like slouchy chambray trousers and sequined skinnies. Highlights here included tailored shorts suits cut from a metallic burnout linen as well as an on-trend oversize coat with bracelet sleeves in a shardlike mosaic pattern. It's "exactly what you need for patrolling the streets," Bendet said of the collection. Compared to Alice + Olivia's usual flashy fare, we'd say these clothes will blend in on the sidewalks but still earn some "what is she wearing?" double takes.
