Want a lacy party dress? For the past few years the Italian-born, London-based designer Alessandra Rich has been a go-to source for such things. She specializes in a long, narrow silhouette, sometimes belted and usually at least partially see-through (the better to showcase the lace, not the legs, she insists, though we suppose visible thigh doesn't hurt). Not even the most inveterate party girls wear lace all the time, however, so Rich has been branching out. Last season it was rickrack-trim high-waist jeans, which were cute but possibly too far from her after-dark specialty. So she tried something a bit closer to home for Fall: black crepe dresses with cutout bodices worn over cropped, ribbed-knit sweaters. And they clicked. Shearling jackets with a bejeweled chain print circling the hem were of interest, too.
Of course, dresses remained the main event. The black lace versions were lovingly pieced together from swatches of Chantilly and jacquard, their godet pleats giving them a gentle bit of swing at the mid-calf hem. But the real beauties this season came in white or black silk charmeuse with a languid, 1930s bias cut of the kind showcased at the Jeanne Lanvin retrospective that just went up at the Palais Galliera. In an effort to modernize their soigné, slightly vintage silhouettes, Rich showed them with the new jeweled belts that she's offering for the first time (she had chain-strap bucket bags, as well). The dresses looked even more elegant solo.
