Looking at Rosetta Getty’s latest collection today, it was funny to recall that only a few seasons ago it seemed that the designer was married to a look of luxe unraveled-ness—all her clothes seem to wrap and shroud and drape. Getty hasn’t lost her sense of ease, but the clothes here erred toward the tailored and the fitted, and her introduction of twill and gabardine this time out underscored the fact that she’s assumed a crisper tone for her clothing. The looks that did posses a more unwound silhouette, like her knotted kimono dress and wrap-tied gown, seemed like a call back to the Rosetta Getty aesthetic circa the label’s launch in 2014, not quite of a piece with the rest of the collection.
Not quite of a piece, but not entirely out of place, either. The shapes here may have run trim, but as a general matter Getty continues to pursue a relaxed tone via her materials. A case in point: Some of the standout items here were done in a red plaid wool that was featherweight and sensuously pliant. The plaid pattern gave the tailored silhouettes a certain mid-century preppy vibe, but, thanks to the fabric’s texture, it was preppy on a few hits of Valium. That’s a winning tone for Getty, and one she struck again in her brushed alpaca outerwear.
Getty’s key reference this time out was the artist Carol Bove, whose work with found objects explains—or at any rate, helps to excuse—the motley-ness of this collection. It was hard to draw a straight through-line here, from the gabardine trench trimmed in wool plaid to stretchy cigarette pants to halterneck knit dresses and onto unfussy evening looks in striped duchesse satin. You could certainly make the case that the same woman, at different moments in her life, would reach into her closet for various of these pieces as they suited her present needs. Which is, after all, the point of a wardrobe. On the other hand, the woman specifically looking to add a little Rosetta Getty–ness to the wardrobe she already has will be inclined to reach for this season’s kimono-inspired jumpsuit in peacock-patterned damask, a print directly inspired by Bove’s work. That item encapsulated the evolved Getty idiom: tailored and very finished, but nevertheless languid bordering on Zen. Who doesn’t aspire to that?
