FASHION BATTLE
DISCO ’08 VS GLAM SLAMMIN’
This summer take your pick of two revamped 70s styles
TEXT STEPHANIE RAFANELLI
DISCO ’08
Slip some Donna Summer into your cassette recorder, press play and get ready to boogie to the four-on-the-floor disco beat as the sexy 70s slide onto this summer’s light-up dance floors, knocking last year’s 80s Day-Glo club wear off its podium with a single hair-flick. A world away from the oddball-on-acid look of Nu Rave, this season is all about the grown-up sophistication and louche sexiness of the 1970s New York girl-about-town. Think Bianca Jagger, Angelica Huston and Liza Minnelli swaying together under the giant glitterball at the legendary Studio 54 nightclub.
THE CATWALKS Salvatore Ferragamo has championed this year’s 1970s revival. The models at the show for his Spring/Summer 2008 collection made like wealthy disco divas as they shimmied up and down the catwalk dressed in shiny satin jumpsuits, silk jersey flares and mannish jackets.
The mood and – predominately black, white and nude palette – are very Bianca Jagger: the white Yves Saint-Laurent tuxedo she wore to her wedding in 1971 or her dramatic appearance at her 30th birthday party in Studio 54, astride a white horse in a flowing black dress.
The 70s theme continues with high-waisted trousers at Prada, pussy-bow blouses at Biba and jumpsuits galore at Calvin Klein and Versace, whose ad campaigns this season look like they’ve been taken straight from the pages of American Vogue circa 1976.
WORK IT For the Studio 54 look this summer think minimal sophistication: a black tuxedo jumpsuit with halterneck, clutch bag and platforms; or a white mannish blazer over a Cabaret-style playsuit (sleeves casually pushed up) à la Minnelli herself. Or you get down with your inner disco goddess like Bianca Jagger; with a shoulder-exposing Grecian maxi-dress you’re sure to make an unforgettable entrance onto the dance floor. But you should probably limit your accessories to a bangle – these days most clubs have a pretty strict door policy on horses.
GLAM SLAMMIN’
When Kate Moss threw a glam rock-themed party for her 34th birthday at London’s Punk club back in January – and arrived in star-print Chanel jumpsuit, intergalactic make-up and frizzed-up hair – she crystallised the perfect new after dark look for closet rock chicks everywhere. This style is for drama queens inspired by the exhibitionist stage outfits of British glam rock stars like Marc Bolan and David Bowie, or their transatlantic counterparts, the New York Dolls.
THE CATWALKS Salvatore Ferragamo jumpsuits rocked with sequined capes and Manish Arora’s creations looked to Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust phase. Towering platforms crippled models on every runway from Christian Louboutin to Roberto Cavalli.
Meanwhile Sienna Miller was reinvented as a glam rock star, painted in heavy Kiss-style make-up for Pop magazine’s recent Fashion Loves Art issue.
WORK IT The trick for the glam rock revival this season is, ironically, understatement. Take one or two touches of inspiration from the rock gods – be TOTP without going OTT. Glam up a simple black jumpsuit with a beaded cape or instead wear it with electric platforms and a dash of silver liquid liner under the eyes.
But don’t go too heavy on the shoulders or the shimmer – think Alison Goldfrapp (in her Supernature period) rather than Gary Glitter.
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