Press on! - starched clothes - Illustration

My father was uniformly starched, tight around the collar, pressed into the ideals of an era better suited for armed conflict. But reports have come in that there's been an advance on the starch front. Here, in fashion's late-twentieth-century interpretation of body armor, is our generation's best defense against the assault of the day-to-day. But it's no longer conspicuously defensive. Armed with a steam iron and spray starch, following the romantic tradition of sartorial chivalry, clothed in the hard-edged crispness of incurable idealism, let us press on--a whole lot less regimented, a whole lot more insubordinate and fun; a whole new wrinkle.

Linen coat by Joan Vass, N.Y., about $330, available at Joan Vass stores nationwide. Raffia dress by Nicole Miller, about $500, at Nicole Miller stores; for more information, call 800-365-4721. Cotton coat by Liza Bruce, about $935, at Shauna Stein, L.A. Flipflops by J. Crew in J. Crew catalogs and J. Crew stores nationwide; for more information, call 800-562-0258. Stockings by E.G. Smith Socks at department and specialty stores nationwide.

COPYRIGHT 1994 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group