Shoulder pads bring '80s style to Fashion Week

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-17 17:21

Remember the '80s, when big hair and even bigger shoulders were the height of chic? The designers at New York Fashion Week won't let you forget.

Yes, the shoulder pad is back.

Add that to power suits, Robert Palmer-style second-skin dresses, dark lipstick and even, at Miss Sixty, acid-wash jeans.

It's probably safe to say that there were more shoulder pads at Goodwill drop-off bins than at fashion boutiques in recent years. But big shoulders edged onto the runways of Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Alexander Wang, Diane von Furstenberg and others as Fashion Week ended its fourth day of fall previews Monday.

"Shoulder pads scare people but remember, runway is a fairy tale," said Gloria Baume, fashion director at Teen Vogue. "Now we have to figure out how to make it real."

Done right, though, sharp shoulders can give a new confidence to women left weary by the economy, said Stephanie Solomon, Bloomingdale's fashion director. "Toughness is confidence. It's a way of saying, 'You can't bring me down."'
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week runs through Friday.

MARC JACOBS

Marc Jacobs' punk princess was the prom queen with a rebellious streak, the one who wears oversized cardigan with zipper details and a series of tight pencil skirts. She has a few outfits with sexy cutouts and a black, slashed dress that allows flashes of pink and green to peek through.

And, of course, she has the biggest shoulder pads of the week.
Jacobs is considered to be one of the most influential designers in New York, if not the most influential, so be ready for copycat satin party dresses in hot pink, purple, blue and green in every mall later this year.

Far fewer fashionistas saw the Jacobs show than normal _ and the paparazzi missed the typical parade of stars _ because the designer cut back the guest list significantly and started the show even before the appointed time on the invitation.

DONNA KARAN

There's more to seduction than skin and sin. Donna Karan's smoldering fall looks left the audience wanting more after a glimpse of bareness from a back-closure keyhole opening or a slit on the back of a skirt.

There was very little that was overtly sexy _ and that's what was so tantalizing: The clothes draped the models just the right way and were made of slinky-yet-sophisticated fabrics. Karan captured strength that has become a trend here, but there was also a womanliness that not every designer has embraced this season.

The crowd included White House social secretary Desiree Rogers, who had one of the best seats in the house next to Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour.

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