Dress Up by Stephanie Downey A/W 2010 Collection

What a wonderful surprise. Every morning I go through so many emails, sifting through masses of brands and shows trying to promote themselves. But sometimes there are some little gems that get through! Today my gem is Dress Up, a Melbourne-based brand by designer Stephanie Downey.

Since the launching of the brand, Dress Up has been picked up by Liberty in London with great support from Yasmin Sewell. Naturally, this propelled the brand into the forefront of it’s niche, and has ignited some great sparks- such as being featuring on Garance Doré and in Vogue UK as the ‘one to watch’.

And I can see why. On opening the images pdf I did a ‘Ohhw’…

Dress Up’s 2010 collection, entitled Dovtailed, represents a resistance to adulthood and the idea of the white collar ‘career’. The surmise of responsibility and discipline is disobeyed by an inability to ward of the clumsy nonchalance of youth. Fumbling with femininity, playing the professional, but forever remaining an amateur…

A compact collection of coordinates; images of boring everyday office ensembles are in mind, yet thoughtfully misinterpreted to create pieces that appear delicately dishevelled. The split of a pencil skirt is crooked, blouses are becoming untucked at the waist. Cuffs are slashed open, armhole seams forgotten, and a strictly pointed, starched collar, or traditional lapel is not quite so sharp in a fluid silk or linen. Pleated pants and sleeveless blouse attach as one to form a playsuit. Likewise a jacket and skirt zip together to become a dress.

Fabrics are wayward, silk and linen drape disobediently from structured cutting. Velvets (love the incorporation of this fabric), crushed and uncrushed add depth and shine to soft pleats and perfectly penciled silhouettes.

A sensitive and unusual colour palette is adopted, delicate warm greys, soft mauve’s, deep violet, powdery blue (which is just amazing), Dijon yellow and sombre aubergine.