NYFW. Look to Love; Volume Control

Chadwick Bell

ICB by Prabal Gurung

Lacoste

Costelle Tagliapietra

Pamella Roland

Proenza Schouler

Narciso Rodriguez

I always love a designer’s take on volume. Every season without fail, designers give us some sort of volume in clothes and it either works or it doesn’t. Much of the collections for AW13 was fraught with volume, boxy silhouettes that only look good on the bodies of the models strutting down the runways in them. Let’s face it, hardly does a box look good on anyone else but the trick with volume is to turn it up for one thing and turn it off everywhere else. Work with what you’ve got. The belted leather tee with the circle skirt for one, a freeing silhouette should function on its own, like the chunky knit; with opaque tights, even better, or the loose fitting jumpsuit (yes those are back again ladies, then again they never left town.). Lacoste and Proenza showed especially brilliant sportswear infused collection, rounded in the corners and boxed up but with a sharp look that made it soft and appealing, without the bulk. Put the voluminous outerwear over more streamlined cuts; a pencil skirt, skinny pants…and don’t forget to throw on the highest heels you can possibly wobble around in, otherwise this look’s a dud.