Poils of wisdom for goils of style from Voxfrock editor, Janice Breen Burns. Main photograph, top, Passionflower pleat frocklet by Cue, $339. Go to www.cue.cc for stockists.
(This article first appeared for the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival.)
Spring’s prettiest racewear frocks are lolly-colored (fairy floss, gummy bear, milk bottle cream), with slim fitted bodices and sticky-out skirts that sway around a girl’s bare thighs or knees as she walks. The chicest ones are cut in neoperene (the spongy material usually used for wetsuits), lined silk or stiffer-than-average cottons so they lightly skim the ribcage without crumpling or gripping, then release into those flattering, fullish skirts that (and, here’s a cherry-on-top treat) actually create an illusion of a smaller waist and slimmer legs.
It’s the contrary volume that does it.
Alice McCall’s impossibly sweet “Playing on the Waves” frocklet, $340 on www.alicemccall.com
For every sized and shaped girl, in fact, spring’s sticky-out frocklets – provided they fit right, not tight, and are composed with impeccable grooming and accessories – are a superpretty, super flattering rarity. Add heels (slab-sole sandals, high wedges, or dagger-toe stilettos if you can bear bending all day to dislodge the clods of trackside lawn you’ve speared with them), handbag (slim envelope clutch, or kelly on a chain, matchy-matched to your frock but not your shoes), a proper hat (a flighty little sculpture; not too showy) or fascinator (a lasered Perspex “tiara”, or lacy veil with “ears” are sweet/cheeky choices) and that illusion of extra height and slimness, glamourousness and gorgeousness, is magically enhanced.
Fashion is handy like that.
Portmans’ Barcelona Bombshell frocklet, $229.95, on www.portmans.com.au
Finally, remember the two avoidable mistakes that can spoil even the loveliest racewear ensemble: hobbling in pain, and an unattractive amount of champagne. Toward the end of any long, sparkling day of trackside frivolity, it is easy for a girl to forget how many flutes she’s drunk, and that, despite her murderously painful shoes, her stride should be as long and graceful, from the hips, as it was when she alighted from the taxi, or train or limousine, at Caulfield or Flemington that very morning. Hobbling is an unfashionable no-no, staggering even worse.
Superpretty is achieveable by every young woman with spring’s racewear. Just keep yourself nice; fashion will do the rest.
Janice Breen Burns, jbb@voxfrock.com.au
