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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1970)
ednesday, May 13, 1970 College Station, Texas Page 3 THE BATTALION m life in. xiblic Na. converted FILTERS :ra| air con. if needed ill or a hot, 'o addition!! Jthorizatioi INC. Women’s fashions ■ a man’s-eye view Y CINDY BURLESON ittalion Women’s Editor It isn’t every day that haute couture comes to a school rose fashion consciousness extends chiefly to the ‘goat- per’ and military-beige schools of design . . . neither one of lich is noticeably heralded in Paris. So I hoped to present the Neiman-Marcus style show, onsored by the Host and Fashion Committee of the emorial Student Council, as the truly remarkable event of ie century it really is. But my husband was the only person railable to cover the event . . . As a former model at N-M and coordinator in the men’s signer boutique there, I thought he had perfect credentials [or reporting the show. (He even knows Ann Randall, which no small feat since there are at least three ladies who swer to that name.) But, without further apologies, here is Doug’s somewhat ndid view, in his own quaint phraseology, of the Fasion ’70 low. The “funky midi”, he characterized is “something like a ini dress over a midi one”, with a 1930-ish print overall, e country girl look of brown and white gingham with [hite skirt he liked. The bottom few buttons were left ndone and “you got to see the legs.” The after-5 midi for jet-setters was “just like last year’s dresses”, he said, except that “where they used to be chopped off, there was a ruffle.” All I could get him to say about shoes was that they all resembled “black-suede open-toed wedgies except some weren’t black suede.” The mini outfits, which are back bigger than ever, were shown with puff sleeves and featured the same overall “tiny patterns” as the midis. The funky necklaces, he said were made of wooden beads and some of “those colored jobs you string yourself.” The swimsuits, he said, were worn with the same black open-toed wedgies, the little crocheted hats and sometimes with a scarf. “The shorts outfits were sexier than the swimsuits”, he said. They were hiphuggers worn with halter tops. Next they showed the ‘skinny mini’ which he admits he didn’t understand the full significance of... “kind of flapperish” and “the old classic” knit pantsuit. The ‘Summer ’70’ portion was introduced with the words, ‘You’ve never had it so good.’ Never mind what he said about that. “Actually, I was pretty surprised at the sensibility of the things we were shown,” Doug admitted. “Everything looked simple and comfortable.” “The models were good, and the show was well worked out,” he added. FASHION ’70—Mam’selles sporting 1 shorts, sandals and clogs bring the summer look from Neiman-Marcos to A&M, compliments of the Host and Fashion Committee of the Memorial Student Council. Furniture comes in mini and maxi TOP mi amps Don’t blame By ARLEEN ABRAHAMS Al* Xewsfeatures Writer That maverick of the fashion world, designer Mr. (Richard) Blackwell, says this year, for the first time in a decade, he suffered "terrible pangs of conscience” composing his annual list of worst-dressed women. “Not that I worried about be ing outspoken or hurting anyone’s feelings—I adore having people hate me—but I felt why blame the women,” explained the flam boyant, handsome former movie actor. “The blame should fall on those designers who have intimi dated and brainwashed these women into wearing their clothes.” As he paused to comb his gray ing sideburns and adjust tfhe shawl collar of his black mink coat, he reflected upon the public figures he had named to the list this year: Queen Elizabeth II, Barbra Streisand, Raquel Welch, Jacqueline Susann, Goldie Hawn, Carol Burnett, Doris Day, Shirley Temple, Mae West and Ann-Mar- gret. “Let’s take, No. 1, Queen Eliz abeth,” continued the Los An geles resident. “Let’s not blame the Queen: let’s blame her dress maker, Hartnell, who I feel is terribly antiquated in his fashion concepts. "Granted the Queen’s position influences her fashion choices, I agree with keeping her dresses to the knees but that doesn’t mean the cut and line can’t be modern. And protocol doesn’t de mand she wear only the one string of pearls. Nor does tradi tion specify millinery 10 years behind the times or call for the big, oversized satchels, which she calls a purse,” he elaborated. Balenciaga is the designer he would choose to dress the Queen. “He’d make her look like a royal lady, a royal figure who represents an extremely fashion conscious nation.” Although Blackwell claims there is no one hard and fast rale for getting on his worst- Jressed list—“the problem is in dividual”—he cites a woman’s “to- blame the women, designers tal disregard for her own image, age and position in life” as being most offensive. Elizabeth Taylor and Zsa Zsa Gabor, both named to his hall of fame for making the list three consecutive years, share a com mon disregard for individual fig ure problems, he says. “Miss Taylor never acknowl edged her size problem. For too many years, she’s squashed her self into colthes too small for her figure.” Zsa Zsa, he points out, “over dresses from the waist down and exaggerates her figure problems, instead of framing her face, which is beautiful, or emphasizing her jewelry, which is magnificent.” If it were up to him, he’d dress her in very simple, uncluttered styles, “maybe emphasizing a special neckline or a vivid color.” A woman who wishes to be well-dressed, he says, must learn to disregard the dictates of fash ion snobbery and be real, herself. “She should concern herself with who she is, what she is, her particular figure problems and her position as a woman in view of her husband’s role. No man wants to come home to Yves Saint Laurent’s decision of what a woman should look like,” Black- well comments with a smile. He insists, “For 90 percent of American women, the total con cept of high fashion is wrong. Small portions of haute couture should be applied, however, so the woman looks as of today.” Blackwell, who says he loves making fashion sense even more than he enjoys collecting his be loved antiques, claims most de signers have lost sight of their role. “We’re here to be of service to women, to make them more beau tiful by dressing them in the best way possible. We’re not here to set ourselves up as kings or judges or to appraise their meas urements.’ His own designs, which take into consideration women sizes 38-46 as well as 6-20, are executed with one basic idea: A woman is a woman for a good reason and for a man to admire. “And if a woman doesn’t have a man around to admire her, then complete women,” the never-married she’s not a philosophizes designer. With the introduction of the midi for spring, Blackwell believes the haute-couture designers fi nally may have done themselves in. “We’re sitting at the funeral, businesswise, for high fashion. Stores, stuck with an abundant stock of minis, started advertis ing three skirt lengths and many women, adverse to the thought of instantly outdating their ward robe, took to the idea. This may spell the end of dictates from de signers.” Not that he is dead-set against the midi. “I like what I can do with this length, particularly for after- dinner costumes, theater cos tumes and after 5 outfits,” he notes. However, he doesn’t feel the midi is a contemporary enough look for daytime. “Fine fashion should be a total evolution of concepts,” he con cludes. “It should evolve very gracefully over, say, a 10-year period. Perhaps once in a decade we could have a smashing change. But why should a wardrobe be outdated instantly?” he asks. Blackwell, who can neither sketch nor sew, fell into the fash ion field by accident. At 14, he was offered a role in an off- Broadway production of “Dead End” and jumped at the opportu nity to escape his Brooklyn slum background. Moving from Broad way to Hollywood, he appeared in more than 100 motion pictures as a child and later as an adult actor. After World War II, and no longer in demand as an actor, he turned his attentions to personal talent managing. While trying to book his one client—a singer—he realized a striking wardrobe might enhance her appeal. He bought some remnants and began draping the fabric into an eye catching gown. When the singer made her debut, Blackwell’s cre ations elicited as much applause as his client’s talent. Shortly thereafter, he banded together with R. L. Spencer to put their total resuroces, $8,000, into an assault on the fashion world. I NO SERVICE CHARGE ON YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT THIS SUMMER AT THE UNIVERSITY NATIONAL BANK! THAT’S RIGHT IF YOU WILL LEAVE A SMALL BALANCE IN YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT AT THE UNIVERSITY NATIONAL BANK WHEN YOU GO HOME FOR THE SUMMER, THE UNB WILL NOT PLACE A SERVICE CHARGE ON YOUR INACTIVE ACCOUNT. THEN, WHEN YOU COME BACK AT THE END OF THE SUMMER, YOU DON’T HAVE TO OPEN A NEW ACCOUNT ... OR ORDER NEW CHECKS .... OR BE INCONVENIENCED IN ANY WAY. YOUR AC COUNT WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU .... AT THE UNIVERSITY NATIONAL BANK. srrrc^ffSt. B FISTIC COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 77840 On the side of Texas A&M University Wives’ board The slate for the 1970-71 aca demic year is as follows. Kathy Koch, from Geology Wives will serve as Vice Chairman. Bernie Webre, Electrical Engineering Wives, is Recorder. Linda Nixon, Civil Engineering Wives, will be Treasurer. Lenore Sherrer, Phy sical Education Wives, is Report er and Anita White, Industrial Engineering Wives, is Parliamen tarian. Mrs. Torno is a member of Architectural Design Wives club. Furniture now comes in mini, midi and maxi styles, a size to fit middle-sized, large-sized or tiny living quarters. Bonny Olsen, Extension hous ing and home furnishings special ist at A&M, says the mini-scaled furniture is suited especially to young single persons who live in mini-size apartments. Another answer is to buy fur niture with more than one use . . . let one piece do the work of two. Intel-changeable furniture permits more flexibility, promotes the uncluttered look and saves the young person money. A low chest with drawers and drop-lid compartment can be used in the living or bedroom. It is interchangeable as a wall chest or bedside stand and can hold books, magazines, records or shirts and sweaters. A little table with a gallery on three sides could hold the hall telephone, a living room lamp or items used at bedside. A wall unit which is finished on all sides can stand free as a room divider and serve as a storage unit to hold books and art ob jects. A very unusual piece which is an ottoman that can be made into a single bed. It has a rattan base in two sections which telescope together so the two cushions stack for use as an ottoman. BRO WN - ALLEN MOTOR CO. OLDSMOBILE SALES - SERVICE “Where satisfaction is standard equipment” 2400 Texas Ave. ^ SHOES jltm £tiUTtr$ umbergitp men’s; turar 329 University Drive 713/846-2706 Collette Station, Texas 77840