FASHION Magazine

By Rebecca Voight

Photography by Peter Stitger

Ruffles have taken spring fashion by storm. Forget about red carpet dressing, garden parties and costume balls; the new ruffles are decidedly here and now. London’s Christopher Kane, in his third season and already one of the most watched talents of fashion’s new generation, presented a spring collection with reams of ruffles—naughty, tongue-in-cheek ruffles in suspended tiers, revealing slices of bare flesh and edged in frankly fake snakeskin chiffon. Asked to explain the inspiration, he said it was Crocodile Dundee and “late-night horror films like Carrie.”

The flirty, flyaway bits are now everywhere from Comme des Garçons, where Rei Kawakubo showed her bright, patchwork clown take, to Ralph Lauren, who celebrated the 40th anni­versary of his brand with a collection bursting with ruffled gowns worthy of Eliza Doolittle at Ascot. Blame the ruffle’s return on fashion’s more feminine mood, 1930s nostalgia, the desire for shock-and-awe party dressing, a Spanish moment, a romantic moment, baby-doll envy or simply a clownish turn.

But like a fit of hysterical giggling, the new ruffles are inexpli­cable, irrepressible and contagious.

Ruffles have been under runway wraps since their last big heyday in the late ’60s and early ’70s, when they were an essen­tial of hippie chic, appearing at the necks, wrists and hems of peasant dresses. By the time Oscar de la Renta became known as “the ruffle king,” the flounces were just a fashion faux pas reserved exclusively for Park Avenue matrons, save for the twists and turns of campy 1980s high-school prom dresses and bridesmaid gowns.

For Lydia Kamitsis, a France-based independent fashion curator and co-director of the Dictionnaire International de la Mode, ruffles peaked in the Victorian era, about 1850, and again in the 1930s, as a reaction to the streamlined, boyish style of the 1920s flapper. “Ruffles have always been a symbol for couture savoir faire,” she says. “They’re an element of seduction because of the movement they create and even the noise they make. In the middle of the 19th century, ruffles dressed up the vast expanses of the crinoline to exalt fash­ion, and in the 1930s they marked the return to femininity.” Kamitsis thinks the current round of ruffles stems from post-minimalism and the desire to dress in an exceptional, one-of-a-kind way—the ultimate expression of luxury.

Of course, there are precautions to take. In a 2007 interview in the Finan­cial Times, designer Elie Tahari warned, “Don’t wear ruffles that add volume in the wrong places.” That would put this season’s ruffled bikinis off-limits for most, which is probably a good thing. But the reverse is also true: Ruffles in one place can make other areas look slimmer. That was part of the strategy in the 16th century, when ruffles were the principal arm in a seduction technique to maximize a woman’s charms. Ruffles were a status symbol in the Elizabethan days. Elizabeth I and Catherine de’ Medici wore huge lace ruffs at the neck. Some were opened to show off the bosom, but they also served to make the waist appear as narrow as possible.

As with almost all embellish­ments, “less is more” is the general rule these days. The most elegant ruffles this season are from Alber Elbaz at Lanvin, who takes a sculptural, draped approach. His billowing tent dresses in vivid blue, yellow, green and orange feature a gentle ruffled hem, and his one-shouldered minis have stiff ruffles that are more statuesque than romantic. Likewise, Yohji Yamamoto puts his ruffles in silver teamed with black, giving coats and dresses a heroic look. There are those who took a clownish approach, too, but the results here are irregular: Kawakubo’s patchwork clowns, the Pierrot whites from Viktor & Rolf, and Miu Miu’s com­media dell’arte harlequins are only for the truly brave. The best ruffles for spring are the flirty kind. Think of Daisy in Great Gatsby, and trip the light fantas­tic in satin, tulle, chiffon, florals, bias cuts and ruffles from Sonia Rykiel, John Galliano and D&G. Because in the end, ruffles, like champagne, are light. They are an indulgence to take advantage of as soon as the cork has popped.

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