Runway Rework: Rachel Zoe Resort 2013

June 7, 2012 · by Kristen · in ,
In today’s edition of Runway Rework, you get to BE THE FUTURE.  So cool.  Rachel Zoe recently presented her Resort 2013 collection, which is meant to be worn on the resort vacation that you’ll be taking next winter. I love the fashion industry’s sense of optimism. Anyway, these are pieces whose style hasn’t been assimilated into the mass market yet. Too fresh.

Photo credit Rachel Zoe via Style.com

This is an example of layering that actually looks good, instead of layering that’s an effort to make you buy more clothing. When I worked retail in  high school, we were ordered to STACK those polos and turtlenecks and plaid button-downs on the mannequins. Hey, it was the 80s. But the only reason that layering was in style was because store merchandisers made it so. This look, on the other hand, works, and won’t make you looks like Pretty in Pink‘s lost cast member.

You’ve got to hand it to a newer designer for actually coming up with something new: As far as I can tell, there are no orange, boat neck, loose knit, oversize sleeveless sweaters on the market right now, at any price. That’s weird for such a simple shape.  And as for the color of the pants, well, it appears that Ms. Zoe invented it. It’s a nice switch to richer and more saturated from all of the mint we have this summer. Let’s see what we can do…

L to R:

  1. Mango linen long jumper, Michael Stars boatneck kimono crop sweater, Target red pullover sweater
  2. Mango blouson Mary, Zara embroidered blouse, Alexander Wang slub silk blend tee

We’re just not going to see that sweater in real life for a few more months. These approximations tell part of the story, though. 1. Buy the sweaters two or more sizes too big. 2. Wear them over jewel neck white or ivory blouses or long sleeve tees. The leg-o-mutton sleeve is also still waiting for the Delorean to hit 88 mph.

Here I would pair the neutral sweater with the red pants, and the red/pink sweaters with the neutral pants. This outfit relies on contrast as much as anything else.  The handbag is vintage, always a great place to look for high quality leather satchels.

Clockwise: Allen Allen red drawstring linen trousers, Vintage Furla leather satchel handbag, Zara bell bottom trousers, Mango ivory trousers

I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to find the same color-wheel opposites that the Zoe look features. It appears that the future can wait.

*Edit: The link to the bright pink sweater on the top left was left out in error. It’s there now.