Sandy Liang has become a purveyor of downtown cool, but for resort, she cast her eyes above 14th street to the Upper East Side and its “decadent, sparkly, a little bit iridescent,” approach to getting dressed. “She’s a little more polished, and a little more trying to be put together,” she said, adding that downtown is “just a state of mind.”
It’s an interesting observation that the lady uptown is consciously working to make her outfits look cohesive—think stereotypical skirt suits or matching handbags and shoes. But Liang is also fixated on this idea of “pre-styled” clothes which can take some of the mental load off. In her fall collection, she was attracted to items that were finished with bows and collars so that the wearer didn’t need any more accessories. Those pieces did well with wholesale clients, according to Liang, and so she continued them here. Sailor tops with collars and tonal rosettes are one wearable example, as are the uniform-like knee-length dresses with pleated skirts, bows, and capelets.
That said, Liang’s spirited and more affordable accessories have become a hit (see: the massive popularity of her ballet flats). While the dresses themselves don’t need any embellishment, there’s nothing stopping you from, say, accessorizing with a floor-scraping bow, or a fuzzy white bonnet, or arm warmers.
As those extras show, there’s a ballet theme to this collection. The pink and cream tweed, printed tops showing a swan on a blue lake, and pleats and bows look like they’re headed to a holiday showing of The Nutcracker. But as always, there’s a rebellious spirit elsewhere. See: the teensy pleated skirts with eyelet panels in the back, super cropped knits, and cutouts that require the wearer to either free the nipple or wear a bra worth exposing.
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