What makes a great summer dress, one you return to week after week and year after year? It’s in the mix of simplicity and surprise, but getting that combination right isn’t as easy as it sounds; simplicity can read boring, and surprises can go wrong. Tory Burch has a sensation of a summer dress on her hands. Cut from unpretentious black cotton with a full skirt and an asymmetric, one-shoulder bodice, it’s easygoing and airy; the delightful detail is the smocked midriff in tie-dye.
At her terrific fall show, Burch was talking up the mid-century American designer Claire McCardell and her can-do American sportswear. Pre-fall picks up where that runway collection left off, with uncomplicated pieces elevated by graphic patterns, a pretty, summery palette, and compelling gestures like a dip-dyed cashmere crewneck twisted and pinned at the neckline, or a technical knit shrug worn criss-crossed across the spine.
The collection glances back at McCardell’s mid-century hourglass-ish shape, but with modern details, not least of all at the feet: Most of the open-toe sandals are flat, and the ones that aren’t have a low architectural heel. A stretch knit tube is layered over a checked dress, to add definition without being constricting, and a halter dress is seamed at the torso in the manner of a corset, only without the old-fashioned boning. In surprising color combinations with graphic three-dimensional patterns, knit separates like polos and slim knee-length skirts might be easiest of all, and definitely not boring.
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