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IMS or Fashion veteran Geoffrey Beene lauds practical chic Stripes ahoyl Nautical look makes a splash with kids By Joan Lebow What woman can remember the navy blue and white dress she wore as a girl Whether frilly or simple Itol ten bad a wide square collar or a knotted front tie Hen recall their own sailor suits the starchy kind that bared their chubby knees Or they may have hap pier memories of themselves dressed as young deckhands in striped T shirts and white sailor hats Even In fashion some things don t change Nautical inspired fashions return every spring as sure as eats his spinach navy and white Is a clas sic combination for each generation of kids along with awning and boat ing stripes piping and star patterns What different this year is that the classic all American nautical look has been updated with a twist of International style Designers have brought the time less sailor look up to the minute by pairing blue and white stripes of liple widths and merging stripes with dots Also vibrantly colored boating flags and emblems brighten up wide bandeau neck tops Bottoms and accessories This season shorts come in all lengths and shapes for boys and girls Stretchy body hugging fabrics echo trends in adult fashion and are used in bicycle shorts and pants Skirts are popular too worn in kicky free wheeling layers that are anything but sweet and staid While the nautical look has endured year after year as a attractive theme for kids fashion this year the trend has intensified The nautical theme Is more preva lent In every children s product this spring not Just apparel Lynda M Johnson style editor of Children Business a trade publication that re ports on all types of juvenile chandlse Nautical details are show lng up In everything from toys bedding and strollers to diaper bags according to Johnson Such widespread use of a recogniz able theme has prompted children clothing manufacturers to be espe cially Inventive Were using tradi stripes In not so- traditional clothes says Beth Kmec design di rector for Head Sport Girls This years navy and white children clothes are taking off from a Europe an Interpretation of the nautical look One of the strongest spring looks for girls and boys the short boxy top Itsslmllartowhatgrawnupswill be wearing this spring a comfortable change from longer clothes Among Head Sports latest fashion silhouettes are flyaway tops which are wide at the bottom and closefit ting on op another shape seen in women sportswear There are split skirts walking shorts and many lengths of leggings While navy and white predominate Kmec has added some checks to the striped comblna a twist on a classic look Many des gners combine a variety of stripes in a single outfit Spring dresses from EJ Gltano for exam pie pair a horizontal awning stripe and a vertical ticking stripe In a tlcal chemise Mixing patterns Is also a strong trend for Girls an American collection from a Dutch children s wear line Solids stripes gingham and dot prints are used together in one outfit We call It nautical and natty says retail operation manager Ernie Sulplxlo Just as women are wearing more traditionally feminine clothes expects girls sizes to 14 to wear more skirts and dresses this spring Cheerleader skirts or short skirts flounced hemlines will be widely seen In girls playclothes The child Is now really aware of what she wants to wear says Jaye Bernstein owner of Baby Boxer In Los Angeles She wants clothes that are tighter and closer to the body If her mother a skirt has a split in the back she wants that too Bernstein says this years chil dren clothes will be more fashion able than ever There more fashion in children wear right down to bud get priced clothes Baby Boxers designs Include nauti themes translated into pastel col ors Stripes turn up In stretch styles like a puckered knit top and skirt or bike shorts with a cropped top A step beyond bike shorts is what previous generations of kids called pedal pushers CHANCE offers garment washed pedal pushers In horizontal stripes with a white T shirt By Joan After more than three decades on Seventh Avenue whitehaired and soft spoken Geoffrey Is still making plenty of statements His strong opinions about fashion work comfort and style are ex pressed in bis choice of fabrics and silhouettes For about five years Ive been saying that the whole future of clothes lies In performance he in his lingering Southern drawl I be gan to see that many of the clothes coming out of Europe were irrelevant to modern dressing The yearold designer contld by many in the fashion Industry to be the best in the business tends to shun the social limelight and avoids being a salesman for his clothes But he has been outspoken In his belief that practicality and style can and should go together has repeatedly stressed the importance of synthetics in fashions future For spring his vividly colored trapeze Jackets are on ex ample of the designer a willingness to practice what he preaches Beene uses the washable manmade and still expensive suedelike fabric in his collection because be says it works and it endures says suede went out of snobbishness Just because some thing Is synthetic and not a natural fl ber I don have any hangups about it says Beene He also has no apologies for the price of bis clothes which however practical cost thousands of dollars I don t design for every woman be explains I design for a modern worn an who has arrived succeeded and can afford these prices I have no qualms about that But In fact the veteran designer who has dressed every first lady since Jackie Kennedy as well as countless socialites and celebrities Is today ca tering to customers with different needs As more women pay for their own clothes theyre going to be more demanding about bow their clothes are made says Beene If both sexes are to arrive at a more sensible mode of dress In the work place both will have to make some changes says who of ten wears a cardigan sweater with his shirt and tie Men will have to give up some of frivolity In estimation one imprac tical trend is the tightness of today clothes There are a lot of short slim clothes that are getting too tight for women he says For spring I ve made a lot of very full sort of tra pezetype dresses Again theyre made as a statement that clothes were being made with too much conformity stops short of criticizing designers who have been leading fashion Into a devil maycare look a frilly and even fussy style But be says the way women are dressing for work and even for themselves Is not Ideal You see a change a back lash It those styles will have proven to be fairly trendy It a a last gasp At what I don know The issue of practicality almost automatically raises the question of hemlines a subject thinks has gotten too much attention His spring collection is full of shorter lengths which he says work because they look modern there s less fabric and theyre easier to get around la But I think women should have the option be stresses I see a woman as an individual and not part of the masses Beene singular view of fashion crystallized after be dropped out of studies at In New Orleans In the early He left bis native Louisiana for school In Califor and got a j In th I department store In Los Angeles Beene later studied fashion In New York and then Paris where he was In fluenced by designers like Scbla parelli and Captain Molyneux He re turned to the United States In and worked for several Seventh Ave nue designers before debuting his own collection In 1963 The winner of eight Coty Awards and two from the Council of Fashion Designers of America Beene is known above all for his unusual fabric sense simple cuts and quality dressmaking Even In the costly world of couture Beene designs are considered expen slve Step Be In Step For Spring And The Easter Parade With These Fine Italian And Canadian Leathers Well Come In And Browse Through Our Selections Of Spring Fashions Arriving Dailyl Choose from pastel or bright colours perfect for that Special Easter Gift or New Outfit FREE GIFT FOR GENTLEMEN SHOWERS cinUsu 111 WO percent cotton nod from CHANCE by General Sporhrenr- polo 111 ond mini Red In tie Soncollection cycling nod tank top from CHANCE 211 Guelph St Northvlew Centre Georgetown 8779218 Denim high heel mete tip 39 Gloria Black and Red Calf metal heel West low heel red and white 67 Helena wide width sandal in Park Lane sling back while and print Park Lane pump n tat or navy 70 Follow Me from March on into the funfilled Spring Where children can play all day long in clothes that sing Located In The Old Bank Main Street South Georgetown 8732452 HOURS Wed Thura Frl Saturday 10 00 1 00 LAZY DAY STEP INTO SPRING FASHIONS For The Young at Heart means being Young at Style with Fashions which express Your Every Mood Main SI South Georgetown 8732233 HOURS Tum Wad 10 Thure Saturday 10OM00 CLOSED MONDAYS