PENNEYS’ WINTER collection, a blaze of solid colour, was unveiled yesterday in the demure surroundings of a Georgian house on St Stephen’s Green.
Cobalt blue, canary yellow, Kelly green, fuchsia and tangerine separates seemed more summery than wintry, particularly worn with opaque tights in clashing shades and lengths that were short and sexy.
Even faux fur was zany and bright, a purple Arctic fox fur scarf adding luxury to a belted tweed jacket or a pretty feather print dress.
It was all an affordable modern take on the 60s and 70s with miniskirts, A-line jackets and tunics, higher-waisted trousers and flares – familiar shapes of those decades – reworked in new ways, in softer fabrics and colour combinations. There was a return to suits with the working girl in mind, but in unfussy shapes with ultra-high platforms and satchels as key accessories. Peg-leg trousers and blouses in plum, rust, brick and tobacco told their own story of the emerging alternative winter palette.
New T-shirt-style open knits were good, the colour-blocked shift dresses flattering and the Burberry-style collarless cocoon-shaped coats in fresh shades of olive and chartreuse. Elsewhere black/brown tweed hooded duffels, Argyll style cardigans, Fair Isle leggings and shaggy wool waistcoats were more casual in spirit, while a black and white Aztec print cape spotted on Kate Moss at her hen party earlier this month is already a winner.