Portrait of a Lady

Chalk it up to an obsession with old world charm, but when it comes to dresses and other delightfully out-of-date apparel, we just fall for them like teen fans at a Backstreet Boys concert circa 1996. Out of date, you ask? Surely something that magazines spend pages upon pages on isn’t out of date. But for day-to-day consumers who are busy with work and family and getting their crap together, the idea of getting into a dainty pink-shelled dress with lace trimming is almost as funny as Conan O’Brien’s hair – well almost, but not quite.

Even at the T-shirt launch of this section’s editor, held at Mix by the way (also the source of the fabulous dresses you see on this page), everyone was in jeans or pants. I was in a T-shirt and plaid skirt. The only one in a dress? Culte Femme designer Hindy Tantoco in a delightfully sweet yellow number that was edged with a preppy bow at the hem. Not everyone can wear dresses so well.

So it is perhaps with even more puzzlement and annoyance that YStyle readers open this section only to find another story on dresses. "Again?" you ask in irritation. "When will this obsession end?"

Probably when they cart us off to the cemetery in frothy pink frocks and Swarovski-studded Laboutin heels.

Dresses, like insanely expensive jewelry, never go out of style. They may remain on the fringes of the public’s consciousness but remain they do, floating about in the subconscious in moody palettes and bright pastels perfect for summer.

The selection at Mix, that bastion of upscale women’s wear we wish we could afford, is frighteningly fabulous. Every dress on the rack was crying out to be worn to some chi chi event or, in my case, a made-up party where only five of my friends (that’s the whole lot, actually) come dressed in equally darling dresses and then get wasted. Classy, right?

Dresses by Tracy Reese and some from her equally charming label Plenty get lots of attention with their whimsical and breezy appeal. Vintage-style silhouettes and plenty of youthful prints give both labels a dash of unpretentious prettiness. Then there’s A Common Thread, a quirky name for the Rosae Nichols-designed line that combines unusual rustic elements like woolen material with sparkly stuff that never fails to please. Instead of the overworked glam you tend to see on starlets, with the calculating stylist’s hand coming through the much-too-sophisticated edges, these dresses are more on the Drew Barrymore scale – fit for unpretentious people (who end up on the cover of Vogue anyway) with a yen for anomalous style. Forget trying-hard looks, with accessories up to the wazoo and over-compensating makeup, natural is back – and though that’s hard to believe considering the ‘80s-inspired looks that have been taking over fashion – it’s always been in.

Perhaps that’s always been the charm of the dress. No matter what you’ve been doing the whole day, whether it’s bathing the dog, cooking up a storm or crunching numbers for a multinational firm, you can just slip into a gorgeous dress and feel entirely different. Nothing – except maybe drugs and a case full of liquor – can work the same magic.

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Mix is located at Greenbelt 3, Makati.