MIND OVER MATTERHORN
by David Colman
Too often, the assertion of independence means sacrificing things that we hold dear.
Not this time. For the Fall and Winter of 2000, Yeohlee is forging a path away from today's fashion omni-trends, mega-mergers, and inside politics. (The collection is for sale; not the company.) These clothes are yours and yours alone: your own private Switzerland.
Building from a striking palette of rich and luxurious near-neutrals - (and you don't get anymore Swiss than that!) - copper, claret, ivory and a blacker-than-black green, Yeohlee has taken a panoply of geometric shpaes, and translated them into functional but sophisticated clothes Ehigh-waisted coats, pegged, cuffed pants, curvaceous dresses.
Above all are the skirts, in precision shapes of cones, bell curves and umbrellas, cut a mean swath. Here and there, simple, playful patterns like sine waves and diamond friezes lend a light-hearted Man-Ray-esque decoration. Fabrics such as silk zibeline and doublefaced wool barkcloth made them sensuous, soft and dreamlike.
But let it never be said that indepdendence precludes whimsy; independence, after all, means frill-seeking however you damn well please. The sexy, self-tie blouse makes a good metaphor for Yeohlee's pulled-together prettiness. Supremely shaped hips, courtesy of striped panel skirts, make the most of the natural assets. There is the warm and wicked slinkiness of blouson silhouette - in a top, a dress, in charmeuse, in angora or chunky wool - for that accidental, oops-how-did-I-get-so-sexy look.
But always and most importantly, it is that whether other people notice or not, you are happy with who you are, what you're doing and what you are wearing. It's the only Alp worth scaling.
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