Ashley Paige — LA Fashion Week October 2005

Ashley Paige showed during LA Fashion Week in October 2005, with a collection the review describes as an homage to the 1970s. The review carried below, by Lynn Simmons, Guest Editor, records vintage Mustang cars setting the color theme, macrame and beaded swimwear in blue, brown and yellow — and the show's three photographs are carried in the Photos section.

Illustrative image created for this guide — an artistic impression, not photographs from this show.

The 1970s Theme

Every element of the presentation served the decade: bandanas in place, macrame as a focus, slinky long dresses, and swimsuits mixed with beads. The accessories carried the theme furthest — huge oval fringe shoulder bags and cowboy boots accented with painted art — styling choices that turned a swim presentation into a period piece about California beach culture's favorite decade.

Swimwear as Evening Mood

The review pairs the swimsuits with slinky long dresses rather than separating beach from evening, which is the collection's Los Angeles logic: the same beading and the same colors run from the water to the night out. Three photographs of the show are carried below, showing the swimwear and dresses as presented.

A Theme Carried Through

Homage shows fail when the theme stays on the invitation; this one reached the garments, the bags and the boots. Macrame — a handcraft technique inseparable from the decade being honored — does the conceptual work, while the Mustang color theme ties swimwear to slinky dresses in one palette. The review's brevity should not hide its judgment: the mood, it says, was set just right, and every element it names is evidence.

Photos