TODAY’S WOMAN A SPECIAL SECTION OF THE SCARSDALE INQUIRER
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THE POWER OF THE INDIVIDUALITY IS SPRING’S FASHION MANTRA
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By TRACI DUTTON LUDWIG
t was a long winter, but spring has finally arrived. Time to shed those snow boots, puffy parkas, hats and gloves. Thick tights are making way for bare skin. Heavy pants have been replaced by flirty dresses. Goodbye ear warmers; hello sunglasses! Designers — euphoric over the change of temperature — have turned out a glorious mix of stylish trends, relaying a cast of characteristic attitudes. In this season of abundance and variety, you’re sure to find many new fashion favorites. You’ll know the right match when a look speaks in perfect harmony with your personality. To help guide your shopping adventure, we’ve gathered together a rundown of some of spring’s hottest trends.
Shirtdresses Far from the corporate uniform, women’s fashion takes an offbeat nod at menswear this season. Blue oxfords, white button-downs, starched cuffs and collars have escaped the realm of husbands’ pinstriped suits. Instead, they’ve been transformed into short feminine frocks. Contemporary designers have reinvented the shirtdress with double high slits, dropped waists, decorative belts and inventive necklines. Worn with heels, flats or boots — and possibly enlivened with a neck scarf or bold jewelry — the shirtdress is a chameleon of many moods. But in all its manifestations, it’s a fun, crisp look for spring. The only drawback, of course, is the ironing.
Leg up Are they pants? Shorts? Modified skirts? Whatever they are, culottes are experiencing a revival — big time. More wearable than 2014’s obsession with shorts, culottes are a playful way to stay cool and show some leg this spring. Just remember, knee-length or mid-calf styles can hit the body at an unflattering point of the leg, so make sure the overall silhouette flatters your body. Look for shapes that narrow the leg, cinch the waist and create flattering movement. Combined with tailored jackets and smart shoes, culottes are
Noir Sachin & Babi, printed tank, and hi-low skirt; available a Neiman Marcus.
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appropriate garb for the office. However, when transformed by a silky, backless halter, culottes transition seamlessly into evening. With a tank top and platform sandals, another look emerges — casual and relaxed. A word of caution — because the silhouette interrupts the leg line, the feet can risk looking stumpy. Counter this by wearing high heels, platform espadrilles, stacked ankle booties or anything that laces up the calf. These shoe styles will add height, draw attention to the ankle and refine the foot.
Sexy shoulders Some years it’s all about arms or backs or legs. This spring, shoulders have taken the spotlight. The current obsession lusts for one-shoulder tops and dresses, incorporating fabrics’ sinuous drapes or alluring stretched diagonals. Having developed from last spring’s preference for completely offthe-shoulder silhouettes, the current one-shoulder looks are more interesting and dynamic. Exploiting the sexiness of shoulders, one-shoulder silhouettes are supremely flirtatious in their simultaneous play of reveal and conceal. In stretch fabrics, these tops make great casual separates. In dresses, the neckline plays up femininity or can be styled for dramatic effect. From a practical standpoint, and for confidence in movement, the one-shoulder silhouette trumps strapless any day.
High contrast Like vintage movies, black and white never goes out of style. The classic partnership is dramatic, elegant and refined. To keep the look fresh this season, choose modern silhouettes with interesting textures, graphic patterns or unusual details. A lack of balance can be visually dynamic. Look for much more black than white — or much more white than black. Diagonal divides of color, shapely cut-outs, angular hemlines and interesting sleeve shapes invigorate the timeless appeal of black and white with a 21st-century touch. Blue and white combinations and all-white outfits are popular modifications of the trend. White can be harsh, however, so be sure to play with textured surfaces that absorb and reflect light in different ways. Mixing shades of white — tone-on-tone, but Continued on page 9A
TODAY’S WOMAN
Telling stories in the digital age is Wallach’s niche
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By MARY LEGRAND
rowing up in the Five Towns on Long Island, Abby Wallach was anything but into fashion. Instead, her passion was baseball. A self-professed “total tomboy,” she played on a team made up of boys and learned to hold her own against tough competition. Later, after graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1988 as a communications major, she was an account executive with Madeline de Vries, organizing print, radio and television publicity and special events for clients including Coach, Procter & Gamble and Oil of Olay, to name a few. Since then, Wallach’s personal and professional lives have resembled a whirlwind of activity, and it sounds like she loves every minute of it, thriving on the excitement. Growing up in a family of business owners, including her family’s longtime kosher catering business that dovetailed well into owning a sleep-away camp, Wallach asked a lot of questions around the dinner table and became a sounding board for adults looking to know what kids were thinking. “I was always putting in my two cents and point of view,” the Scarsdale resident said. “I was fascinated with and interested in hearing what my parents and other relatives were doing, especially with the camp and catering businesses. I was also a camper and very proud to be part of the family that owned it. I would hear and see things there, and was attuned to what campers would say was missing, how things could be made better.”
Abby Wallach What Wallach calls an “insatiable curiosity” led her to “constantly throw out ideas for businesses and products — like when we went to the movies I noticed there was nowhere to put the soda on the theater seats, or when I was in Europe as a teenager saw all these cool candy stores there and wanted similar shops here. It was a way of thinking and seeing the world in my own little way.
I saw trends and opportunities and actually pursued them.” Wallach’s career has not followed what others might consider to be a typically sequential path. After her two-year stint as a publicist and special events planner, she served as publicity and advertising director of the United States and Canadian tours of the Moscow Circus and the Teenage Mu-
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tant Ninja Turtle Rock ‘n’ Roll Band. From 1992-98, Wallach joined Showtime Networks Inc. as director of special events, creating and producing live staged events and tours for the network. She later worked with Kermit Love, the original creator of “Sesame Street,” to develop children’s properties and joined Gladys Nederlander of Nederlander Television &
Film as an executive producer to package, option and pitch movies for cable, television and film. As a veteran of the media and entertainment industry, Wallach has spent the past 23 years creating, developing and producing with some of the top talent in the field. Abby Wallach Productions specializes in “the art of digital storytelling” with a focus on “beauty, fashion, lifestyle, luxury and media,” according to her website, www.abbywallachproductions.tv. Wallach is a co-founder, chief executive officer and executive producer of Beautiful Stranger.tv, the online content brand that photographs tastemakers on the street and interviews them about what they’re using, wearing, loving, doing for the environment and more, and then links to every product and service mentioned. “The journey that I’ve been on wasn’t necessarily carved out in the way I envisioned,” Wallach said. “I did want to go into special events and beauty and fashion public relations, and then sort of segued into entertainment. That became a huge part of my journey, being mentored by incredible people over the years.” Wallach said she has “achieved a lot and failed a lot, and continue my pursuit every day to reach my goals, live my dream and pursue the vision that I’ve always had to try and make opportunities turn into real businesses. There’s always a lot of rejection in business — half of my life has been about rejection — you have to figure out how to get around that.” Continued on page 6A