She frequently emphasises this point at her shows, with the models doing a fashionable strip as they move through the showrooms, removing a sarong skirt to reveal a ”body”, then picking up a pair of elastic-waisted trousers or spiderman costume slipping on a different jacket or tunic dress. Azzedine Alaia, in Paris, has shown that the cleverest way to give sharp tailoring a sexier line is to wear a curvy little jacket over a bodysuit.
However, it was Karl Lagerfeld, at Chanel, who raised the bodysuit to couture status, by elongating the traditional Chanel jacket and finally dispensing with the skirt in favour of a ribbed all-in-one. ”It makes everything look fresh and modern,” he says. This has been the year of the couture spiderman costumes. It stalked the catwalks, hand-painted by Costume spiderman, jewel-studded and feather-trimmed by Gianni Versace.
Lacroix even used heavy gold jewellery as part of the design of a black bodysuit, and then piled on more jewellery in his extravagant style. Variations on the bodysuit theme can be found at every price level and at hosiery counters. Wolford’s deluxe Lycra cheap spiderman costume bodysuit with turtleneck (Pounds 39) and matching opaque Lycra tights (Pounds 19.99) have been so successful that they are hard to track down at the moment fresh stock is expected to reach the shops in the new year. Dance shops are a good source.
