Remember Irina Shabayeva? The extremely competent, if not terribly exciting, winner of Project Runway’s Season Six is collaborating with Macy’s on a capsule collection for house brand INC International Concepts. The collection includes 13 complete looks – tops to shoes -inspired by movement and dance, with colors and patterns that take a cue from the Rubik’s Cube. Form fitting dresses with bold blocks of color, vibrant jersey tops and skirts paired with army anoraks, and details like exposed zippers, white lace and jeweled beading. Prices range from $49 to $169. Irina for INC launches Feb. 19 in just 50 Macy’s stores including Southdale Center in Edina.
Dress, $169; shoes, $98
Jacket, $159; t-shirt, $59; skirt, $89; shoes, $98
This has been declared the sesaon of shine and sparkle, but I’m noticing that the cheaper the dress, the more glitzed up it seems to be. Just walk through the INC department at Macy’s (warning: the preponderance of garish prints and gaudy colors can induce motion sickness) and you’ll see what I mean: dresses are bejeweled, besequined and be-over-the-top throughout the department. Some of them come off okay – the black numbers with jeweled trim can look fresh and fun. Just remember: the bigger the jewels or sequins, the bigger the embarrassment when they fall off at a party. I used a few such dresses, from Macy’s and smaller boutiques, this week in a fashion shoot (appearing in the Pioneer Press the week after Thanksgiving) and we ended up with several plastic stones on the photo studio floor. There’s a reason why it is said: less is more. That, and, you get what you pay for.
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