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//DDD//Costello Tagliapietra, Fall 2012

Written by Gordon West, Contributing Fashion Editor Photosgraphy by Casey Vange www.figphoto.net @figphoto.net For some, fall is a chance to transform one’s body into a rack for shawls, scarves and sweaters. For Costello Tagliapietra, it’s just a chance to change the palette. For their Fall 2012 collection doesn’t provide a fleet of shields against the seasons, it expresses the epitome of feminine grace—with all of the requisite bare arms, shoulders, and necklines—they forever pay homage to with their designs.

Where some designers might use a generous amount of fabric to provide insulation against the encroaching chill of October and November, Costello Tagliapietra use this generous amount of fabric to further dramatize the breezy, lithe, beauty that a woman’s anatomy and natural choreography conjure. Each piece has an organic flow, flounce and ripple to it, undulating and clinging at just the right moments in just the right places. Poppy red, earthen raisin, delicate lavender, green (of the acid and sea varieties), and ink blue find their way onto solids, florals and organic patterns that reference anemones and aquatic botanicals. From belted to knotted to a trapezoidal wrap, precise attention was paid to the waistline, anchoring each design at the core before it spread into halter dresses, high-collared long-sleeved silk dresses, the occasional high-waisted pant, and Grecian-inspired asymmetrical jersey dresses. Some clothes are strictly made to look good. Some are strictly made to feel good. It’s rare to find clothing that encompasses both domains and goes one step further to inspire an audience’s gleeful envy of the woman who wears it, but Costello Tagliapietra does just this.