Tory Burch’s Vivacious Vacation
From a collection charged with romance and nostalgia comes a wardrobe of ultra-refined, keepsake dresses
With her exhaustive knowledge of vintage fashion and penchant for bohemian-inflected sportswear, Tory Burch is to summer dressing what hot chocolate is to après-ski. The American designer’s collections consistently hit the sweet spot between preppy and ladylike, and aesthetically draw to mind fond memories of vacations past. Burch found inspiration in this escapist nostalgia for spring/summer 2019 and took us on a sartorial journey back to her childhood summers, which she spent on a farm in Pennsylvania with her grandmother while her parents travelled to more far-flung destinations.
“My parents, Buddy and Reva Robinson, were adventurers,” Burch explained in the show notes. “Every summer, they boarded a steamer ship and spent six weeks sailing from Italy and Greece to Morocco and Spain. Their wanderlust has been a constant inspiration for me, and spring/summer 2019 brings that influence to the runway through unique details that recall their trips: silhouettes with a bohemian ease, balancing volume and tailoring; needlepoint and camera bags; well-worn hats and woven shoes.”
Of all the looks that Burch conjured for this vicarious vacation, the long white cotton dresses are among the strongest – the type of elusive instant outfits that simplify the packing process and make getting dressed on hot days a breeze. The chic and romantic silhouette of the Scalloped Embroidered Wrap Dress – one of Burch’s personal favorites from the collection – is the perfect homage to her parent’s summer love story with its laid-back proportions and elegant tiered skirt, which is punctuated by joyful pops of sky-blue, leaf-green, poppy-red and sunshine-yellow embroidery. The other begins with a crisp, tunic-style neckline but billows into a languid, lace paneled floor-grazing gown. Its unexpected, colorful lace banding – in cream, black and the brand’s signature Tory navy – subverts the formality of the shirting and lends a feminine edge to preppy white poplin, once again tapping into that palpable sense of escapism.
Burch, who is both creative director and chief executive of her eponymous fashion company, has become the go-to for clothes that are imbued with an eclectic sensibility, grounded in an acute awareness of how modern women want to dress. Her one-and-done dresses will plug the holes in your wardrobe for versatile pieces that are relaxed yet polished. In tune with the needs of busy women, she creates pieces that defy dress codes and can be easily dressed up with heels and gold jewelry to take you from sun up to sun downers with ease.
“The type of elusive instant outfits that simplify the packing process and make getting dressed on hot days a breeze
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Best of all, Burch’s designs have a timeless, season-less quality to them, which guarantees you’ll return to them year after year when adventure beckons. In the same way that she permeates her familial history into her SS19 collection, consider these dresses as your own future heirlooms that perhaps you will pass down through generations with treasured memories.