Shear Madness

The women's fashion runways for Spring 2018 were, as usual, packed with "new" trends including everything from massive amounts of fringe decoration to utilitarian buckle and zipper combinations to nearly naked (but carefully cut) sheer dresses, pants and blouses.

Most eye-catching, of course, are the sheer options which vary from being simply silly in an appealingly light-hearted way to utterly tasteless and intended only to startle.

Last weekend, tired of digging our way through a long list of the latest runway shows, we took a break and sought refuge in watching some of our favorite old movies. We queued up Flying Down to Rio (filmed in 1933) and before we knew it there was Ginger Rogers, in a sheer dress apparently made of spider webs and  bugle beads (courtesy of costume designer Walter Plunkett). looking like she had just stepped off a Spring 2018 runway.

Surprise, surprise-- naked is guaranteed to attract attention, but it isn't so new after all.