Many of my early fashion memories center around images of my mother getting dressed for various parties and corporate functions. Not a big risk taker, her evening looks were mostly black, either a tasteful dress (for her, too much cleavage was a big no) or a sparkly pants suit.
For daytime lunches and country club teas, though, she would bust out some color. And usually, she'd turn to St. John, the conservative California line specializing in knits and matching separates. To Mum and her friends, St. John was always "appropriate," consistently "classic," never "tacky" - which is what she believed (and still does) should be the guiding principles of fashion.
But St. John lost its way a few years ago when the company attempted to make the line hipper. As new management took over, St. John's co-founder and lead designer Marie Gray (no relation), stepped down. The company then hired first Gisele Bunchen and later Angelina Jolie as spokeswomen (replacing Marie's daughter Kelly) and introduced clothes better suited for the hip, not the hip-py (meaning, the fits were changed for a more youthful body).
The move was a disaster. Suburban ladies who lunch, from the OC to Winnetka to Westchester, abandoned the brand in droves. It seems that while middle-aged women with money may not be a fashion company's sexiest customer, they shouldn't be ignored.
But now Womens Wear Daily reports that St. John is on the rise. They've brought back Gray, resurrected some of the old-school styles and - most important - returned to the more traditional fit. Sales are up - and St. John is preparing to launch the usual accroutements of today's fashion empire - shoes, bags and the like.
As for my mother, I'm not sure if she'll go back to St. John. At 65, her life is a bit more relaxed than when she was a corporate wife, and so are her clothes. She favors floaty skirts, textured tanks and forgiving mesh sweater cover-ups from small boutiques rather than designer department store duds. But I'm sure she'll be glad to see St. John's back-to-basics Fall 2007 collection nonetheless. After all, part of fashion's fun comes in having options - and for many women of a certain age, St. John will forever be the fallback solution.
