Costello Tagliapietra: Wrap stars

Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra are masters at designing ladylike dresses for those oh-so-proper luncheons in Manhasset, Old Westbury or — of course — the Upper East Side.  This spring, the ladies who lunch won’t have to do so naked, they’ll be gratified to know, as this duo has churned out another successful collection that’s wrapped, gathered and draped to show off a woman’s curves (and perhaps camouflage a few other spots).

Some dresses are gathered down the front, others to the side, and one olive cowl dress is draped and seamed diagonally.  In what seems a youthful, eclectic twist, many of the pieces appear a tad off-kilter — and delightfully so, whether it’s a pale violet dress with long asymmetrical hem, or a “vermillion side drape dress” that has a halter-like front and seems pulled to one side. 

The result is a line where most of the dresses flow and look great in motion, especially given the healthy dose of vivid prints — swirly, Impressionist mixes of sunset orange and coral, Mayan and Sistine blue, vermilion and pink. 

Those prints are mighty green, too — as in eco-friendly, produced via AirDye technology, which is said to require considerably less water and produce a lot less greenhouse gases than traditional dye jobs.  The boys have used this eco-dyeing before, remaining committed to fashion that’s both stylish … and sound.