LOS ANGELES TIMES, February 8, 2014,By Booth Moore, Los Angeles Times Fashion Critic.
Buffalo checks, Cowichan sweaters and personalized embroidered bowling shirts … you might call it blue-collar chic.
There was a familiar, American ruggedness to the fall 2014 Rag and Bone designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville showed Friday night at New York Fashion Week. And what coziness, from the shearling-lined mules to the sweaters made in collaboration Coogi, the colorful Australian knitwear manufacturer made famous by America’s ’80s-era First Dad Bill Cosby.
The look: Working class heroes.
Key pieces: Cropped, hand-knit Cowichan sweater over leggings with laces at the fly. Brown splatter paint baggy jeans that conjured a palomino pony. (And how refreshing to see something other than skinny jeans.)Flight jacket over buffalo,check skirt. Fringey knit vest. Prince of Wales blazer over leather shorts over ribbed sweater knit leggings. Bowling shirts and jackets with embroidered names on the chest. Marled patterned sweaters made in collaboration with Coogi. Booties with rubber bottoms, shearling-lined mules.
The verdict: This collection was pure nostalgic fun. So many pieces I wish I could have snatched off the runway and put right on that night, to ward off the Arctic blast. It was fashion comfort food.