Tory Burch herself is always in motion, which might be why she’s been leaning into stretch fabrics and lean, almost athletic shapes recently. Last September at her brilliant spring show she introduced a modular concept that combined a stretch top and tube skirt with capri-length leggings, or teamed a stretch top and a part-opaque, part-sheer skirt. For resort, there’s a pair of dresses that recreate the color-blocking of those looks – same big impact but in a couldn’t-be-easier all-in-one shape. The deep-V sweaters accompanied by sheer turtleneck dickeys here do the same thing: you get the look of layers in one completist piece. “I wanted clean lines,” Burch said of the latest offering. That translated to aerodynamic jersey tees and narrow skirts shown in monochrome white or navy blue punctuated only with a studded hip-slung belt, or to a leather handkerchief top embellished with more of those silver studs paired with mannish, straight-cut trousers. The tailoring is minimal and stripped of any visible hardware. Minimal but sensual is the message behind a trio of special dresses that take their cues from ballerina’s tutus. Combining a stretch tulle bodice with a fluid skirt draped from curved underwire, they don’t cling to the body but rather seem to float on top of it. Pairing them with skimmer flats, Burch seemed to be returning to a point she’s been driving home for a couple of years now, that for this designer comfort and glamour are inextricably intertwined.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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