paige denim dress Maxine Mini in Blue seaming details Tanya Taylor | Paige Denim

The revolutionary Kawakubo, who burst on the scene half a century ago, was hell-bent on upending conventional notions of attractiveness, arguing, for something to be beautiful it doesnt have to be pretty. Comme des Garons is a gift to oneself, not something to appeal or to attract the opposite sex. (These are by the way, among the designers very few statements on the recordthe designer is legendarily taciturn, preferring to let her work speak for itself.) The press dubbed her customers, swathed in their voluminous deconstructed Comme fashions, the crows. But no matterthese birds knew that there was true liberation lurking in these unusual fashions

Why is my chicken and dressing mushy

Shirred Bodices Style Notes: Proving that less is more is the perennially covetable shirred dress trend

A case in point