Susan Glick is not the least bit shy about stating her opinions on guests` attire for outdoor parties: ”They should not be mundane about the way they look. They should rise to the occasion,” she says with fervor. ”After all, outdoors is not synonymous with slinging hamburgers on the Weber.”
Glick is one of numerous fashion pros known for their entertaining and cooking skills who are in favor of ”dressing up a bit” for summer outings.
”Look like you`re going to a party, like you`re one of those people sitting around the veranda in a Ralph Lauren ad,” advises Glick, fashion director of the Apparel Center.
She orchestrates her parties with the same thorough planning that goes into one of her fashion showings. ”I work out the visuals, put out effort to make the party flow smoothly, to make things look pretty. It`s nice when the guests add to that ambience by looking a little special.”
For Glick and her husband, Larry, summer entertaining means Saturday cocktails and dinner ”around 4 or 5” on the porch of their Lakeside, Mich., home. Because friends might automatically think a late-afternoon invitation means swimsuits or shorts, Glick says, ”I try to tell them in a subtle way that I`d rather see them in long skirts or silk pants–comfortable, but nice.” So she says things like, ”We`re dressing up a bit,” or ”We`re having some special people up, so I`d like it to be a lovely party.”
Susanne Johnson, who heads one of Chicago`s major talent and modeling agencies, is even more specific about warning guests about the type and mood of her parties, because she hosts two very different kinds of outdoor get-togethers and because of an unpleasant memory of a long-ago party.
”We were invited to `a little party in the yard,` ” she relates. Because the invitation was extended by phone and came less than a week before the event, Johnson says, ”it all sounded very casual. I thought maybe 12 people. We got there and it was a sit-down dinner for 150 under a tent and with an orchestra. Everybody was dressed to kill. Black tie, of course. There must have been a million dollars` worth of dresses in that little backyard, and there I was in my white linen pants and a silk shirt. I`m just glad that I wasn`t in jeans.”
Casual or dressy
To avoid that type of problem, Johnson says she and her husband, Ken, always tell their guests whether they`re having one of their casual parties
(usually a daytime picnic; jeans or shorts are fine) or a dressier one
(evening; pretty dresses, ”nice slacks or baggy Versace-type pants for the men”).
Parties are always on the lawns of their lakefront home in Winnetka, ”so I warn the women that we`ll be on the grass. If they want to wear heels, they can, but they should know they`ll sink if they do.”
Nena Ivon is another hostess who suggests low heels for parties on the grass, though her preferred territory is Grant Park. Apartment-dweller Ivon, who is fashion director of Saks Fifth Avenue as well as regional director of Chicago`s Fashion Group, delights in ”our exquisite skyline, Buckingham Fountain, free music and sitting under the stars.” She thinks lakefront concerts are worth celebrating in a special way so she invites guests (via a poster or concert program) to come ”dressed for a summer cocktail party.” To Ivon, that means ”pretty dresses for the women, sportcoats for the men.”
She believes it`s up to the hostess to inform guests about the nature of the party, ”otherwise they`ll come in jeans to everything. I tell them I`ll provide a dhurrie rug for sitting on the grass and that gives them lots of hints about the party.”
I. Magnin`s fashion director, Sandy Kagan, is another who doesn`t forgo outdoor entertaining because she lives in an apartment. She and her husband, Sam, have had parties at hot dog stands, at ”offbeat parks, like a funny little one in Skokie or one on the lake in Wilmette. I always tell guests,
`Dress casually.` It`s only courteous–it`s a must–to let guests know the mood and tone of any party.”
Six on a balcony
For Lisa Love and her husband, George, outdoor entertaining means an intimate (four or six) brunch, lunch or dinner on the balcony of their Near North apartment. Lisa, who is president of Le Chocolatier Inc., says their friends know that summer parties in the city, especially in the evening, call for linen or silk pants or long skirts. ”But I always tell the women to bring stoles because of the wind and Chicago`s temperamental temperatures.”
Generally, the fashionable hostesses suggest:
— Long and/or full skirts (they`re more comfortable than short, skinny ones, easier to sit in and they`re ”prettier”).
— Slacks and nice shirts or summer sweaters for men. If there`s any question about the nature of a party, wear a sportcoat and a tie; they`re easy to take off and stash.
— Forget about grass stains; they come out in drycleaning.
— If your hostess doesn`t suggest what to wear, ask. You can`t assume a party at the beach calls for a swimsuit; if Ralph Lauren planned it, the soiree may call for silk skirts and crocodile pumps. —
HOW BLASS, KLEIN AND LAUREN SEE SUMMER PARTY DRESSING
How do some top designers like women to look at outdoor parties?
Bill Blass, whose idea of outdoor entertaining means a candlelit formal dinner on the glass-enclosed porch of his house in Connecticut, says, ”The only way to eat outside in summer is to have a cold picnic lunch down by the stream.” For ”the gals,” that means long, easy dirndls, bare legs, no shoes. For the men, long shorts. ”Jeans are okay for picnics–but they can be pink, you know.”
Calvin Klein`s redwood deck above his penthouse overlooking New York`s Central Park calls for comfortable clothes and a show of skin: ”a very clean, casual look with bareness that shows off great bodies and great tans. For this summer, especially, that means an off-the-shoulder top, no stockings, no jewelry–and a short, sexy skirt.”
Ralph Lauren says, ”It`s the occasion that determines the clothes. Guests at an afternoon wedding in a beach setting could wear beautiful silk dresses, but for a picnic at that same beach, chambray shirts and chinos are more appropriate.”
