Designers rediscover lace
Saloni Kaul

LACE is back in fashion. Designers everywhere are rediscovering its mystique—its diaphanous touch of elegance, spelling femininity, romance and allure.

For many, it is the ultimate fabric of female seduction. Some would even regard it as a powerful style statement in erotica. For others, it is a "fairy tale fabric" associated with class. And everybody agrees that it must constitute an important part of every woman's wardrobe.

As Kolkata-based Kiran Uttam Ghosh points out: "The best thing about lace is the tantalising game of hide and seek that it plays at a visual level—now you see it, now you don't. It reveals, while at once hides from the beholder and it is this quality that designers are putting to good use."

Lace comes in many varieties —from the imported French and Taiwanese to the Indian handcrafted and machine-made ones. Chantilly lace is of a very fine variety that looks like lightly embroidered tulle and is known for its versatility. It can be used for whole gowns and veils, as well as trimmings.

Guipure lace is just as beautiful and popular, but has limited use — in structured bodices because of its heavier weight. Then there's beaded lace, encrusted with pearls, sequins or crystals and corded lace, which has a fine ribbon running across to accentuate the designs on its length.

There's also edge lace, used usually on the hem or edges of a garment as a trim and comes in various knits and colours. Finally, applique lace is used to embellish the ground fabric on such dresses as traditional wedding gowns and ceremonial wear.

Depending upon the nature of the garment, designers use different varieties of lace, although many betray a preference for a certain type. For instance, Muzaffar and Meera Ali have always opted for handcrafted laces, even though the machine-made variety may be flawless in construction.

"The dexterity of the handcrafted lace unfolds in a very attractive manner in our creations," Meera points out. "Moreover, instead of using the lace as an edging or base like most others, we prefer to have it as a joining medium between the main fabric and tukri (the embellishing fabric) for our garments."

Another well-known designer Krishna Mehta swears by Chantilly, because of its sheerness. "I think all clothes should have a hint of sheer," she explains. "It brings out a sense of romance and adventure in the woman. Fashion is meant to make a celebration of your body beautiful!"

For her last collection, Mehta had designed a range of blouses, corsets, skirts and trousers with lace trimmings. Even her sarees had lace borders or pieces stitched on the body. But the most spectacular sarees were the diaphanous ones done entirely in lace!

Likewise, for Monapali's georgette-tussar sarees, lace and khadi were used as embellishments. The designer duo, Mona Lamba and Pali Sachdeva have been applying the tatting stitch on their laces, which are made in South India. "We prefer using only natural fibers with it," informs Lamba.

Many designers, however, warn against the over-use of lace. "In today's minimalist age, too much of lace can make a garment look tacky," says Ghosh, who recently used a champagne mauve lace, imported from Taiwan, as the base material for a choli she had designed.

"Some people may dislike the frilly, flouncy look that lace imparts," counters Lamba. "But I think it is a very versatile fabric and, when used judiciously, can team up with sundry fabric textures. Its use depends entirely on the kind of outfit you want to design."

Muzaffar Ali also does not see anything negative about lace, except that it needs handling with care. "You have to be very careful about the maintenance part because of its fragile nature," he points out. "Besides, it has a tendency of getting stuck with objects as you move about!" (MF)