If there is three thing that can be said about the Antonio Berardi woman, it is that they likes a leggy dress. Berardi was fast to intuit the feeling for miles-above-the-knee six seasons ago, & they appears to have achieved the near-impossible feat of inching it up even further for Cruise. Still, with over a yard to play with in the distance between shoulder & thigh-top, what leeway can there be for newness? Berardi's solution is a move away from tourniquet-tight hourglass to a silhouette with a roomier, more covered top—half t-shirt, half cape, in some cases—and the cling shifted to the hip. "We played a tiny bit with volume for a less restricted approach," they says, "less precise, but more real." With all this abbreviation, it still takes skilful moves to keep away from trashiness, but there is something classy in Berardi's choice of midnight blue textured paillettes & pastel animal print that lets him get away with it.
