Great Gatsby Get-ups: Réyes and Frank Tell

One of the trends to emerge this season in New York during the Spring '08 collections was the classic drop-waist. Most notably popularized in fashion by Chanel in '20s as a modern alternative to constrictive, corseted looks, this season it's a refreshing, yet no less comfortable alternative to the shapeless sack dresses that have predominated for the past couple of seasons – it combines form with fluidity.

Two designers, Jose Ramon Réyes and Frank Tell, chose the references from the ‘20s as their primary inspiration for the collections. While at times both collections seemed more a literal translation of the vintage look rather than a contemporary take, what made these collections stand out was the designers' ability to translate the best elements of their historical counterparts: Simplicity and wearability. They've created collections that may not rock the boat in terms of new design ideas per se, but certainly take spring dressing to a stage of elegance in a way that will appeal to, and work well for, their youthful customer base.

We give high marks to the wearability factor and crisp Modernist coolness of Réyes, whose starting point was Jean Patou's sportswear of the 1920s. Patou's influence – he was known for his pleated tennis skirts and knit swimwear – came across in the pintuck and box pleats that Reyes employed in drop-waist dresses, striped cardigans and Cubist color palette of neutrals mixed with splashes of bright color like an intense citron.

The combination of sporty techno fabrics, strong graphic lines and color blocks of navy and red made you imagine a really chic tennis match – which was precisely the goal.

Long and lean ruled at Réyes as well, with slouchy pleated trousers that went on for miles with a Katharine Hepburn-like effortlessness. Cardigans layered over the pants and the dresses recalled an illustration by Erte.

Newcomer Frank Tell showed his small "Apple Blossoms” collection in a Nolita storefront at the beginning of fashion week, and by the looks of things he's off to a promising start as a dressmaker.

A former intern of Threeasfour and Sue Stemp, Tell's 1920s inspiration came from the likes of Josephine Baker and Louise Brooks - flapper-like dresses predominated the 15-piece collection - but Georgia O'Keefe's apple blossom series of paintings also served as muse.

Indeed, silk chiffon and charmeuse dresses were composed of petal-like layers, while the palette of pale pinks and blues and ivory, interspersed with shocks of magenta, teal and purple, evoked O'Keefe's undulating canvases.

Eventually Tell plans to branch out from dresses with an expanded collection of separates. A heavy satin blazer in a silvery shade of powder blue and drop-waist tie was one of Tell's most intriguing pieces, effectively combining the masculine with the feminine in a way that was both refined and tailored yet slouchy enough to affect a kind of "can't-be-bothered” stance.

Tell certainly appears to be capably of doing pretty in a way that the 25 and under set with go for (though we don't think he needed to drive the point home with the white tights and white ballet flats that many of the models wore – more Alice in Wonderland kiddie kitsch than Louise Brooks sex bomb), we'll be anxious to see if he continues to evolve those looks falling on the other end of the spectrum.

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