1977 by Sandra Garratt, a designer
who had worked with Halston and
Mary McFadden. Familiar with haute
couture with a haute price tag,
Garratt set out to create clothes that
worked for her.
What she came up with were
24 multi-use, one-size fits-all pieces
that lets the woman, not Ralph or Liz
or other designers, define "the
look."
Garratt's line, Multiples, is
available at Coats Unlimited and
Hudson's for adults and at Peanuts
and Gould's for children. A
competing line, Units, has its own
store in the Twelve Oaks Mall and
Fairlane Mall.
"You can make Multiples
anything you want," says
spokeswoman Jill Bace, adding that
the basic pieces can be put together
in such a way that they can go
directly from the office to evening
wear. "It can be funky, and it can
be conservative."
What it can be is everything
from slacks and top with a bolero
jacket for weekend wear to a bubble
dress in shocking pink for evening.
The knit fabric has been selected to
flatter most bodies. "Once people
adapt to (modular dressing),
understand it and take it into their
lives, they can't imagine being
without it," says Bace.
But knowing just where to
begin when peering into the cubes
full of tubes and peg pants and
jumpsuits and cowls is sometimes
difficult.
Stepping out of a dressing room
at the Units store, one prospective
shopper complained that the dress
"looks like a sack." However, after
the knowledgeable saleswoman tied
a cowl at the waist and topped it
with a jacket, the customer was
pleased with the results
and the
possibilities.
To help shoppers get the most
out of the modular dressing concept,
both Units and Multiples salespeople
are trained to show them how to put
the various components together.
Units, for example, sends store man-
agers to their Dallas, Texas, head-
quarters once a year to be updated
This Units outfit
combines three basic
pieces: a tank top, a
straight skirt and and a
classic jacket. The outfit,
which costs around $70, is
worn with an oversized
belt.
SPRING '89
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