Going Batwing

It’s time to wake up your admirers with a new shape. Something surprising and bold. It could be eyeliner out-to-there, á la Nefertiti. Or an amazing sleeve that draws attention to one’s bosom and bejeweled fingers. At Jane’s Vanity, we're bats over batwing.

Eyeliner has “swept” our attention with a fascinating new book, Zahra Hankir’s Eyeliner: A Cultural History. One culture at a time, the author shows us how a beauty tool can become an instrument of feminism, masculinity, protection, pride, art, and insurrection. There is a chapter on Amy Winehouse, too.

From Greece to Jane’s Vanity comes another sort of upsweep. Designer Stelios Koudounaris presents the well-draped arm. As a warm-up, he has created the perfect billowy blouse, choice of black or white, in a glossy cotton/silk blend. Wear the White Big Collar Shirt all summer to protect from the sun and provide natural air-conditioning. Its dolman sleeves and princess seaming taper down to a more fitted hip.

The Petrol Flared Sleeves Velvet Dress, in transporting deep blue, features draped sleeves to the elbow with the shape repeated down its pleated midi-length skirt. The designer adds drama with tacked-in shoulder pads and a high side slit at hem.

But perhaps his most teasing effect is the Cobalt Bat Sleeves Shirt. Its Aegean blue viscose/rayon fabric is fitted through the body, then spread at the arms into incredible kimono sleeves that drop down 40” to a button cuff at wrist. Try this piece with black: tucked into a simple short skirt, high-waist trousers or jeans. Let it wake up your spring wardrobe. And give you an excuse to join the social whirl.

Make your next entrance with the cape-like effect of this amazing shirt, your fingers and wrists aglitter. Jane’s Vanity suggests that sometimes the eyes have it. Sometimes the sleeves.