Marc Jacobs SS27: 31 Looks in Four Minutes, No Finale

Marc Jacobs gave us a short, sharp shock: a four-minute show, 31 looks and no finale. His company was recently sold to WHP Group and G-III, so the obvious question was whether this was one last hurrah or a fresh beginning.

He stayed out of sight backstage and kept it enigmatic. The show notes read, "Amidst challenge lay purpose and through change lay possibility," which echoes his usual hashtag, grateful not hateful, and he chose light, shine and joyful exuberance. I think that is the right answer to a question like that.

The idea is very simple: how to go bare and short, really short, with opaque bodysuits and stockings underneath your bustiers and minis. Most of the looks are pantsless in a way that feels like Edie Sedgwick by way of Charli XCX. Even the lady jackets, with scrolls of shining embroidery and tinselly trim down the lapels, come without trousers. I love how matter-of-fact it is. Nobody is flirting with the camera. The clothes are doing it for them. If you do want trousers, the cropped faux fur jeans and wide leg jeans are the way I would break the rule.

Almost nine in ten looks wear colored opaque tights, in mustard, violet, orange, magenta and turquoise, and the color is the real styling. A skirt, a bodysuit and a pair of tights in a fighting shade make an outfit that needs no accessories. I think it is the most useful idea in the show. Buy a pair of tights in a color you are slightly scared of. Then build the rest quietly. Pair the tights with a flat like the Pop J Marc Flats or the 400 Bleeckerina Flats, or go louder in the Bow Platform Heels, so the colour reads from hip to ankle.

Here are other Marc Jacobs pieces in the same short, sharp mood: tweed, denim and satin in minis and cropped shapes, plus the flats and heels to wear under all that colour. Pick one statement piece and keep the rest simple. I went deeper on a related idea in Daisy Love Marc Jacobs And The Daisy Family, With Airy Florals To Wear Next.

The opening ten looks are see-through vinyl and plastic, which turns into opaque, gleaming fabrics. It reminded me of the cellophane nurses' uniforms in a Louis Vuitton collection of nearly twenty years ago, and the show is full of that kind of class-reunion callback.

Faux jewels pile up around the neck and at the waist, on belts and chains, and the beaded collars near the end are the loudest jewelry in the show. It is referential, self-referential and a little defiant, which is classic Jacobs. I would not change a thing.