Pink cashmere, ballet flats

NEW YORK -- Women of all ages -- and different levels of limberness -- have an opportunity this season to live out their childhood fantasy of being a prima ballerina.

Or, at least they can dress like one.

Flattering wrap sweaters and delicate flat shoes, many with a bow, are among the most tempting items that tap into the trend because they can find a place in most women's wardrobes. Touches of satin, which the dancer has on her pointe shoes, and tulle, which gives an airiness to a ballerina's stage costume, also can be found on Main Streets, malls and high-end specialty stores.

"The attraction to the ballerina is what she represents. She is the epitome of gracefulness and ideal femininity in physical form and motion. Women aspire to capture the almost goddess quality that the ballerina embodies," says Massimo Ferragamo, chairman of Ferragamo USA.

Ferragamo has offered a ballerina flat shoe known as the Audrey (named for actress Audrey Hepburn) in different colors and fabrics every year since 1954.

Cristiana Proietti, founder and designer of the cashmere line Cris, had her own ambitions to wear a tutu: "All girls at a certain point dream to be a ballerina -- I know I have. Most girls took ballet classes and that stays with you. Ballet is soft, pretty, feminine and girlie."

Proietti's current collection features off-the-shoulder sweaters to be worn with visible tank-top straps (representing a dancer's leotard), a layered skirt and cashmere pants with wide waistbands that fold over, just like ballerinas wear during their warmup exercises. The palette is mostly pastels mixed with light heather gray, cream and black.

Complementing cashmere

A delicate pink is the perfect complement to soft cashmere, Proietti adds.

"Designers have been influenced by ballerina style since the early 1950s, when women's casual wear transformed into a look that was informally elegant and intrinsically reminiscent of ballerina costumes," explains Ferragamo. "The ballet flat worn with capri pants or a wide A-line skirt epitomized the look."

He says that because the shoe is light in weight, unlined, flexible and low-heeled, it's an ideal blend of simplicity and chicness.

There also is a touch of practicality to ballerina-inspired apparel because they are based on what is essentially athletic wear: Dancers need to be able to move and move comfortably, something that can't easily be done in too-tight garments and too-high shoes.

You've probably never seen a ballerina that didn't look beautiful, graceful and feminine -- and probably never will, says Shari Hershon, senior vice president of design for Ann Taylor Loft. It's part of the ballerina fantasy image and has very little to do with an individual dancer, she explains.

Hershon says the look is never out, but it's particularly relevant now because people are embracing the layered look. "It's reminiscent of how ballet dancers do it," she says.

"Ballerinas are delicate, feminine and flirty when they're performing, but there is the whole warmup thing when they wear T-shirts on top of each other, with sleeves peeking out from under other sleeves. ... That's a trend that started last spring, will go ahead through at least fall of 2006," Hershon predicts.