Spring/Summer Fashion 2009: Prairie Underground

Jasmin Malik Chua
Living / Style
June 25, 2009

Photo credit: Prairie Underground

No matter what the season, Prairie Underground is always a delicious melange of rustic and romantic, fusing designers Camilla Eckersley and Davora Lindner's Midwest roots with their veneration for London's New Romantic music movement and the '80s East Village art scene.

For their summer collection, Eckersley and Lindner channeled Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) artists like Alice Neel, draping their organic cotton and hemp garments with a moody, muted palette that radiates a vintage vibe. Rough-hewn angles go up against undeniably feminine silhouettes, like the scoopnecked Falcon tee with flutter sleeves that stands in contrast to the slouchy, drawstring-hemmed Painter's pant.

The cowl-necked Mothette dress—with its ruched, drawstring bodice and curve-hugging pencil skirt—will be equally at home in the boardroom or at a modern-art gallery, while the sweet button-bibbed Sailorette frock is sure to get all eyes on deck. But our obsession du jour has to be the thigh-skimming Folk dress that carries a certain bohemian flair. Soften up its lines with the ruffled Freebird top, slip on some moccasins, and take off into wide blue yonder.