FASHION
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL /
CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Designer Roberta Oaks wears a JJ shirt in curry, and Lulu short while showing her floor-length "Skipper Dress" ($140).
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Local dress designer limps to trade show on injured foot, where buyers race to sign on to her leggy looks
Not even a sewing needle in her foot could prevent Roberta Oaks from marketing her Spring/Summer 2007 collection.
While rushing to finish stitching up samples to take to the Pool Trade Show in Las Vegas for up-and-coming designers, she had tossed a broken sewing machine needle on the floor. It ended up trapped between one of the wooden slats, and she found it, painfully, later.
Unable to remove the piece of metal, but with no time to visit a doctor before heading to Vegas, she simply decided to deal with it later while hoping for the best, for her foot and her new line.
Luckily, the prognosis was good all around.
COURTESY ROBERTA OAKS
The "Skipper" dress, $125, in aloha print features a bodice of non-chafing, easy-care Lycra.
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At home she was able to get the needle surgically removed without shedding a tear. In Vegas she managed to pick up accounts from a handful of boutiques across the country, plus Japan, for a line that brings back the leggy look of short dresses in halter and princess styles with splashes of neon pink, seafoam green, animal and Hawaiian prints with metallic and nautical details.
Dresses represent a bold collage of color and print, with touches of appliqué that were a hit with national buyers weary of graphic tees, that reflect Oaks' background as a visual artist.
Her short dresses offer the versatility of being worn alone or over jeans. Floor-length versions are also available.
COURTESY ROBERTA OAKS
Roberta Oaks' "Twiggy" dress comes in three color combinations. This one is in hot pink and natural, priced at $150.
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Even more daring than the season's new shorter skirt are her Lulu Shorts, of the sort worn by basketball players in the 1970s and which garnered attention for Suzanne Somers when she starred in "Three's Company" in the early '80s.
T-shirts also bear nautical motifs of anchors and stars on a striped background.
COURTESY ROBERTA OAKS
The JJ shirt in cotton candy and Lulu short in cream are $62 and $46, respectively.
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Look for Roberta Oaks' Spring/Summer 2007 collection to hit boutiques in mid-April. Oahu stores carrying her line are Bamboo Sky, Marqet, Madison & Co. in Waipahu, and Global Village Market in Kailua. Visit
www.robertaoaks.com for more boutiques.