FESTIVE BACK DROPS : A 180-Degree Turn in Evening Wear Appeals to Adventurous Women Coming and Going. Expect to See a Lot of Bare Backs on New Year’s Eve.

Come New Year’s Eve, many women will turn their backs on their fellow revelers--the better to show off their exciting evening wear.

The back is back in fashion. Now that pared-down party clothes have been stripped of their sequins and other ‘80s excess, a beautiful back is often what makes the outfit. Designers are turning out evening wear with all kinds of unusual back details: fun crisscross straps, keyholes, lace insets and sheer fabric overlays.

Women look good coming and going in the new styles. Even if they’re self-conscious about their fronts, most women are willing to bare their backs.

“Women aren’t afraid to show a low-cut back. It’s very safe,” says Tadashi Shoji, a Los Angeles designer whose form-fitting creations often have interesting back treatments. “Bare backs and shoulders are so pretty.”

Shoji adorns the backs of his designs with basket-weave straps, gold chains and sheer netting. When she was crowned Miss America, Kimberly Aiken wore his black stretch tulle gown with sheer insets that exposed her midriff and back.

“After the ‘80s we got away from the glittery stuff. Things are very understated. Still, we have to make sexy, elegant dresses,” Shoji says. “What’s interesting and sexy? Showing the back.”

Back interest keeps the simpler gowns from looking too plain.

“If a woman is going to buy a gown for the holidays, she wants some pizazz,” says Georgette Rubin, owner of the Lillie Rubin stores. “Simplicity is getting out of hand.”

Lillie Rubin has gowns with back accents such as spider web straps, jewels, chiffon scarves, gold chains and crochet. One red strapless dress comes with a choker collar that attaches to a cage back ($240). A short black cocktail dress has straps that crisscross the front and back ($210), while a long black Lycra gown has a macrame back ($480). All are available through Lillie Rubin in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa.

“Women still want to look glamorous at night,” Rubin says. “Backs are another way to do that.”

Eye-catching backs are being shown on all kinds of party clothes, including jumpsuits, short cocktail dresses, gowns and body suits.

Among the varied looks at B. Magness in Newport Beach: a bright red cat suit with crisscross straps in back by Tadashi ($265); a black, double-breasted coat dress by Joseph Ribkoff with satin collar and a bare back with wide satin crisscross straps ($175), and Tadashi’s black jumpsuit with a halter-style front and black lace sleeves and back ($365).

“Women love showing off their backs, especially if they’re camouflaged by lace or chiffon as opposed to being bare,” says Barbara Magness, owner of B. Magness. “A lot of them don’t want their bare skin showing in winter because they’re not tan.”

Illusion backs allow women to be sexy without going bare by concealing skin tone and minor flaws with see-through lace, netting or chiffon. From Shelli Segal, there’s a black jumpsuit that has a built-in vest with a see-through net back covered in soutache swirls ($229), while Tadashi has a a white organza blouse with lace panels down the front and a sheer back ($205), both at B. Magness.

“It is the subtlety and suggestibility of being sexy” that makes back treatments so appealing, says Robert Silverstone, general manager of Bayside 341 in Newport Beach.

Bayside 341’s back treatments range from Carole Lee’s romantic pale yellow dress dripping with lace with a ruched cummerbund and draped front and back ($1,032) to Chuck Jones’ sexy black cocktail dress with a short soft bubble skirt and sheer back covered in lace ($760).

“The back of a garment is an area that hasn’t been addressed for many years,” Silverstone said.

Indeed, there hasn’t been this much fuss over the back since the ‘40s, when Jean Harlow and other movie stars sported simple gowns with elegant backs.

“In the ‘30s and ‘40s, a lot of dresses were cut out in back. That went out when dresses started getting lower cut in front,” says Connie Oliver, co-owner of Ames in Brea Mall and Westminster Mall. “Now they’re putting more drama into the back of the dress. They’re making a big turn-around.”

Karen Okada designed a black jersey knit that looks like something out of the ‘40s, with a plain front and sheer back decorated with swirls of fabric, at Ames ($230).

“It gives the illusion of having nothing on,” Oliver says.

Another gown by Tadashi has a sweetheart neck and a long chiffon scarf that can tie in back or flow freely, available in red, black or black and white at Ames ($250).

“It has a very low back. When a woman turns around and walks away in that dress, they’ll say ‘wow,”’ Oliver says. “A woman wants to make an impact, especially at a party. But it’s no longer beads and sequins that catch the eye. It’s the body shape that’s underneath.”