Trend Watch: Plaid

While I’ve been very bad at blogging for quite some time now I’ve been pretty productive elsewhere in my life. Here’s one of the moodboards I’ve been working from in the studio. Check, plaid, tartan. Whatever you wanna call it. It’s not newsworthy that grunge is back  - even Look magazine is all over that shit. It is also arguable that plaid is not, in fact, back because it never really went away…it’s just more that it has been promoted…While print is having a maximal moment, a plaid is a simpler more minimal way of doing it. Loud without being fussy. This season’s plaids are in fresh new colours, as well as referencing classic 90′s styles. What I like about plaid for Spring Summer 2013 is the combinations of print and textures, á la Dries with the florals and the mettalics. Or Richard Chai Love with the washed out, painterly thing. And if all else fails, just throw on a mini kilt and matching jacket and look like a total Betty, as per Cher in Clueless. Way cool.

Plaid Moodboard

Guilty Pleasure: Cavalli

I have a bit of a sick feeling in my stomach saying this. I think I love Cavalli now. I don’t know whether they changed or whether I changed but something has gone awry somewhere and now I can’t get enough. It has been creeping up on me for the past few seasons, pleated animals, awesome baroques, tropicals, more animals. And those baseball hats. If someone sees my good taste lying around will they drop it back to me please. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

Roberto Cavalli Resort 2013

 

 

 

Just Cavalli Resort 2013

All images via Style.com

My favourite colour is SHINY

Balmain SS12

Christopher Kane SS12

Felder Felder SS12

Giles SS12

Manish Arora SS12

Marc Jacobs SS12

Sass & Bide SS12

Suno SS12

Theysken's Theory SS12

Basically, I’m tacky as hell. I try to be subtle*, but I’m subtle like a brick. I LOVE shiny things like magpies love shiny things. Maybe it’s because I’m dead inside and it deflects attention away from my black soul? Perhaps. All I know is that shiny things make me happy. It’s hard to be sad when you have a shiny lazer cut leather skirt.

The Balmain is a DREAM of shiny embroidery, and the Felder Felder is a stroke of shiny grungy ’90′s genius. But bewarned, shiny! is not like colour – silhouette DOES matter. Cut, shape, proportion – think about what you want and what’s going to work for you. Unless you look like the birds above, if you get it wrong, it’s gonna look TERRRRRIIIIIBBBBBBBUUUUUULLLLLLLL.  Team with a not-so-shiny plain t-shirt, or shirt (á la Jacobs) for a more demure take. Or throw caution to the wind and go all out, and wait for the magpies (me) to flock towards you and coo at your awesome shiny thing.

*no I don’t. I wear acid colour and leopard at the same time. The hack.

SS12 Trend Watch: Colour Blocking

Spring Summer 2012 Colours fit to eat! Pastels! Palest greens, blues, orange. Think Neapolitan ice cream in a wafer – gotta have your neutrals!

Colour blocking is hardly a new concept – in fact, it’s a wanky fashion term to describe wearing plain colour together. To clarify, plain colour as distinct from garments with print or embroidery or any embellishment. So, basically, wearing clothes that aren’t head to toe black. What they MEAN is successful and interesting colour combinations together to create a fresh look that generally relies on simple and clean silhouettes so as not to confuse the issue or to look like a big mess of rainbow. Which is a lot harder to fit in a headline. Also, the word block sounds quite designy and weighty and modern, and the colour blocking look is quite modern, so I guess it’s that thing where it sounds the way it looks like. Kinda like sizzling sausage. Also, when you think of it like a block of ICE CREAM, then colour blocking becomes delicious. Like ice cream…

Hmmmm, I appear to be on some kind of weird food kick. We shall resume normal, non-food related transmission soon, perhaps after lunch…In the meantime, here are my Spring Summer 12 colour block picks.

10 Cosby by Derek Lam SS12

Chloe SS12

Kenzo SS12

Matthew Williamson SS12

Matthew William SS12

Yes I know it’s a printed blouse, my blog my rules

Michael Van Der Ham SS12

Again, my blog my rules.

Mulberry SS12

Philip Lim SS12

Prada SS12

Theyskens Theory SS12

VPL SS12

Ok this one is blatantly print but I just love the colour story and so it stays, alright?!!!

Animalism

I used to own a pair of zebra print ponyskin pointed toe kitten heels. It has taken me a while to be able to say that sentence aloud, but I accept it now. In fact, I imagine a point in the near future I will wish I never got rid of them.

A friend of my recently christened me Tiger Force, given my penchant for all things animal print and my endearing (mental) habit of wearing them all at once. I am clearly not the only one though. These are the animal prints I’m crushing on for summer.

When done in a subtle way, animal print is a great non-print, working as a texture to add to an outfit. When done in a not-so-subtle way, animal print cna be the WOW factor. So, I guess, like, it’s quite versatile? So, like, that’s good? And while the cat family has been the animal print du jour for some time now, snake and zebra seem to be making quite the comeback. Snake, when done right, is a great textural print. When done wrong however…..well, I guess there is a fine line between tragedy and comedy…

P.S. Let’s take bets as to how long it’s going to be before cow print pops up on the catwalks again….ss13, anyone? lol…

Proenza Schouler SS12

Isabel Marant SS12

Givenchy SS12

 

Just Cavalli SS12

Roberto Cavalli SS12

Just Cavalli SS12

SS12 Trend Watch: Tropical

SS12 is filled with so many trends I wan a sink my teeth into but none more so than the tropical theme so perfectly exemplified at Altuzurra.
I guess designers had a collective moment of “nothing says summer better than palm trees,right?!” RIGHT! Tropical prints are, well, you know. This year’s batch however simultaneously harness all the ropey connotations for charming nostalgia in a South Pacific vibe and shake free of them by mixing with block colour for a fresh modern feel.
Vintage feel AND block colour? Sure you had me at tropical…

Altazurra SS12

 

Roberto Cavalli SS12

Theysken's Theory SS12

Prabal Gurung SS12

Mary Katrantzou SS12

Roberto Cavalli SS12

image via style.com, dazeddigital.com

Cozy up beside me

Autumn is here, much to my dismay. I am cheering myself up by pondering winter coats. Those that know me will know that I have a teeeeensie coat obsession…to the tune of twenty-odd of the things. Still though, I think I can justify perhaps a fresh one this season. Well, you know, fresh city, it just seems fair!

Giles AW11

Chloe AW11

Giles and Chloe rocking Gestapo chic, DELISH

So this is what I have been thinking….I am in the mood for something functional yet stylish, something that screams – I AM A DESIGNER, living in LONDON. haha. Seriously though, I’m only half joking. I want an oversize, anti-fashion, functional thing. I really like when garments go beyond fashion to become pure design, the beauty is in the simplicity, the lack of superfluous embellishment. A pocket where you need a pocket, just the right amount of warmth, a neutral colour that works with everything, the works.  As much as it is boringly on trend, I am really crushing on Barbour at the moment, if just from a quality perspective. The high street is flooded with imitators, but only the original is as warm as it is stylish….I just can’t decide which one I want more!

 

Barbour Beadnell

Barbour xLiberty Beadnell

Barbour National Trials

 

 

Living in Dublin, London, anywhwere similar,  means that for basically half the year, the most important garment you have is your coat. Because you need to wear one almost all the time. The most well thought out outfits have come undone by forgetting to incorporate the coat. And given that I am the whatever-is-closest-and-cleanest kind of dresser, getting a coat that says the right thing without having to figure out in-depth outfit plans is a major bonus.

 

Simone Rocha AW11

Celine AW11

 

Antonio Berardi AW11

Philip Lim AW11

Alexander Wang AW11

Contrasting textures & colours for added interest

I have been on the hunt for the perfect parka for roughly two years now. I have had terrible luck, because I didn’t want to pay loads of money, because in my head a parka is a casual thing, and casual things should be cheeep. But the high street ones are useless quality, flimsy and just not even worth the more reasonable price tags. Furthermore, the shape needs to be just right, long enough but not too long, utilitarian, just the right amount of oversize and straight.

Turns out I have been a FOOL, because I have found a bucketload of them on the interweb from army surplus style sites. Why I didn’t head straight there is beyond me, but now all I have to do is decide which of these babies is just right.

Aquascutum AW11

Dress Monster via Asos

Won Hundred

Swedish Military Parka

Or maybe a Duffel Coat? Maybe?

Burberry AW11

Christopher Raeburn via Brownsfashion.com

Barbour

 

I LOVE this colour!

Celine AW11

and the highstreet version…

Topshop

 

And finally, it’s not practical, nor affordable, but if someone wants to buy me this, I’ll love you forever…

Alexander Wang AW11

 

Is it vintage yet?!

Back when I was making fat wads o’ cash I did a most peculiar thing – I decided to invest some of it in something…Clearly, it was not going to be something boring like stocks or bonds (in hindsight, probably just as well!), but instead in fashion. My logic ran something like this – that I probably wouldn’t have as much disposable income in the future (how right I was) so I should probably get a few designer pieces to have and mature with. So I duly went out and bought some designer shit. It’s not actually the worst logic I have ever come up with. It was nothing too extravagant – the stacks weren’t that fat, but given that the Tiger died c.2008, what I do own is in that designer limbo – where they are not yet vintage, but too far around the fashion cycle to be current either.

For the most part I don’t think about it. Sometimes though I worry I made bad investments that will never be cool again, which makes me worry about why I am not worrying about more important things in life… The other day though, I was cleaning out a bunch of stuff and I found this tshirt. I know Dior is kind of a bit of a persona non grata at the moment, but I still like the shirt. It’s fun! and I don’t own that many fun things. It’s pink! and I don’t own many pink things. It has a funny fashion take on sports tshirts, and I love the tongue-in-cheek-ness of it all. And for sure, logomania has long past, and I know that Carrie Bradshaw wore one in a SATC film and I HATE her stupid moany self involved character, but Patricia Fields is an amazing stylist so she had a point. And I know it’s not very now, but I just like it, ok.

skirt; thrifted, shoes; primark, tshirt; dior, bow; vintage

 I don’t know why but I always feel a bit like a school teacher when I wear this skirt…

I wish it were summer

My blog challenge fell by the wayside after about two weeks, as most of the things on the list were just not my style. But the notion of summer clothes and got me thinking – what is my summer wardrobe? Do I even have one?

In September, like many other fashion nerds, I dutifully went through the catwalk shows, noting styles I might like to sport come springtime. This is noteworthy because I went through my Spring-Summer 11 file earlier, and found that many of the styles I lusted for back in September bear no correlation to what I am wearing now. Three collections (pre-fall, fall and resort) have since swanned down the runways, meaning that naturally, I have become excited with new shapes and colours.

The pace of fashion is a really topical issue at the moment, and the rate high street knocks out new styles has received not inches but miles of coverage in the media. Whether it’s a good or bad thing is for another day, but we are creatures who value novelty. A constant need for newness is what drives innovation and stops us from getting stale, a willingness to embrace newness is what keeps us relevant and connected with society. These are both good things.

But does that then mean what we call the Spring Summer collections are intended to be absorbed, digested and excreted before spring has even sprung? A 6 month lag time would make even the most patient person bored. And with the speed of the high street turnaround, designers really can’t afford to take that long in production. It’s not really for me to say how to reorganise fashion weeks, but there is clearly something amiss.

With all that in mind then, I looked back at the trends from September’s shows to see what I still dig, and a few things that I really do not.

Chloe SS11

Still can’t get enough nude tones. Although I wear midi skirts (and knife pleats) less than anticipated; same with leather tops. Although it’s not for a change in taste, just can’t seem to find the right ones.

Viktor & Rolf SS11

If anything, my appetite for shirts has only grown since September. I have a ridiculous number of them, although none as awesome as this Viktor & Rolf number. Sheer is another trend I have thoroughly embraced, and going back to work in American Apparel is feeding that addiction at a dangerous rate!

Rebecca Minkoff SS11

Cigarette pants, cut-out shoes, big necklaces. Check. Mustard, check. However, this does not feel fresh or exciting anymore, it’s more like a go-to utilitarian look.

Jil Sander SS11

Forals & Maxis. Despite making both a massive part of my final collection in college, I am wearing both…well, not really at all…I really love the look, and this Jil Sander dress is AMAZING, but somehow I can’t find a way to fit maximal print into my wardrobe. Having said that I have a few ideas to translate my prints into more wearable garments, so stay tuned to see how I make this happen!!!

Marc by Marc Jacobs SS11

STRIPES! Ms. Prada totally ruled on the stripe front for Spring Summer 11, but I love this outfit, as it has a ’70′s theme that I am starting to embrace (I tried on a floppy hat in work the other day and I can’t stop thinking about it…). Also, I want that hair….

Costume National SS11

So this is basically what I want to look like almost all the time. All, like, designer-y and shizzz… “Black-out summer” was one of my trend folder titles for this summer – I am a demon for black on black, so it’s like they made this one for me!

Givenchy SS11

Looking like a goth is cool right? Chiffon everything to soften the look, and I really want to unpick the sleeves of one of my blazers.

Dries Van Noten SS11

And I still want a Dave Byrne-esque blazer! I love the way it has a louche line, with the lapels coming right the way down.

3.1 Philip Lim SS11

This colour palette is still going strong for me, and shorts are proving a perennial favourite. Neutrals and black and blue are like the subtle girl’s guide to colour blocking!

Moschino SS11

And finally, my old trusty favourite, mom jeans! Teamed with leather jacket. It’s as if Rossella Jardini saw me on the street or something…I kid, I kid.

Holly Fulton SS11

And finally, these pants are in the still-not-wearing category. As with the full-on floral thing, I like them, I just don’t have the balls to wear them. Although I think print and wide legged trousers are here for the next while, and I’ll be in London soon, so watch this space!

 

Scarlet Fever

In a season that celebrates beautiful neutrals, soft colours and soft shapes, it it refreshing to see a flash of shocking colour running through. Scarlet featured in so many of the shows for AW10 in some capacity, either as a highlight of as a big feature. Here are some of my highlights. You can be Lady Danger (my beloved red Mac lipstick) in hed to toe rouge, or you can be a little more demure with scarlet highlights, to suggest an air of mischief. And it’s good news for us pasty pale Irish-skin types – Scarlet actually looks stunning on white as white skin, yipeee!!!

(Antonio Berardi)

(Carolina Herrera)

(Dolce & Gabanna)

(Versus)

(Balmain)

(DSquared)

(Cynthia Rowley)

(Carolina Herrera)

(Emanuel Ungaro)

(Isabel Marant)

(Costume National)

(All images via Style.com)

(Ps Note the red velevet….noms. Expect a post on velvet sometime in the near future)

Here are some crappy songs with red in the title…

1) red red wine

2) lady in red

Simply Red are a simply average band

99 Red Baloons is a good song

Red Hot Chili Peppers are a good band