Tea Party
Tweed jackets with floral prints tops and dresses. Add frills with lace and tulle combined with gloves and hair bows with veils, all in a colour palette of orange, pink, and purple. Cheeky and playful, this girly, yet chic, yet eccentric look was what Luella Bartley created for this Spring/Summer and it was about getting all dolled up. Marc Jacobs equally colourful collection was a sentimental journey through a century’s worth of American looks, from aprons to prairie skirts to gingham shirts, a truly eclectic look brought together with wide belts and straw boater hats. This is about taking all your favourite elements from your mothers dressing box and putting them all together. A cute hat or bow and some elegant gloves give the playfulness a sophisticated edge. Get all dolled up for the garden tea party this summer.
New Nudes
Fashion has embraced a more neutral palette for this Spring/Summer. Stripped down and pared back Balenciaga, Fendi, Alexander McQueen, Chloe, Giambattista Valli and Preen were just a few of the fashion labels to include these skin tone shades in their collections. A stark contrast to the strikingly bright colours that were seen at many of this season’s shows. The simplicity of these neutral shades allowed designers to experiment with more interesting shapes and silhouettes. Balenciaga gave other- worldly futuristic designs, while Bottega Venetta and Chloe used this antique palette for more elegant looks. Combine these nude shades with neon brights for a funky, youthful look, or keep the neutral hues light for a more ethereal and romantic look.
Head Rush
As the V&A gets set to present its exhibition Hats: An Anthology with milliner Stephen Jones, hats and opulent head pieces are undergoing somewhat of a renaissance. Proving to be the perfect finishing touch to many of these seasons’ most influential collections, from hats to head bands and decorative jewelled head pieces if your outfit isn’t toped of with one of these fabulous creations then you're not accessorised this season. Marc Jacobs gave us straw boaters that had an old-world Americana feel; Ralph Lauren African inspired turbins, and Luella Bartley hair bows and veils. At Dolce & Gabbana the models neat hair buns were covered in opulent fabric and jewels, while Karl Largerfield co-ordinated each one of the outfits at the Chanel show with an individual and beautifully created hat in his nearly all white collection. This is the season to head to your local hat shop or haberdashery and start creating veils, bows and feathery creations to rival anything that was seen on the catwalk.
Geisha Girls
The Spirit of Japan was alive and well at British Design team Basso and Brookes Spring/Summer 2009 show with geisha inspired prints and obi style wide belts. Bright shades of orange. purple and red, combined with flashes of blue, yellow and green in the most fabulous oriental print made this one of the most eye catching and memorable collections of the season. Missoni also combined vibrantly coloured prints with wide waist cinching belts to create a feminine silhouette with a bright energetic colour palette that is perfect for the summer ahead.
Space Age Chic!
Set to be one of the biggest trends of 2009, if the Spring/ Summer 2009 collections were anything to go by, fashion is set to take a retro futuristic move into spaceman chic. Think 1960’s ‘moon girl’ looks, with geometric shapes, circular motifs, and shiny fabrics. America's race for space was a major inspiration for designers such as Pierre Cardin and André Courreges back then, and now contemporary designers are giving their take on this intergalactic look.
Pac-man was the inspiration for Giles Deacon's show. The models took to the catwalk in astronaut-style helmets by Stephen Jones, who was recently awarded with an outstanding achievement award at the British fashion awards. Christopher Kane took inspiration from The Planet of the Apes for his collection with jungle prints and circular motifs creating futuristic silhouettes. Karl Largerfield for Fendi used a space age colour palette with while, grey and silvers. Perspex heels completed this star-ship look. Exaggerated shoulders with military finishes in shiny silver gave Balmain’s collection
a futuristic storm trooper’s look.
Get ready for some NASA inspired fashions in 2009!
Bow- licious
Not since Sarah Ferguson made the ‘Fergie bow’ the must have hair accessory of the late eighties have bows had such an impact on fashion
Marc Jacobs, Moschino, Marni, Dolce & Gabbana, Carolina Herrera, Chloe all included this ultra girly detail in their recent collections. From large pussy bow blouses to the closure details on belts and bows were seen everywhere. This is a trend that can easily be recreated. Just head down to your local haberdashery and stock up on lots of ribbon to create your own bows. If DIY isn’t your thing, expect to see accessories with bows on them all over the high street. Bags, belts and shoes with bow finishes will make this a very easy trend to add to your wardrobe and inexpensively update your look.
Spring Brights
Bright colours may have been all the rage last summer but this fun colour palette is set to continue its domination well into spring and summer for 2009.Rodarte, Jonathon Saunders and Marc by Marc Jacobs all created garments with geometric blocks of contrasting colours. Served on light chiffons and cottons these brights were given a more ethereal and feminine edge then the neon’s of 2008.
Basso and Brooke gave Geisha Obi styles a modern twist with funky neon shades, while Luella gave British tweed jackets and frilly feminine dresses a youthful contemporary feel in bright pinks, oranges and purples. So what ever your style, do it in colour this season.
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