Spring 2012 Trend: Pleats

Pleats are a massive trend this season, and if Fall 2012 collections are anything to go by, they are not going anywhere in a hurry.

The beauty about it is the very many ways designers have expressed the trend, from dresses, to skirts to tops! who would have thought pleats could show up in more than just skirts.

If you’ve ever been fascinated by accordion pleats, this is your opportunity to rock the trend in the most creative way you can think about. The great thing is that you’ve got tons of styles to get inspired by. Your go to designer for variety is most definitely Chloe, just look below.

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren

Prada did some really beautiful pleated dresses, the powder blue and yellow dress is a sure favourite.

Prada

Prada

Prada

Prada

Prabal Gurung touched on the trend but in beautiful saturated colour, the partially pleated skirt is simply stunning.

Prabal Gurung

Prabal Gurung

The Chloe collection was centred around accordion pleats and shows the most versatile ways of wearing the trend. It doesn’t get better than a pleated blouse tucked into shorts with a blazer thrown over.

Chloe

Chloe

Chloe

Chloe

Chloe

Chloe

The bright orange pleated dress by Christian Siriano finally did it for me!

Christian Siriano

Christian Siriano

This is a trend definitely worth trying out!

 

Photo credits: Elle.com

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Prada’s Flame Inspired Spring Collection

We’re right in the middle of the Spring 2012 season and before you blink, another fashion season is upon us. As we speak, Fall 2012 fashion week is still going on strong, the train is in Paris right now and it’s been beautiful fashion.

I really think we should savour one season well enough. Having said that, I was looking at the Prada Spring 2012 collection again and it really is fascinating. Miuccia Prada has chosen to follow her heart and inspiration and just play with fashion, season after season. When she’s not rolling out fruit inspired fashion (Spring 2011), she’s showing shoes with cut out flames.

At first spotting, I was like, errr, what is this? But looking closer, these shoes are beautiful and they really did get tongues wagging.

The flames and fire theme ran through the collection with prints on blouses and appliqué details on skirts and bags showing even more fire.

I got thinking, how far do you really want to go with your favourite designer? Will you buy a Prada bag with a car printed on? Will people stop at sense and sensibility or just go all the way, I mean, it is a Prada bag. Food for fashion thought.

Now moving past the playfulness and quirky pieces, I found some stunning arm candy. Love these structured bags, the embellished versions in different colours makes for a great investment by anyone so incline.

Totally wanted and needed, in every colour.

 

 

 

 

Photo credits: Elle.com

Lace works for Spring at Miu Miu

Miuccia Prada’s design aesthetic is lost on me sometimes. I think she’s just done with real practical fashion and is bordering  on art, very edgy art. Now I’m all for fashion as art but you really have to be uber edgy and give no thought to realistic or practical style to wear Miu Miu and Prada…it seems. Having said that, we see the street style pics, especially from fashion week and we see the 0.1% of humanity who dare wear monkey motif blouses.

The reason for my perplexity is the first set of pictures you see down here. Like, what’s with the criss cross, strait jacketish do??? Yeah, I don’t get it too but I’m sure the fashion editors and stylists will find some great editorial use for it. And of course, not forgetting the 0.1% who will wear it, lol. We look forward to the street style shots.

There’s real reason to smile though, just scroll down a bit further.

I LOVE lace! My favourite fabrics in the world are lace, silk and chiffon/tulle/the sheers in general. So, she does some interesting stuff with lace. Discount some of the funky layering and you’d find some stunning dresses, skirts and coat even.

Now, those are right up my alley!

To digress from this collection, Spring 2012 fashion month is over and there were so many stunning collections.  I’ll be rolling out the ones that made the most impression on me over the next few days or even weeks??? Totally love Spring collections. Dior is up next.

See you around!

Photo credits: Elle.com

Editorial Lurv: Lady Be Good

It’s no news that I’m a die hard lover of all things ladylike, so finding this editorial tagged ‘Lady be Good’ on Vogue.com was pure joy. Featuring the model Amber Valletta alongside her son Auden McCaw (adorable twist), it’s sleek sophistication in the best of Spring fashion by Jil Sander, Dolce & Gabbana, Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, Prada and more.

The pink Carolina Herrera silk blouse in the first picture is simply TDF.

There was a generous helping of pieces in one of Spring’s key shades, Tangerine but it was overall a celebration of my best Spring trend, Electric colour. On the look though, this is where fashion is at right now, grown up glamour with a zesty twist.

The shoot was photographed by Steven Klein.

See more details of the editorial on Vogue.com

Spring 2011 Ad Campaigns pouring in

These are fun times for the creative junkies and fashion lovers in general. It’s when all the trends that sashayed down the S/S runways some months ago start showing up in beautiful artistic Ad campaigns. It’s the test of how much justice the beautiful clothes get, now that they’ll be featured in fashion magazines across the world.

So, I did a compilation of my favourites.

The D&G Ad Campaign featured those beautiful floral maxis that ended the show in Milan and is so reminiscent of the intensely floral runway show. Very summery, very young and so happy. I really could use one of those maxi dresses.

Dolce & Gabbana, this Ad campaign told a story about some emotionally high strung females, lol. At least, so it looked to me. It was feminine and so pretty, the black and white photography did beautiful justice to the mainly white lacey collection.

Now we all loved Jil Sander, nothing spells out the electric colour Spring trend more than this Ad Campaign. Simply gorgeous and amazing photography.

Given the relative weirdness of the Prada collection, it came out beautifully in the Ad Campaign. Another happy celebration of colour and patterns.

Pictures via Fashion Gone Rogue, Fashion editorials

Glam Glam Absolutely Glam 50’s Editorial by Marie Claire

How am I ever going to stop pining after the 50’s trend taking the fashion world by storm? I don’t see an end in sight! Not with editorials like this one in the December issue of Marie Claire Turkey. This is glamour, high class and haute sophistication personified, all totally rolled into one and I am loving it.

The model Wiola Kowal depicts this über fab retro housewife searching for escape, she’s dressed in Louis Vuitton, Prada and once again, the most photographed Miu Miu dress. Styled by Hakan Öztürk and photographed by Talmer Yilmaz.

Pictures via Fashion Gone Rogue

Bag Lurv: Miu Miu Natté and Patent Leather Handbag

I love how Prada has these metallic florals on most of the pieces in the fall collection. This bag is simply gorgeous.

Miu Miu Natté and Patent Leather Handbag

 

Image via InStyle

Hottest Silhouette of the Season: Ladylike Chic Dresses

 

Prada printed satin-dress

 

Asos Tailored Check Pleat Fold Dress

 

Karen Millen Velvet panel shift dress

 

 

Oasis Pyramid Dress

 

Ted Baker Bow Front V-Neck Dress

 

 

Asos Exaggerated One Shoulder Dress

Pictures via asos.com

The Best of Spring 2011 Bags: My Top 40

The attention grabbing clothes did a good job of trying to outshine the accessories but they were right there, holding their own and spicing things up.

After looking at the gorgeous bags that made the Spring 2011 runways, I chose my top 40 beauties. You’ll probably decipher that I love totes, the bigger the better, structure is right up my alley too. It wasn’t all totes though, there was an abundance of clutch bags a la Burberry, across the body bags and compact structured pieces. The abundantly fringed Roberto Cavalli bags stood out against the pack and appealed to the boho side of me.

For Spring 2011 bag trends, there’s a lot of structured large totes, the bags look large enough to fit all summer essentials and more, beach house perhaps? lol. The bright color trends showed up in bags too, there’s patterns, florals and embellishment, reflecting the key Spring trends.

 

Bottega Veneta

 

 

Dolce & Gabbana

 

 

Marni

 

 

Prada

 

 

Gucci

 

 

Salvatore Ferragamo

 

 

Versus

 

 

Roberto Cavalli

 

 

Nina Ricci

 

 

Gucci

 

 

Bottega Veneta

 

 

Valentino

 

 

Gucci

 

 

 

Jil Sander

 

 

Nina Ricci

 

 

Rochas

 

 

Jason Wu

 

 

Burberry

 

 

Giorgio Armani

 

 

Fendi

 

 

Oscar de la Renta

 

 

Loius Vuitton

 

 

Versus

 

 

Marc Jacobs

 

 

Versace

 

 

Celine

 

 

Dolce & Gabbana

 

 

Lanvin

 

 

Christian Dior

 

 

Christian Dior

 

 

Hermes

 

 

Fendi

 

 

Jean Paul Gaultier

 

 

Fendi

 

 

Chanel

 

 

Loius Vuitton

 

 

Chloe

 

 

Proenza Schouler

 

 

Michael Kors

 

 

Burberry

 

Coming up next is my ‘Top 40 Spring 2011 shoes!’ Be right back.

Images via Style.com

Even more Fifties Fever

Fall has been awash with gorgeous, ladylike fifties fashion and this has produced some of the most glamorous editorials depicting that era. Since the fifties is my favourite era, I’m savouring all of the attention it’s getting and celebrating with multiple blog posts. I’m refusing to get tired of having blog posts on the 50s!

Well, Vogue Australia did this ultra elegant 50s feature in the September issue. It’s quite interesting to see that dresses from the Prada and Louis Vuitton Fall RTW collections have been featured over and over in most of the shoots.

For this feature, Model was Catherine McNeil and Photographer was Nicole Bentley.

Pictures via fashiongonerogue.com

Haute 50s elegance in Harpers Bazaar en Espanol

With the recent ‘Mad Men’ frenzy that gripped the fashion industry, my beloved fashion era -the 50’s- has scored its place in the limelight. At least until Spring 2011 when the 70’s take over -if fashion week trends are anything to go by. The 50’s represented the peak of ultra feminine fashion, with the hallmark hourglass silhouette, cinched waist and full skirt pioneered by Christian Dior in the early 50’s. It was the era when women wore their hats and gloves religiously and looked to fashion icons, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe for inspiration.

It’s my favourite era because it celebrated the feminine silhouette, was elegant, graceful and all things ladylike. I was excited to see Prada and Louis Vuitton showing 50’s inspired fashion on the Fall 2010 runways. I guess we have Mad Men to thank.

So, Harpers Bazaar en Espanol has decided to give me and all 50’s fashion lovers a treat in the October issue. They celebrate 50’s elegance with this absolutely exquisite editorial featuring model  Michelle Westgeest and photography by Benjamin Kanarek. With the model wearing an original 1957 Dior dress, they couldn’t have paid a better homage to that era.

Original 1957 Haute Couture hourglassed ensemble by Christian Dior

For more on the shoot and to see a lovely behind the scenes video, check out Benjamin Kanarek’s blog

Pictures via fashionising.com

MFW: Prada’s ‘Minimal Baroque’

Well Prada, this is one collection that does NOT make me happy. It’s somewhere between this androgyny and a bunch of clothes that do not quite flatter the beautiful, gorgeous frame of a lady. Miuccia says the collection is ‘brave, bold and obvious’ but sadly, they remind me of some of the sad wardrobe choices i made as a youngster. Try as i may because it’s Prada, i just wouldn’t wear any of them. Monkey and banana prints? Errr…No sir! See some of the fashion culprits

Pics courtesy style.com

I heart Tees

I love Tees, they sort of grew on me silently and before i knew what was going on i was scouring shops, markets, online, everywhere looking for unique tees. It started out with the need for something casual and comfy on a weekend, worn with jeans and flats. This would typically be the basic plain coloured tee, but then i moved on to the need for something with quirky graphics or some form of add on/embellishment. These days, it’s an obsession with the slouchy tee, with nondescript graphics, subtle alteration to the basic shape, an uneven hem would be great, bows would be lovely. Worn under a fitted jacket, accessorized with a long chain/pendant and the list could go on…

So, tees and i, we’ve come a pretty long way and it’s exciting when i discover something new and different.

Exciting it was when i discovered that my dear virtual friends at style.com are doing something fun with tees.  To celebrate 10 years of style.com, they got 10 designers to design 10 limited edition t-shirts using the symbol X as inspiration. It was a stunning display to say the least. 10 great designers, 10 great tees. I especially loved 5 of them

Balmain

Lanvin

Rick Owens

Prada

Givenchy

You can grab yours online at http://stylelimitededition.myshopify.com/