The shoulder jewel

The style prominence of the shoulder next season (AW09) is indisputable. They are the body part that one should be flaunting come fall. No mistaking.

As a result, the bold shoulders that have sauntered down the catwalks, show after show, city after city, have been widely reported on in the media. Much has been made of their exaggerated appearances, geometric shapes and padded silhouettes.

One shoulder trend that seems to have slipped through the fashion net, however, is the embellished look.

Paul Smith draped shoulders in sparkly crystals and pearls that swung in tandem beautifully with the models strides, Holly Fulton (from Fashion East) and Roksanda Ilincic heavily encrusted their designs with jewels and sequins lending them an 80s TV soap feel. Jenny Packham took inspiration from the 1920s and from them hung fringes of beads that twinkled in the lights,while David Koma used metal adornment not unlike bullets to emphasize the natural curve of a bare shoulder. Embellishment huddled densely together by Peter Pilotto and Julien Macdonald had a feral feel, while Gemma Slack* cloaked shoulders with a stunning cage cape that appeared to be made out of a gold metal.

Embellishment, as many of the London Fashion Week designers have proven is an accessible way to tap into the pronounced shoulder trend this Autumn. It offers versatility, functionality and originality all in one tidy little package. Whereas it would be hard to imagine where or how one would wear a jacket that is akin to a Quarterbacker’s football kit in day to day life, a beaded shoulder will easily slot into any existing wardrobe. That’s not even the great news though! With an old garment, a trip to the local haberdasher and a little time, fashion has finally given us a wonderful trend that genuinely lends itself to an achievable DIY job. Let the sewing commence.

Edith

Top row, from left to right. Paul Smith, Holly Fulton, Roksanda Ilincic. Middle, Jenny Packham. Bottom row, from left to right: David Koma, Peter Pilotto, Julien Macdonald.

* Apologies, I couldn’t find a picture of this example.

Wear the line: Key Fashion Trend AW09

Autumn heralds the new Body Con, Body Con(tour). The look has finally evolved away from its Herve Leger carnation. Its focus has shifted so that it is no longer fixated around figure hugging apparel alone. Garments are still form fitting, but they now incorporate  lines that trace the contours of the body, changing in thickness and direction so that they literally map the frame.

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Top row from left to right: Julien Macdonald, Ann-Sofie Back, Christopher Kane. Middle row from left to right: Vivienne Westwood, Topshop Unique, Giles. Bottom row from left to right: Richard Nicoll, Krystof Strozyna, Josh Goot.

Edith

London Fashion Week: Print trends for AW09

Prints have been very prominent on the catwalks. Most London designers are taking their cues from nature or science fiction and the resulting patterns can be divided into two very clear trends. Winter florals and space Odyssey.

Winter Florals: Anything (or any flower) goes here. Large, small, soft, bold, bright or subtle.

Top row from left to right: Peter Jensen, Betty Jackson, Edrem. Middle row from left to right: Future Classics, Paul Smith, Kinder Aggugini. Bottom row from left to right: Avsh Alom Gur, Luella and Ossie Clark.

Space Odyssey: Think sci-fi graphic designs predominantly in reds and greys.

Top row from left to right: Marios Schwab, Danielle Scutt, Giles. Bottom row from left to right: Richard Nicoll, William Tempest, Topshop Unique

Edith

Body Con(tour)

Body conscious has evolved. This trend is now much more than figure hugging apparel. The new Body Con (as shown below by Christopher Kane, Richard Nicoll and Krystof Strozyna) has lines that literally map the contours of the body.

Edith

London Fashion Week: Surprise trends

It’s only day 3 but already we’ve been thrown some trend curve balls.

Merkin embellishment:

Fancy hoods:

Fat black:

Scorched prints:

But which of these micro movements do you think will continue their reign on the catwalks to become a fully fledged trend?

Edith

The shape of things to come

You’d have to be a hibernating bear (and indeed have been hibernating for quite some time) to be completely unaware of the current worldwide financial crisis. A consequence of this meltdown is that the style sections of newspapers and magazines are now devoted to churning out features on investment dressing. Hem lines! WHAT. DO. THEY. MEAN? Some say they rise, and some are adamant that they fall with the stock market.

Ddjhfjkhudsuuuuuut6y7ue eeeebdhjsssPU)cl;xz zzzzzzzzzz’. Oh, sorry! Seem to have dozed off there. Trying to keep track of what length my skirt should be and the cost per wear of any investment pieces I am thinking of purchasing has left me simply exhausted.

But, there is more to say on this subject then what’s currently being recycled in the media, which is “customers should look for investment pieces and value for money”. Well. Yes.

Jess Cartner-Morley, fashion editor at the Guardian explores this well excavated subject a little further in this article, lean times and hemlines. It’s a feature about how fashion will be affected by the credit crunch, in the aesthetic sense rather than a business one. She reflects upon the trends that emerged from the boom and bust times in recent history with a view of defining this economic crisis’ appearance. She draws no firm conclusions but she does highlight a couple of interesting theories including this one from Valerie Steele, internationally renowned Fashion Historian:

The hemlines theory was invented back in the 1920s. But it just doesn’t hold up. Take the 20s – hemlines actually began to fall in 1927, two years before the crash. They were falling by 1969, two years before the downturn of 1971

Contrary to popular belief it would seem that the ‘look’ of the great depression was actually a result of what was fashionable the two years prior to it.

Jess then goes on to quote Jo Hooper, Head of Womenswear at John Lewis. Hooper implies that the softer, sculpted, voluminous silhouette that is becoming popular will be the defining look of the recession. She identifies the current vogue for the round-shouldered look as:

cocooning, which is the feeling of wrapping up, of hunkering down. It’s a basic human instinct.

Both of these theories are very feasible. However never one to rest on my laurels, I decided to do some research of my own. Mystic Meg wouldn’t return my calls, so I settled for the next best thing: Mark Watson, the Womenswear Editor at trend forecasting agency WGSN. I asked him for his thoughts on what he felt the look of the credit crunch would be. This is the PG version of his email response:

The most obvious effect of ‘The credit crunch’ as we saw during Paris Fashion week is that most designers will march to their own tune, sticking to what they know best and satisfying customers who are loyal to their labels rather than putting their heads on the chopping block of fashion whimsies. What may be of interest is that prior to this financial crisis designers were focusing on the shoulder and the power dressing 80s particularly taking silhouettes from Thierry Mugler and Claude Montana. In times of a strong financial system there is a the ‘power’ look whilst we at WGSN are currently moving towards a more fantastical, ethereal feeling soft layers, a looser silhouette looking at Bill Gibb also Nina Ricci collection in Paris.

Reading these three very different responses from credible industry experts; it is obvious that defining what the aesthetic of the credit-crunch will be is no easy feat. Not least because there are no parallels to be drawn between ‘fashions’ from one recession to the next. Each financial crisis has been brought about by different economic factors, which therefore in turn mean consumer habits, circumstances and attitudes are unique to that period of time.

Nevertheless history will record that this recession had a ‘style’ just as it has done for the 1930s and 1970s, regardless of whether it was actually the result of the downturn.

So, lets try and put this subject to bed once and for all! Vote! VOTE! VOTE LIKE YOU ARE SHAPING TOMORROW! Because you are.

Edith

All images are SS09 from Style.com. In order of appearance: Balmain, Balenciaga, Nina Ricci

Going for gold

If a tree falls in a forest but no-one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If I wear a Giles dress reminiscent of an ice-cream sundae with glitzy silver sandals and a sugar pink pacman helmet to the park but no-one sees me, am I making a fashion statement? If people are wearing fabrics constructed out of metal but no-one realises, do we have a new trend?

Apparently the answer to all of these questions is no. And so I, Ms Edith Purdy of the 82nd regiment from the 1st fashion battalion (I’ve been watching the new series of Sharpe), have come to put an end to this madness! There is a metallic movement emerging and recognise it we must!

Now before you all start sucking your teeth at me and declaring that metallic has been around for donkeys, that I need new specs (which I do) and don’t know squat about fashion, let me explain. I’m not talking about the kind of metallic that we see season after season on accessories. Or the type that strikes like a flu epidemic every winter in the form of sequins (when will they introduce a vaccination for that?). What I’m referring to is a completely different animal. It’s closer in aesthetic to the bra exposing molten gold look seen on Miuccia Prada’s catwalk this September, but in essence it is really about the technical specifications of the cloth rather than its magpie appeal.

Fabrics that are woven with a mixture of traditional fibres (cottons, linens, silks) and experimental materials (stainless steel, aluminum, etc) are becoming more widespread, no longer confined to the realms of Premiere Vision. This use of metal within cloth lends a beautiful and malleable quality, in addition to architectural possibilities and a wonderful sheen. I suspect that the stunning gold textiles that featured so prominently in Prada’s SS09 show were the result of something like brass being integrated with a natural yarn. The clothes have sculpted crinkles that can only really be achieved with that kind of textile construction.

At the moment there are a lot of clothes out there that are metallic in appearance (too many to even shake a very light stick at), but sadly most of them have no actual metal content so lack the beauty that a fabric of that nature possesses. You need to check the labels to make sure you’re getting the real deal (although it is possible to tell by the feel of the fabric) and consider the price too – materials that incorporate metal do not come cheap.

If you’re anything like me you’re reading this and thinking, “yeah well, that’s great. Herald Prada as a label of innovation. That has NEVER been done before. And I can’t afford fucking Prada. And it’s not even available until next year. And top that off with your great news that most stores don’t sell a version of it. GREAT WORK, EDITH!”. *Punch! Jab! Poke!*

Fear not, dear readers! I would never do that to you. I’ve found two options that will allow you to get the authentic metallic look now.

Net-a-Porter is stocking this silver Anna Sui dress, which is 50% linen, 42% cotton and 8% metallic. It’s reduced to £123.75* and well worth snapping up. With carefully chosen accessories it will look incredible. However, if you are looking for something that will harmonise more easily with your wardrobe (read: not make you look like a meat joint that’s ‘resting’ before it is to be carved) than ASOS have this classic navy blue Disaya dress priced at £152* in the sale. It’s 90% polyester and 10% metallic. The metallic element is in the form of thread that is used to decorate the textile, the result is more subtle and an easier way to adopt this look.

And now a disclaimer: it is obvious to everyone that the two-tone look that these metallic materials create is not revolutionary. These fabrics have their roots in the wet look / shimmery jeans that have been popularised in recent months because of labels such as Balmain and Givenchy. But, it is important to note that the quality that woven metal lends to a finished garment is unique. Whilst silver shiny leggings will continue to appeal to the masses for some time yet, this is a sophisticated leg up from that trend; and it’s a look in its own right that shouldn’t be pigeon-holed in the generic metallic category.

This metallic must be appreciated for what it is. An innovative, underground style trend with longevity. It’s ideal for thinking fashionistas everywhere. Those who won’t settle for anything less in life than gold.

Edith

P.s I am the only one who can’t stop singing going for gold now? TUNE!

*Prices were correct at the time of publishing

The Spanish harem

Whilst frequenting the towns and beaches of the Andalusia, I noticed that the tourists there seemed to have developed a particular fondness for harem pants. They were everywhere. Wandering on the steep precipices of Ronda, lay idle on the beach at Sanlucar, loitering by orange trees in Seville, drinking amber coloured wine and gorging on free tapas in Granada, watching a shoot out in the wild west in the Almeria desert (yes really) and finally meandering between brightly coloured parasols in Nerja.

Before you cast aspersions and accuse me of wearing harem pants in all of these places, I must firstly assure you that t’was not I, then *waggle* my finger disapprovingly at you.

I first registered this foreign fad after seeing a spate of the said garment in Ronda. It seemed like a good idea (for professional research purposes of course) to keep track of how many I encountered on my journey. During a particularly lovely glass of vino rosado in the Albaicin region of Granada (all work and no play makes Edith a very dull fashionista indeed) I lost count somewhere after 20.

This of course got me musing somewhat incoherently. Few items of clothes are able to divide public opinion so venemently as the harem pant. So why has the harem pant become a hit with holidaymakers? NY, London, Milan and Paris are arguably the fashion capitals of the world and far more trend forward. And yet very few people are seriously seen rocking them on their streets. This, despite the major design houses pushing the look down the runways season after season, a flurry of bloggers discussing their merits month after month and fashion students promoting them in their graduate collections year on year. Thus far the slouchy, dropped crotch trouser that is the harem pant has eluded us, remaining inconspicuous in the street style stakes and failing to be adopted in any mainstream way.

It is obvious to most sane people (please note, I myself to not claim to be sane) why this is. As an item of clothing the harem pant is not flattering. Not in the slightest (mind you, that doesn’t always matter – the skinny jean movement it proof of that). At best you look stumpy and possibly flabby, and at worst like a dwarf with elephantiasis. The harem pant isn’t all-bad though. After all, they are definitely the prolapse friendly trouser. If your intestine happens to fall out of your arse you are definitely going to want to own a pair of these bad boys (along with a inflatable rubber ring).

However, I don’t believe that all of the holidaymakers I saw in Spain have had the displeasure of a vital organ slipping out of place. So by golly there must be another reason for this unfathomable craze!

Another 2 glasses of vino rosad0 later , I realised there is… And it’s simple! The joy of a vacation is that it’s a break from your everyday life. You don’t have to go to work, clean your house or eat your 5 a day. And that dear Watson is the crucial element to the harem pants winning formula. You see, very few people could wear this style of trouser to work and not feel self-conscious or worse, inappropriately dressed. But once abroad the harem trouser fulfills almost every holiday specification you could ever have. They are a stark contradiction to the normal working wardrobe, they are light and comfortable, and finally they couldn’t possibly make you look any worse if they crease in transit. DO. YOU. SEE. THE. PURE. SWEET. FRICKIN. GENIUS. OF. THEM. NOW?

This frankly startling realisation combined with the wise words of Queen Michelle from Kingdom of Style about the harem pant has me convinced that they truely are fashion greatness personified!

“whenever I see ladies rocking these ‘difficult’ trousers I am simply filled with awe and admiration at their balls for laughing in the face of conventional ideas of ‘sexy’ and doing their own thing.”

I’m now absolutely convinced that I need a pair! These ones from Topshop fit the bill perfectly; they’re a bargainous £22. Obviously I won’t be wearing them to pound the streets of London just yet, I’ll save their first outing until my next trip abroad. But until then I am strangely comforted by the knowledge that should I manage to accidentally dislodge an organ from inside my body in the mean time, I’ll be suitably attired to deal with the situation. Edgy with medical benefits? No wonder harem pants are all the rage.

Edith

A history lesson in trends

History has taught me so many things about fashion. Black is a constant, nautical and safari are always ‘key’ in spring summer, and hems rise and fall with the economy (this last revelation is particularly apt this autumn as austere calf-length garments that chime with the current talk of recession dominated the season’s catwalks).

One of the most annoying things I have learnt about ‘fashion’ though, only occurred to me recently. It was while I was in Faith last weekend trying to spend a £50 gift voucher. What I realised is that I am not only a terrible judge of people, but I am also an appalling judge of trends.

Let me break it down for you. Many a time I have met someone that I thought was absolutely fabulous. I spent every moment I could with them. They made me laugh, I made them laugh – I was a funnier, more intelligent, more attractive person when I was around them. However, it too quickly dawned on me that these people were actually crazy, high maintenance, exhausting and self obsessed. My infatuation quickly diminished.

On the opposite end of the scale, I have often met people who seem nice, kind, and genuine but kinda meh. They seem pleasant enough but my sheer laziness and rude nature meant I made little or no effort to develop a relationship. Embarrassingly these people have turned out to be amazing, interesting, beautiful and over time they eventually become some of my best friends (who now mock me endlessly for my initial cold and bitchy demeanour).

These examples quite accurately describe my relationship with fashion trends.

For instance, I find myself acknowledging what turns out to be the ‘winner’ of the trend bunch. It looks terribly nice and sturdy and classy I think. But I will dismiss it for reasons that are beyond fathoming right now and then proceed to back the donkey of the herd. The best example of this is skinny jeans.

When skinny jeans first arrived on the scene in 2002 I thought to myself “Oh my, aren’t they pretty? Wouldn’t they look great with this? Oh, and that! And those! They will fit right into my existing wardrobe. I must purrr-chase immediately!”.

I was grabbing my coat and purse and running out the door when an evil fashion monkey appeared from no-where and whispered into my ear “No! Wait! Hang fire! Edith – don’t spend your money on those! It will be a waste, a one-season ‘flash in the pan’ fad. Skinny jeans will never go the distance. This is not the 80s. You’ll HATE yourself next season if you buy them. Step away. Skinny jeans are DEAD to you!”

And so with sadness I did step away. And now it is 2008 and the fucking skinny jean refuses to die. Kate Moss is STILL wearing them. And of course I had to concede eventually and start wearing them because for a while they were the only style of jean that was available to buy ANYWHERE. And now I am bitter because I could have invested in a pair from the outset and been a ‘style leader’ or ‘early adopter’ at the very least. But instead I ended up as a damn sheep! Baaaaaaaaa!

Erm, aaaaanyway. So. I’m in Faith with this £50 gift voucher; I’ve tried on 8 pairs of shoes and dismissed every pair for being too big, too small, too cold, too hot, blah blah blah. Finally I settle on these:

And yes, you guessed it. That is when I had my ‘epiphany’. *Boof*

Way back in 2005 when the gladiator sandal made its first appearance on the spring catwalks, I was worryingly obsessed with having a pair. I scoured the globe (read London) trying to find some, but alas it was not to be. When they eventually dripped down to the high street in 2006 they were being described as ‘ugly’ by the meedja. Clearly this meant that they were never going to be a must-have! I should NOT invest. I bid them a fond goodbye and wished them well on their journey to fashion oblivion.

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Oh, that was me mashing my head into the keyboard by the way. Because once again I completely mis-judged a trend, and lost out on years of good fashion time as a consequence.

I am determined that this will NOT happen again.

And so I got to thinking about Autumn 2008. I thought I’d make a list of potential trends that I don’t think will capture the public imagination. That will just not take off! Nuh-huh. Then I will take this list and I will BUY EVERY DAMN THING ON IT. Here is the typed up version of the list…

Trends to ignore (errrr, I mean run out and buy into immediately):

Lace: My immediate reaction is that this is going to be sooooo huge in this one season that is can’t possibly go the distance. It’s the ‘new’ ballet pump (which as we know did NOT take off). Clearly a 100-meter sprinter rather than a marathon runner. In a few months time it will look dated.

Peek-a-boo: In winter? People will be cold! Transparent fabrics and revealing garments just won’t cut the mustard in the wind and rain. Practicality is a paramount concern to any fashionista so this is doomed to fail.

Heritage and Military: Two words. Over exposed. There is a limit to how many brass buttons I can stand the sight of. And over the knee boots – I don’t even need to make a snide comment about pantomimes for you to see why they are destined for the sale rack.

So, race you to the shops?

Edith

Cult style

Two of my very good friends are getting married this year. I am excited about this for two reasons. Firstly, the idea of wearing an Isabella Blow worthy hat. And secondly, the thought of experiencing the joyous moment of seeing people I care about declare their love and commitment to one another in front of family and friends (wow that was a long sentence). But it’s mainly the hat thing.

When my friends announced their engagement I always knew I would be donning a hat on the big day. The 21st century really doesn’t afford me with enough occasions to wear anything other than a beret on my napper you see. So the plan was to get a massive fuck off hat and sob uncontrollably at the front of the registry office. For many months I have been scouring the globe (OK London) searching for the perfect head adornment. There will certainly be none of this token John Lewis feather fascinator malarkey going on my head! (I would quite like to channel some sort of bird or animal a la Carrie Bradshaw FYI).

However, over the past few weeks I found that this need to wear a huuuuugGGGEeee hat (although still there) has become secondary to sporting a rather fabulous and awe-inspiring hairstyle. A vintage homage to Katherine Hepburn if you will. Picture a thick glossy mane coiled into a croissant shape that boggles the mind with its sheer defiance of the laws of physics! The hat while still important, would not fight for attention with the bouffant, but would compliment it by perching on top perfectly. Of course a trip to the hairdressers will be necessary, but that’s OK because it signifies that I truly am a grown up. (I remember when I was a child and attended weddings with my mother, that on the morning of such an occasion the ‘ladies’ went to the hairdressers had their hair pinned up while I busied myself smoking candy cigarettes)

And then this morning I read this. And it suddenly occurred to me where this hairstyle that I envision so vividly, that has slowly come to fruition in my mind over the past few months, had unconsciously been sparked from. The Polygamic cult in America! GAH!

Is this how it starts? First I like the hair? Then I start buying the clothes they sell on-line? And before you know it I’ve moved to Texas bought me a bible and become a fully blown member of a cult?!

Unsurprisingly, this is not how I see my life going (who wants to dress in polyester and have only one tenth of a husband?). So it has come to pass that the hat will after all be victorious over the hair (which will be left au naturelle). This however, brings up a very different problem that has nothing to do with God. Where does one find a beautiful hat that every high-street department store hasn’t done a knocked off version of? Ebay is the obvious choice, but frustrated after hours of trawling their site and being outbid at the last minute *shakes fist* has lead me to decide that I want to splash out and treat myself.

So, after spending far to many work hours on the internet clicking endlessly on links and looking at some horrendous eyesores, I finally hit gold. Rachel Trevor Morgan has an amazing selection of hats, fascinators and hairpieces that suit all ages and styles. Young, old, conservative, exhibitionist… We are all catered for! And while this is not what I envisioned wearing to my friends wedding, I am particularly fond of this black number that is reminiscent of Dior’s New Look. Because if I can’t have the hair of that era without looking like a bible-bashing cult member at least I can have the hat.

Edith