Spring/Summer Fashion Trends
Make the world your runway this season with these chic trends
The runways for Spring/Summer 08 were rife with mixed messages. Bold florals are big but so are masculine, man-tailored pieces. Bright graphics showed up on some catwalks, while others featured feminine floaty layers ― and you just wanted a cute new sundress!
Read on for realistic translations of the season’s most popular trends.
Bold Florals: Don’t get so excited! You cannot pull out your floor-length (now referred to as “maxi”) hippie skirts and daisy-printed baby-dolls from the ’90s. Remember that the fashion industry only makes money when you buy stuff. Even when a retro trend is revived, it’s done in a new way so your old stuff looks out of date.
This year’s florals are big, bright and painterly so look for prints that are almost abstract. While you could pick up a blouse or skirt in a flower pattern, your best bet is that summer staple, the sundress. Look for something with offbeat colour combinations – and the bigger the flowers, the better.
Graphic Brights: There’s a new black in town, and this season it’s colour! Think of 2008’s palette as neo-neon. Again, not the fluorescent tones you fancied in grade eight, but almost just as bright. If you can pull off yellow, it’s one of the most important shades of the season, but fear not, so are turquoise and hot pink and bright purple and royal blue and perky persimmon… The point is to mix some fun into your wardrobe. If you’re really daring, you can skip the black and denim all together and don a colour combo ensemble. Blue pants, orange top, pink sandals and you’re set. But remember to keep each piece a solid colour. Patterns and bright colours together will leave you looking more freak than chic.
Boy Zone: This is a trend for those who can’t give up basic black and grey. And one of the only times you might be able to recycle a piece you wore 20 years ago. Did you save your oversized “boyfriend blazers”? Believe it or not, big shoulders, like high-waisted pants before them, have finally made a comeback. Of course, like any other trend, this is within reason. Your blazer should fit well and look more space-agey and modern than something out of “Can’t Buy Me Love” (white leather tassled jackets with bold shoulders are not quite en vogue…yet). [Ed note: But you’re still fully allowed to fancy Patrick Dempsey.]
The boy trend doesn’t have to include big shoulders. You can pick up jaunty vests and shrunken blazers and pair them with tough-looking jeans and perfectly tailored trousers.
Bringing Sexy Back: This isn’t about skin-tight apparel (although that trend hit runways as well), this season’s sexy is about transparency and lingerie-inspired pieces so that you’re covered up, but your clothes are see-through and floaty. Chiffon, sheer cotton and lace are key fabrics. This doesn’t mean that anyone wants to see your unders. Wear opaque basics like tanks and skirts and top them with layers like a sheer silk blouse or find pieces with sheer insets of fabric ― think sophisticated figure skater.
Written by: Vanessa Grant
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