Westfield Group
WHAT'S NOT
Military had it's moment last winter went Marc Jacobs festooned double breasted coats and cavalry boots in buffed bronzed buttons and Hermes were sending girls down the runway in head-to-toe russett brown leather (inclusive of knee high boots and leather patrol caps). Lapels were wide and black, navy and earth tones were in full stride marching to the beat of a world at war.
Politics remain a grey zone but dressing like a stealth bomber is over and out right now. The mood now is more trans-seasonal than transgender. Boyish looks and controlled tailoring are being waved aside by a mood of frivolous feminine wiles. We're keeping the wide pant from season's past but we're scampering away from great coats and masculine styling. Focus on the details of the best of menswear: a silk cravat here, a pinstriped waistcoat there, but then imagine them in the hands of Donatella Versace. This winter the brassier the colour and the brighter the print the better.
WHAT'S HOT
New York fashion editors are calling it saturated surrealism, this strange impulse for Prada shoe heels to sprout alien life forms and frocks for both day and evening to get slashed and splashed with wild strokes of brilliant colour. The palette is shocking: shocking pink, electric blue, screaming road sign yellow and red red- look at me now dammit-lips worn either in big bold blocks or dazzling prints like Anna Sui demonstrated in her angelic Autumn/Winter 08/09 collection.
I know, it sounds all too exhausting. It takes a lot of wattage to strut a bright purple silk blouse or fierce aqua handbag sized huge. But after so many winters of subtle neutrals and severe monochromes, you'll be glad to join the rainbow people. You can do it on the cheap with a pair of super bright tights (they wear them with high heeled sandals and smart little trenches at the shows) or you can pretty much replace everything you consider basic (the pant, the pencil skirt, the smart knit, the work blazer) with a bright. The effect? Sunshine on a rainy day, and springtime in Paris any old time.
