Spring is here. Almost. Kind of. Just around the corner. This long winter has one positive side-effect: an added period of time to get our spring wardrobe together, add some new pieces, and make a fashion-forward entry in May! Those of us not blessed with vast sums of money or recently having liquidated some of those gold bars Granny left us may feel they have to make do without some of the signature pieces for this spring, but that’s not entirely true. Trickle-down theory might not make for feasible economic policy, but when it comes to la mode, trickle-down is a frugal fashionista’s best friend!
Department store designers take nods from prêt-a-porter designers who crib liberally from haute couture designers who, in turn, design clothing based on esoteric scrolls hidden in mountainside caves delivered to them by magical black swans, just as the designers begin work on their next collection.
In the same mode as that less-than-true statement above, the spring 2008 women’s collections hinted at the magic world of dreams, fantasy, and languid time spent in an over-grown French garden.
Floral motifs were ever-present, albeit in a bold, illustrative fashion – huge swaths of brightly colored fabric, with bold black lines. Diane von Furstenberg, Balenciaga, and most major designers hit on this most topical of themes, and if you’re having trouble finding appropriate outfits in this style, it doesn’t hurt to crib from other locations. Online vintage stores and other comparison shopping sites can be a savvy lady’s best friend.
‘What for the scruffy hippy look,’ I often find myself asking every second year, as wave after wave of stern figures in roughly-hewn dresses sashay their way down the catwalk and into the dim blue glow of my computer screen. This year, though, I indulged myself in the spirit of the moment, let loose, shirked my hang-ups, and let it all flow.
My prime inspiration for this was Stella McCartney’s pieces – her father being a Beatle (and all), she had keen insight into the actual cultural patterns and ideas that informed the pioneers of the hippy movement – namely, the original period of middle-class aspirational spending, youth folly and the emergence of new forms of popular music – the Jazz Age. Her lyricism and intelligence were revealed primarily in pantsuits, art-nouveau fabric, and rumpled class.
The hippy look was everywhere - UK’s Top Shop even an all-white caftan for aspiring gurus, matching it with a knit over-sized beach bag in earthy colours.
Sometimes I’m not all flowers, light and patchouli, however, and while the two previous looks I discussed were the most compelling for my mindset, I just know that come spring, I’m going to be in a vicious, four-inch heel and four martini dinner kind of mood come some enchanted evening. It’s spring, though, so it won’t be black and gold, but instead high-contrast popping colours from designers like Sonia Rykiel, Naeem Khan, Derek Lam, Marchesa, and Galliano. Dsquared & the House of Dior got in on the action, too. One defining factor of the chic-, was the throwback look – these were simple, basic pieces in either muted or strict-cut design, very little flash or ornamentation that let the colour say everything. A trench in canary yellow, a burgundy evening gown, a neon green blouse, even!
Let’s all make hay out of this unexpectedly late spring. The long, cold march of winter may have taxed our resources, aggravated our sinuses, and (sadly) added inches to the waistline: let it not deaden our souls and capacity for whimsy, too.
