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Softer side to women’s fashion for Spring and Summer
This Spring season is all about reaching a softer kind of style, in contrast to the harsh winter of angular shoulders and Dynasty style geometry. Looser fabrics, flowing rather that structured lines and a light touch are the characteristics to come out of both the London and Milan fashion weeks. With more than a nod to lingerie, there is plenty of leather, lace and some fairground sparkle destined to hit the shelves this Spring.
London Fashion Week evidenced a strong influence of Gallic style, with the Breton stripe making a comeback (that is, if it has ever really been away). The Breton strip, for the uninitiated (men) out there is the thin horizontal stripes beloved of onion sellers, 70’s New York Garage stars of yesteryear – and soon to be you, if you purchase on the high street any time soon.
There was plenty of sparkle gracing the catwalks, but as you may understand by the preamble, not of the big hair, ‘80’s variety. Sleeveless jackets and coats were on show to challenge the statistically probable British Spring time weather, but then again fashion shows are about aspiration not transpiration. Sticking with the theme of the improbable, the jumpsuit again makes an appearance this season; at least on the catwalks if not on the high street.
Milan Fashion Week was a show case for the head to toe white look that is going to prevail in the real world this spring and summer. The prevalent softer styling sweeping the fashion world generally was on show, enhanced with the hippy chic of tie dye.
In contrast to the all in white look, Versace got crazy with the colour on some micro minis that are again filed in the ‘challenging’ category for anyone over the age of about 30; but of course look kind of awesome on catwalk models.
Coming back to earth, the women’s dresses that will feature this Spring are going to float, rather than cut a dash, and come in a range of muted colours if not in, as suggested, pure white. There is a welcome range of outfits on offer for this Spring and Summer that will not date too quickly in the coming years, thanks to sticking to more classic styling - perhaps a nod to the austerity demanded of these financially straightened times. Check out the range of
women’s dresses for this Spring and Summer online at sites like New Look to get a visual of what I’ve just described.
How to choose Men’s Shoes
Often an afterthought in the male wardrobe, shoes can be much more than a way of protecting your feet from the elements. Indeed, that fading rock star but still noticeable fashion luminary Liam Gallagher once declared that a good pair of shoes was the starting point for putting together an entire outfit – and who are we to argue? Here is a brief guide for men when selecting shoes.
Whilst there are no concrete rules in the world of constant innovation and re-invention that is fashion, there are a few general guidelines, or rules of thumb (should that be rules of feet?) that apply when selecting shoes. Here we will focus on casual wear, as formal work and dress shoes thankfully come in a fairly standard range of styles – and I’m assuming that if you need to dress formally in your place of work, you’ll already have a few pairs of smart leather shoes in your wardrobe.
If you only have a worn out pair of trainers for your days off work, you must know that the day will eventually come when the sole gives up the ghost and you will be forced into finding a replacement. If you are somewhat phobic about shopping – perfectly natural for the male of the species – you can try a spot of window shopping thanks to the power of the Interweb; take a look at sites like New Look to get an idea of the range of men’s casual
shoeson offer this season. Note for the unreconstructed man: there are two seasons in fashion – spring/summer, and autumn/winter. Contrary to what the weather might suggest, we are now in the spring/summer season.
In terms of casual shoes, the first piece of advice is definitely second hand, but worth repeating as it also applies to shoes – don’t pick a style that is more interesting than you. Casting no judgement on your conversational skills, if you prefer to dress down, rather than dress up, resist the impulse buy of colourful hybrid sports footwear – leave it to Mr. Gallagher.
Shiny leather is basically a fashion faux pas waiting to happen if you are combining with jeans; boots or trainers are the safe option that will combine with a variety of trousers. Plimsolls are definitely the big trend for summer 2010, and you will find most shops carrying a large range of these lightweight vehicles for your feet this season. If you like to keep it rugged, stick to the boots - they are your feet, so it’s your choice.
