Catwalk savvy, me

So once again the spindly carb dodging lollipop ladies of the catwalk have been strutting their stuff showing us what we should be wearing this Spring/Summer 08 season.  And talk about diverse.  If the fashionistas are correct, there’s going to be some seriously vomit-inducing outfits being sported around our streets.  So trends then:

BRIGHTS: Basically, you can grab anything revoltingly eye-wateringly loud this summer and you’ll be ‘on trend, dahling’.  Sonia Rykiel went with bright orange and black polka dots, Mark Jacobs went acid yellow, and Celine went with shocking pink.

ARTY: Hand painted looking graphic prints are big.  Basically, grab a toddler (make sure you ask first if it’s not yours), arm him with a paint brush and let him loose on your favourite dress.  Then just lie and say it’s Gucci.

SEE THROUGH: Chiffon, floaty fabrics, little glimpses of flesh and soft ruffles are all de rigeur.  Fendi went with a white see-through shirt dress accessorised with an enormous pair of ‘harvest festival’ (all is safely gathered in, geddit?) pants underneath.  Mmm, sexy.  Or maybe keep this look for the boudoir so as not to frighten the horses.

DRESSES: Yep, if you want to be ‘on trend’ you can go for the grecian, pleated look, or copy the likes of Hermes and Valentino with a one-shoulder number.  Fifties strapless creations with ruching and bows were big too.  Make it brightly coloured and you’re even trendier.  Admittedly you’ll look a bit silly on the bus but hey, us girls suffer for our art.

PRINTS: The bolder the pattern, the better.  Think huge flowers, monochrome stripes and and even lavish embroidery.  Where’s that tablecloth…?

SKIRTS, SKIRTS, SKIRTS: Go bonkers: prom-style full skirts, little a-line numbers, layers, tiers, ruffles: you name it.  High waists are trendy.  Oh and shorts are really in - even cocktail shorts, imagine that!  The only cocktail shorts I’ve ever worn is when I’ve spilled my ‘Gin Sling’ down me.  Heh.

HIPPY:  Think Joss Stone before she got that revolting purple hair.  Diane von Furstenberg and Ben de Lisi both had versions of those huge, maxi dress things in mad colours, and Stella ‘don’t mention the stepmother’ McCartney had them in hippy paisley prints teamed with wedges.  That’ll be me falling over a lot, then.

And finally…

ACCESSORIES: Anything goes here, peeps: mad hats, enormous coloured sunglasses, headscarves, and tons and tons of bangles.  Oh dear.

So to sum up, then: dive into your wardrobe and fish out anything floaty, acid bright, shocking pink, electric blue, high waisted, boldly printed, short, long, embellished, ruffled, floral, sheer or hand painted.  As for me, I shall be nodding to the trend for brights with my pink wellies, and seeing as my jeans are already embellished with muddy dog paw prints, all I’ll need to do is accessorise with my bobble hat, which luckily takes in the current headwear trend, and my ski jacket, which being black and white is obviously dead on, what with fashion’s ongoing love affair with monochrome.  Pah.  Easy, this fashion stuff.

19 Responses

  1. Jennynib Says:

    Hurrah!

    I’ve been waiting for ‘Got Dressed In The Dark In Mrs. Quinns Charity Shop Chic’ to come back in!

    For the first time in my life, I may finally be ‘en vogue’!

    Can I borrow your wellies, Missus? :P

  2. englishmuminireland Says:

    J: Lol!! Mi casa es su casa. Or in this case, me wellies es su wellies. Just don’t put them on near Bertie, that flash of pink spells ‘walkies’ in his small but motivated brain x

  3. Mary Says:

    When is the ‘frump’ look coming back?
    I’ll be bang up to date then!

  4. Mary Says:

    Oh, and my (ancient) wellies are black with a red rim.

  5. englishmuminireland Says:

    Mary! Us normal people never go out of fashion!! Ooh, I’m loving the red trim too - sassy ;-) x

  6. K8 Says:

    Have they banned UGG boots yet?

    Tablecloths? I can do tablecloths. I have a lovely Bob the Builder one. That has large prints!

  7. englishmuminireland Says:

    K8! I’m not worthy! Bertie likes UGGs - he can’t manage a whole one, though. Bob sounds positively scrumptious - eat your heart out, Stella!! x

  8. june in florida Says:

    We can save a fortune, this is obviously thrift store, yard sale shopping at its finest.Also as handbags and shoes don’t have to match anymore we are home free.The designers are definitely trying to save us money in these trying times.

  9. englishmuminireland Says:

    June: Bless them, eh? Recycling’s very ‘now’ anyway, so I shall be recycling all the crap I wore last year! Heh.

  10. Moon Says:

    so, slobbing in my Slovakian Ice hockey shirt, Sweats and mu Ugg boots is not for the Paris catwalks then ???

  11. Wee Jen Says:

    So real fashion for real women with curves? It’s nice to see that the designers really have their fingers on the pulse of ‘what women want’! Back to my comfie trackie bottoms and husband’s t-shirt then :-)

  12. Englishmuminireland Says:

    Moon: TELL me you don’t really own a pair of UGGS? Actually, confession time here - I do own a pair, but I use them as slippers and they’re covered in dog slobber x

    Jen: I guess by the time it’s filtered down to the shops in my price range there’ll be bits that are wearable, in the mean time I’ll nod to prints with my Penney’s heart-patterned PJs!! x

  13. Natalie Says:

    uhhhhh what’s a catwalk, what is fashion….he he, guess I will be bucking the trend for the 30 something year in a row, oh well. Good to be back, catching up on blogs and see that congrats are in order, not the least bit surprised, enjoy!
    Nats

  14. Moon Says:

    Ugg’s .. now listen here, I have been wearing the original Uggs from 1997 in Australia, they are my slippers, and I get them sent over from Adelaide from when I lived there….. they are the best footwear INSIDE the house a person could ever wish for … not tha fashion fools that have started wearing them in the last few years ……..

  15. Jennynib Says:

    UGGs? From Australia?

    Moon, on behalf of our Aussie brethren, hang your head in shame.

    :I

  16. Moon Says:

    I first found them in Aus…. 1997 .. never even heard of them until then … wonderful things !

  17. englishmuminireland Says:

    Nats! Welcome back, we’ve missed you. Now about those yummy chocolate swirly bun things you mentioned before you left… x

    Moon: The thing that gets me is that they’re so bloody expensive. They do do incredibly nice slippers,though, I’ll grant you. Bertie loves them. Mind you, that’s probably ‘cos they smell of sheep! x

    J: Talking of Aussie, where’s Coastal Aussie these days? Haven’t seen her comments for a while. How’s the child?? x

  18. Natalie Says:

    Bun recipe on my blog, never typed out a recipe before…about them UGG’s…I think the Aussies are laughing, Ugg is ugly for short, coz that is definitely what they are, my kids LOVE them….

  19. englishmuminireland Says:

    Nats: Nice one! I’m half way through the recipe. What I don’t get is that they’re surely not meant to be outdoor shoes are they? They must get filthy. God, there I go sounding like my mother again! x

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