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Dare to wear: Double denim

denim-fashion
Make ours a double! The latest trend to hit the Spring/Summer 2010 catwalks is denim. Now I know we all wear denim anyway and every season it seems like there is a denim trend. But this Spring is different, Ralph Lauren, Stella McCartney and Derek Lam went all out with the blues. That means mixing a denim shirt with a denim A-line skirt or wearing a denim dress with denim platforms. Double trouble!

I am head over heels in love with these denim platform sandals from Lanvin. The stitch detail, peep toe and slingback style makes them perfect to wear now with tights and then on warmer spring days with bare legs and painted toe nails. I’d team them with this cute denim smock dress from New Look. The very short length and peter pan collar give a girlie edge to an outfit that shows a lot of leg! Finally, this classic western shirt at Oasis ticks all the style boxes. Pockets, turn-up cuffs and a light fabric make it a must-have for easy breezy weekend dressing.

Denim featured from top left: Denim platforms £530 Lanvin at Browns, Denim smock dress £25 New Look and Denim shirt £38 Oasis

Feeling ruffled

  • posted February 28th, 2010
  • Fashion

asos-ruffle-dress
One of the key trends for this Spring/Summer is a bevy of frills, flounces and girlie ruffles. Now I know it’s hardly Spring/Summer weather (in fact as I write this I am wearing cashmere) but fashion is all about looking forward and so this is the month to start planning your new season look.

At Paris Fashion Week in particular the models stepped out in a plethora of frothy frills, sculptured pleats and pretty ruffles that went from frou frou to elegant folds and curves. Lanvin showed beautifully constructed one-shoulder dresses with pleats and folds that had an origami-edge. Meanwhile British designer Giles Deacon did ruffles in a tongue-in-cheek Eighties manner, contrasting the flounces with metallic body armour.

For something more purse-friendly that will work for cold Spring days, this Oasis ruffle dress is perfect. The structured shoulders with shoulder-pads inserted is very Balmain, while the teal colour is dark enough to be worn with tights and boots but also fresh enough to feel new-season pretty! Get ready for a frill-ing summer!

Aqua Couture One Shoulder Ruffle Front Dress at ASOS, £90.00

Hell for leather

  • posted January 11th, 2010
  • Fashion

leather-dress
Alongside chiffon, velvet and fur, leather is one traditionally luxe fabric that is having something of a renaissance this season. The runways were awash with Amazonian models strutting around in skintight leather trousers, waistcoats and mini skirts, sometimes worn with over the knee boots for an equestrian feel. The leather dress is slightly trickier to pull off as it rests somewhere between dominatrix/male fantasy territory and Hell’s Angel’s other half.

To keep the look modern and sophisticated go for a fitted, sleek shape that does not show off too much skin. This short sleeve shift dress from Oasis is ideal as it’s slim-fitted and body-conscious enough to look fresh, but not so much that it loses that  sense of refined elegance, which leather needs to do itself justice. The curved seam stitching and subtle black sequin detail on the shoulders add a dash of glamour. Perfect for a boardroom to bar type occasions. Add red lipstick and killer heels for added va va vamp appeal.

Luxe leather dress £165 Oasis