Posts Tagged: trends

[Guest post] Working mom trend watch: How to wear the tuxedo

By IN Fashion, How-To Tuesdays, Style

 

Ladies, I have some news. The skirt is over.

You may have already long been aware of this; it’s not particularly new information for trend-watching mamas.

The pencil, skater, mini, midi and maxi have all long been celebrated and paid due attention, but really, we’ve been looking elsewhere for a while now; the move towards the masculine aesthetic has been ongoing for a few seasons and our heads have been duly turned.

First, there was the co-ord, then came the pajama suit and finally, the cocktail pant replaced our usual festive garb of party dresses. It’s a new dawn, a new day, etc and truth be told, we’re feeling pretty good about it, actually.

So what is replacing our girlish regalia in this brave new world? Why, the tuxedo, of course.

When it came to the SS13 catwalks, the tuxedo reigned supreme.

Power dressing was embodied with oversized jackets with enlarged shoulders that were seen across collections, with Stella McCartney and Balmain both guilty. Calvin Klein took a more tailored approach, with waists nipped or belted and conical bras showing through underneath; while at Celine the tuxedo jacket became a dress.

So what does this mean for your closets? Only good things, I assure you.

Now, I know that the prospect of running out and investing in a new wardrobe every time a key trend is hit upon and fashion once again swings its fickle head in a new direction, casting its back on those must-have looks of yester-season is unrealistic and not even slightly feasible.

But this is where the tux comes into its own; a long standing classic, nothing is quite so effortlessly chic — consider it an investment that will suit for years to come, whether you wear it as work attire or trot it out as an alternative to your LBD for an event.

And most handily of all, it’s flexible.

Unlike other fleeting trends du jour that depend on you being a coltish youth, the tuxedo is an easily adaptable option that can be styled to work with any age, shape or style.

Team a fitted blazer with palazzo pants; go for the slouchy masculine feel with a statement jacket and tapered trousers; keep the tailoring sharp with a cinched waist and a cigarette pant: ladies, the options are veritably endless.

So it is, long live the tuxedo! May it become your wardrobe staple of 2013 and years to come. It won’t let you down.

This is a guest post by Amy Lavelle, a journalist from UK fashion comparison site Style in View. She’s contributed to a number of publications including Spindle magazine - follow her on Twitter for more fashion insights.

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Try This Thursday: Incorporate the maroon color trend into your wardrobe

By IN Try This Thursdays

Try This Thursdays: A weekly series bringing you something new to try in your working mom style life, like an item to wear or buy, a specific outfit combination to discover in your wardrobe, or even a thing to do.Every fall, one or more colors emerges as a trend, showing up in seemingly half the things that come down the runway.

This year, maroon is a big star and luckily it’s an easy color to add to any fall wardrobe.

The Today Show pinned this image to Pinterest that shows some great ideas for incorporating maroon into fall outfits, mostly through accessories.

And I built a working mom outfit this month around my new maroon skinny skinny cords from Madewell which you could easily duplicate with any trousers in the same color.

Try this today: Do you already own some maroon garments? Now’s the time to show them off. If not, it’s easy to incorporate this color with an accessory or two, as the Today Show’s Pinterest pin demonstrates.

[Looking to break out of your style rut? Tired of wearing the same things over and over? Wish shopping could be fun again? You can get your style mojo back. My new self-guided course will show you how. Sign up for my email newsletter to be the first to hear when it launches and get special access to the sneak preview sale.]

Reader question: Do I have to pay attention to fashion trends?

By IN Fashion, How-To Tuesdays

How to incorporate trends into your wardrobe

A reader writes to ask, “I always see articles about the latest trends for this season or that season but they never seem like they apply to me. At the same time, I’m working on improving my personal style. Do I have to pay attention to fashion trends?

Ah, the perennial debate of trends vs. style. It can be bewildering, which is probably why it gets written about so frequently. (Look, here are two I posts I wrote, one serious, and one a little less so.)

While I advocate developing your own sense of style independent of following fashion’s whims, there’s a reason I write about the major Spring and Fall trends every year: they guide the shape and color of the clothes and accessories that are available in the stores.

So unless you plan to never shop again (the horror!), to be an informed shopper it helps to be aware of these trends so you can make the best choices as you build your wardrobe.

Being aware of trends, however, is not necessarily the same thing as following them. (We all know the stereotype of the overly devoted “slave to fashion,” right?)

Once you know what the seasonal trends are, you can then incorporate them into your wardrobe by picking and choosing whichever aspects  fit best with your style, your taste and your body: it could be a color, a pattern or an entire garment’s shape.

Ultimately, it’s up to you. If, after years of wide legs, denim swings toward the pencil-legged and skinny in silhouette, but you would never feel comfortable wearing such form-fitting pants, then by all means keep wearing your bootleg jeans.

It’s the difference between being ignorant of trends and deliberately choosing not to wear them.

  • Do you pay attention to fashion trends each season? (Why or why not?)
  • How do you incorporate trends into your own style?

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Must-wear trends for Fall 2012 you can buy now

By IN Advice

Must-Wear Fall Trends 2012

I always hate to say goodbye to summer, even one as hot as this one has been. But one consolation this time of year is getting to shop for new fall trends to incorporate into my wardrobe.

How-To Tuesdays: Style advice and answers for working momsOf the many trends that hit the runways for Fall 2012, these are the ones that are must-wears:

  • Patterns. From polka dots to florals, tribal to embroidery, there were lots of patterns on the runway. The good news is, that means you can pick the kind you like best. Not a floral fan? Try lace or polka dots. Not a fan of patterns at all? Read on.
  • Ladylike pieces. Some of the outfits from designers like Oscar de la Renta and Marc Jacobs looked like they were taken straight from the closets of the grandest of Fifth Avenue dames: shawls, longer hemlines, high collars, serious tweeds. After a skin-baring summer, it can be refreshing to cover up in style. Just be careful not to combine too many of these together lest you veer from demure to dowdy.
  • White. Black is always the go-to color for wardrobe versatility, but this season white gets its turn as a go-with-everything shade. The super trendy will be in white from head to toe (and their dry cleaners are currently rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation), but the rest of us can get in on the trend with far less. Did you wear white linen this summer? Hang onto it and take it into fall. Or pair a white shirt with a white cardigan or jacket.
  • Outdoorsy menswear. Don’t like the ladylike trend? Go the other way with plaids, thick cable-knit sweaters, shearling jackets and tweed. Think a weekend at the cabin. (Maybe don’t wear these in combination, though; you want to look fashionable, not Elmer Fudd.)
  • Black leather. Speaking of opposites, white doesn’t get to outshine black completely. Several designers, from Michael Kors to DKNY and Calvin Klein, showed outfits that either emphasized or were made completely of black leather. The trend here is more Matrix than motorcycle gang. And if you’re opposed to wearing animal skins, there should be plenty of faux (and vastly more wallet-friendly) options available.

Chances are, you have pieces in your wardrobe already that fit many of these trends, so start your shopping in your own closet.

If you want to add anything new, think about which trends will work best with what you already own. That way your Fall 2012 piece will last you through Fall 2013 and beyond.

What to buy


 

[Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links.]

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Friend Friday: Summer fashion trends you can wear now

By IN Fashion Beauty Friend Fridays

Summer 2012 trends

For today’s Fashion Beauty Friend Friday, we’re talking about summer fashion trends for 2012 and what we’re loving for the upcoming season.

Of the many fashion trends for Spring 2012–from tribal prints and florals to neons and ‘20s influences–there are a few that translate particularly well into wearable trends for summer.

Here are my favorite summer fashion trends you can wear right now.

Shorts.

They’re a summer perennial, of course. The biggest trends in shorts for Summer 2012? Tailored (see Fashionrising’s run-down) and shorty short (see: Gap, Net-a-Porter, Madewell).

I’ve always had a drawerful of bermuda-length, or “walking” shorts, so I’m glad to see those are considered trendy this summer. We don’t all have legs that need to be mostly bare, do we? Plus you can wear them as short pants if it’s appropriate at your workplace and mix them into your summer working mom outfits.

Truly short shorts, on the other hand, are for the more daring. I confess I waver on this point. In the spirit of celebrating my assets, I do like my legs. Shorts that hit just below the widest part of my thigh are perfectly flattering. Yet somehow it feels odd to be so uncovered when I’m north of 40.

Whatever the length, a big part of the trend for shorts this summer is color. Which leads me to the next trend …

Neon and brights.

Color, color, color. It is probably the biggest trend of them all this spring/summer, from Madewell to J. Crew to the Gap (and any other brand you can think of). Take it one step further and you have color-blocking.

Neon as accessories continues to be big, too: think flirty little sundresses enlivened with a skinny neon belt.

Summer whites.

Like shorts, white for summer is a perennial that’s back in a big way this year, especially in the form of denim. Want to be completely of-the-moment? Short, white denim shorts.

Of course, white pants and shorts and skirts aren’t always practical when you’re a mom, unless you want to carry a bleach pen in your back pocket. But that doesn’t mean you have to rule out the trend completely.

There’s nothing fresher than a white cotton top, and mine have survived the toddler years (mostly) unscathed so I promise that it’s possible.

Still skeptical? What about a white straw hat or canvas kicks? It’ll look especially fresh with those bright shorts and tees of yours, sassy mom.

[This post is part of Modly Chic’s Fashion Beauty Friend Fridays.]

Your turn

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Blame Missoni: Trends, fads and the “in” crowd

By IN Fashion Beauty Friend Fridays

Missoni for Target: When trends met fad

For today’s Fashion Beauty Friend Friday, we’re talking about fads, trends and being part of the “in” crowd, inspired by the wild popularity of the Missoni x Target line.

1. Do you ever see a fad hit the stores and immediately dislike it? Has that fad ever began to grow on you?

On a regular basis! I definitely have a certain aesthetic, so I tend to react less favorably to anything that deviates wildly from that.

Having said that, I have changed my mind over time, especially as I see how others have incorporated the pieces in ways that suit my taste. I didn’t initially love skinny jeans and bright colors, but both are now staple parts of my wardrobe.

2. Has the popularity of a certain piece of clothing or line ever convinced you to try on something (or purchase something) you dislike?

Yes. Not because it’s popular per se, but when I see so many others wear or rave about a particular item, I wonder whether all of these people know something I don’t!

At that point I feel like I should at least try the item and see if my opinion changes. Sometimes it does, and sometimes my initial opinion is confirmed. But if I still dislike it, I don’t buy it.

Right now I just can’t get on board with the super high platform pumps that seemingly grow taller by the passing week.

3. Have you ever changed your mind about a trend after seeing it around for a while?

See above :)

4. Do you feel a certain pressure to have specific items in your closet because ‘everyone’ else does?

Not so much to own them, but to consider them.

When it suddenly seemed like every woman here in DC was wearing a pair of Hunter boots on rainy days, I’ll admit I felt a twinge of envy. But then I stopped to think about what style of rainboot or shoe is most practical for what I wear and a knee-high boot just wasn’t it. I wound up buying a pair of low-calf Bogs instead. (And now I’m on the hunt for shoe style waterproof footwear; I’ve tried a couple of different Crocs–NOT the clogs–but neither fit.)

5. Be honest, what do you think of the Missoni line? Did you grab any items? Is it worth the eBay prices?

From what little I could see of it, it was relatively well made and did an excellent job of translating the label’s aesthetic to the Target price point and market. I think this is a large part of why it was so overwhelmingly successful–that and its instant recognizability.

However, I don’t think paying double the cost on eBay makes any sense; if you keep an eye on the sample sale sites you might be able to find some “real” Missoni for that same price point. In fact, I just picked up a Missoni scarf on Gilt for $89. Why would I pay that amount for one of the ones from Target?

As for the Target line, I was only able to buy some things in children’s sizes (mittens and socks), so at least my daughter can be a bit cheap chic ;)

In general, as I mentioned in the Friend Friday posts on Spring and Fall trends, the key to trends and fads is looking for items that work well on you and with what you already own. A fad for the sake of a fad will soon lose its appeal.

Your Turn

  • What trends do you love?
  • Which ones do you regret?
[This post is part of Modly Chic’s Fashion Beauty Friend Fridays.]

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