Plaid and Simple

I know everyone is just dying for another fall fashion post (you can never have too many). Today I want to talk about plaid, since it's a new love for me. People have been wearing plaid for ages, and it changes every season. I used to own some plaid shirts back in high school, when I just wore them casually with a T underneath and some leggings. But since it's everywhere this fall, I've been seeing it almost everyday in malls, on the street, and on blogs.



The thing I love about the current plaid being shown is that it takes a predominantly masculine pattern (it's generally shown in oversized button-ups with very little shape), and has made it sultry and feminine. By tapering plaid trousers or shortening a traditional office skirt, designers and retailers are feminizing plaid. I also believe that if you take a plaid print in a sheer or silky fabric, instead of flannel or cotton, it'll become more sultry. That being said, I still love to cozy up on a cold winter day in a flannel plaid shirt and sweats.






All of the pictures on this post are from Zara (all taken from their website), since I am absolutely in love with their plaid items for this fall, and that store really sticks out to me when I think about plaid (at least recently). I particularly love these plaid suits; you would think that a plaid blazer with matching pants or skirt would be overkill (or at least make you look like an old man), but Zara definitely got it right. The tailored fit combined with the colour lends a sexy look to the outfit.

And what could be sexier and more feminine than a lingerie-inspired dress? (I also loved that they styled it with a black turtle-neck to make the look perfect for fall.) Or shorts? Or perhaps a sheer blouse with a thin cami underneath?

The shape of these trousers is what really pulls me in. Aside from the colour, which I love (an essential for any fall season), I like how these just sit so nicely over the curves and on the leg. The fact that they get a bit slimmer closer to the bottom, and that they're a bit above the ankle just makes me wish they came in a hundred different colours.

Taking It To The Streets

For a school assignment at the beginning of September I had to sit in a crowded public place for a few hours and observe the trends that a lot of people were wearing. The main trend I was the grunge/punk style of the 90s. The grunge music trend actually started in the mid 1980s, and was a mix of punk and metal, and by the 90s became a very popular style of hard rock music. Even though it's a few months later, I decided to turn this school assignment into a blog post, since I've still been seeing a significant amount of this trend on the streets since you can wear it into winter (with tights of course), and as you will read below, I believe it will be back for the spring.

The crowded place I chose to observe the trends was on the subway, and I saw a lot of the following, which are all aspects of the grunge/punk style:

• Plaid and tartan, but in the traditional red, and red and navy pattern
• A lot of denim
• Band t-shirts
• Hats and tuques
• LGD (little grunge dress); characterized by the baby doll top and waist and flared out skirt

Because fashion is very cyclical and history tends to repeat itself, this trend has actually reappeared in the recent past, in the spring of 2010, 2011, and 2012. The following are pictures of the trend from these years:

2010

College Fashion

2011

Vodka Latte Freshly Squeezed

2012

The Fashion Tag

I think the grunge/punk trend was definitely back for 2013, and this time it found it’s way right into fall wardrobes, as well as spring. It also seems (from looking at these pictures) that each year the trend gets more and more masculine. The first year it was very feminine with the floral dresses, and by 2013, it has become very baggy sweatshirts and jackets and darker colours. As long as enough people will still wear this trend, I think it will still continue for at least a few more years, before a more feminine trend begins or this one starts to become more feminine again. A trend can’t continue in the same form for too long (masculine style).

2013

Lena Penteado

Jumpstart

Over the last few weeks at school we've had guest speakers come and talk to our class about what it's like to work in the fashion industry, which obviously got me worried and anxious about my future. So, taking their advice, I've been putting myself out there more and doing things to further my "career" (I only put the word in quotations because I don't really have one yet).

After hearing plenty of people talk about their "book" or "portfolio", I realized I should probably get started on my own, since it currently is non-existent. Not just that I don't have a physical book to show people, but that I don't even really have anything to put in it. So when my aunt approached me a few weeks ago asking me to help her find something to wear to an event at the end of the month, I thought it was the perfect chance. We are going shopping later today, and I'm sure she'll let me snap a few shots of her in her outfit for my portfolio. (PS. I went out and bought a book today and I can't wait to start filling it with photos!)

Book from Michael's

I recently created a logo (below) and Facebook page for my blog, so that I can hopefully get a wider audience reach, since not a lot of my Facebook friends actually know about my blog. You can find the page by clicking the Facebook button at the top of my blog. I'm also going to an agency next week to talk to them about assisting a stylist they represent (which is actually the reason I bought the book; I need to have something to show them!).

I feel a bit better about my future at the moment, knowing that I've at least got some plans to start putting myself out there and start creating relationships. More posts to come soon! PS. Can you tell that I love purple yet?

Surprise, Surprise

I'm usually pretty on the ball with fall fashion- fur, boots, dark tones (just look at my fall fashion post)- it generally stays consistent from year to year. But this fall/winter I've seen some trends that have really surprised me, but after much consideration and a lot of exposure to them, I decided I really love.

Bright Blue

This never struck me as a fall colour. I mean, fall is all about the warm tones, wouldn't you feel cold in a bright blue in November? But after seeing it styled in store window after store window and street style after street style, I just couldn't resist.

I like to warm up the blue by adding some earth tones to the look, like this look from the Paul Smith F/W 2013 runway. Another way to make the blue look more for fall, pair it with something that couldn't be more autumn; a fur or shearling vest (this one's from Michael Kors). Also, an accessory, purse, or shoe (like these Nine West ones) in the colour is also great.

 

Floral

As much as I love spring and summer, when October and November roll around, I'm really looking forward to the hot chocolate, sitting around the fire, watching Christmas movies season. That's why when I first saw floral showing up in stores after labour day I had mixed feelings. But it's just so hard to not love this trend; if you love it in April, why not love it in October too?

Style it for fall by adding a knit cardigan, fur, or velvet pant with it (velvet is soo in this fall too).

I like this H&M dress with this heavy knit cardigan with fur trim, from Topshop. The contrasting materials lend the outfit an extra something. I also loved this floral Zara blouse with these J. Crew velvet green trousers.

Props to the visual merchandiser at Club Monaco and blogger A Keene Sense of Style for incorporating both of these trends!

Toronto Fashion Week

I’m so lucky to be living in Toronto; it’s one of my favourite cities with always so much going on, you’ll never be bored or out of ideas. I’m also lucky that Toronto is the location of World Mastercard Fashion Week, and that I was able to go see a few shows this year. My life has been crazy these past few months (which is also the reason I haven’t posted in a long while), with school, work, and my internship. So it was a nice little break to sit back and be able to watch some great fashion shows.

I wish I could’ve been fortunate to be down at the tents more than one day during fashion week, but I was only able to attend the Caitlin Power and Rudsak shows on Thursday night.

Caitlin Power

The feel I got from Caitlin Power’s S/S 2014 collection was very businesswoman-esque; tailored and geometric. However, the not-too-long skirts and deep Vs kept the collection flirty and feminine too. The colours Caitlin mostly used were black and white, but the colours she wanted to show off for spring and summer of 2014 were definitely red and chartreuse (more green as opposed to yellow, though).

These were some of my favourite looks from Caitlin. Pictures from photographer Michael Ho.

 

 

 

Rudsak

If camo was the trend for fall, Rudsak’s trend for S/S 14 was snakeskin. There were a lot of neutrals and earth tones, which is great for spring, when nature is making its debut for the year. There was also a lot of leather, and I’m really glad to see it’ll follow through from fall to spring. White is one of my favourite trends and colours for spring and summer, since I don’t get to wear too much of it in the fall and winter (I’m not one to follow the “don’t wear white after labour day” rule, but living in the great white north, my winter whites tend to get ruined and salt-stained). I was glad to see some all white outfits and lots of white bottoms (pants, shorts, skirts).

These are some of my favourite looks from the Rudsak show. Pictures also from Michael Ho.

 

 

 

 

What were your favourite shows from Toronto fashion week? Let me know in the comments!