After weeks of runway shows, Girlawhirl finally has the time, and enough information to begin to formulate a plan as to what she'll be wearing come September. Her fashion buzzwords from New York were: pulled together, ladylike, sculpted and pretty. And now she's expanded her Fall 08 wardrobe parameters to include some of her favorite looks from the European Collections...
After New York Fashion Week, Girlawhirl was dreaming of high-waisted pants that she felt could best be described by the word sculpted. With their slim fit through the hip and swingy legs that hung straight to the ground she was already mentally pairing them with tucked in blouses that blousoned over just a bit and close fitting jackets. But after taking in looks at Givenchy, Burberry, Jill Sander and Gucci, she can see there's going to be another important pant in her closet: the cigarette pant.
Yes, she saw a few in New York - perhaps she gravitated to them because she loves all variations of the slim bottomed proportion - but there was much for her to cheer for as she saw many versions coming down the European runways. YSL's version, slightly full in the hip, cropped and cuffed, was a favorite, as was the way Marni paired its skinny pants with boxy jackets.
With New York designers focusing firmly on the waist, it was nice to see that there was more variety in the silhouettes that European designers sent down the runways. Girlawhirl loved the less structured jackets and other toppers layered over pants and skirts at Paul Smith, Valentino, Bottega Veneta and Christian Dior. And while the looks were still form fitting at Akris, the super charged shots of head to toe orange and red, gave Girlawhirl a whole new way to think about wearing color for Fall 08.
For the most part, Girlawhirl intends to stick with the colors she saw on the New York runways, as they were part of the European designers palettes as well: purples, reds, oranges, greens, blues and perhaps the most important accent color, all variations of yellow. She did feel that in general the European runways - apart from designers like Versace and Paul Smith who always show loads of great color - were a bit more austere on the color front. This seemed to be countered by more variety in silhouette and fabrication.
As for pattern and prints, while New York was full of plaids and tweeds in color combinations that ranged from pretty - at Nanette Lepore - to optical - at Tibi - again, the colors, like the tonal pumpkin and taupe/black tweeds at Burberry Prorsum, were more muted in the European Collections. As for prints, animals seemed to take over, not just in the form of fur, but with lots of spots, and zebra-like zigzags. And even though there seemed to be fewer floral patterns in Europe, the pretty paisleys at Burberry Prorsum and Jean Paul Gaultier, colorful graphics at Versace and Roberto Cavalli and folkloric mixes at Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana were some of Girlawhirl's favorites.
As the holidays roll around, Girlawhirl will be sure to find some pieces in velvet, as both American and European designers incorporated velvets in rich greens and blues in addition to the more typical black into their collections.
For examples of Fall 08 trends in a printable collage click through the image below. Print it out as fall approaches and use it as your shopping cheat-sheet.
click here to see full image
 |
**Editor's note: set the printer for landscape and be sure to 'size to fit'.
related articles:
| Feb 13, 2008: | new york fashion week: girlawhirl's top trends. read full entry |