Archive for the ‘Fashion trends’ Category

I’ll Have Mustard With That!

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

I’ll have mustard with that!

Wendy M. is head stylist and owner of Smitten With Style, a personal and corporate stylist that is helping women and men of all ages, shapes and sizes to dress their best from head to toe! With a range of services including shopping trips, Style Masterclasses, wardrobe consultations and corporate presentations, there’s sure to be a service to help you

I am obsessed with the colour mustard yellow as this season’s colour du jour. It has always been a favourite of mine as it is a gorgeous colour for autumn/winter that still has a sense of happiness and cheer about it, without screaming summer like a canary yellow.

But not all mustards are the same, so we take a look at the “right” shade of mustard using as our inspiration….mustards!

Dijon mustard

This light yellow mustard is probably the hardest shade of mustard to wear as it has an undertone of creaminess that washes most people out. Someone who is really fair and blonde, or with rich olive undertones are probably the only ones who can wear it. Most of us (who are somewhere in between) will struggle.

French mustard

This camel brown-inspired mustard is great on food, but a real no-no in apparel. It is however a great colour to use in little dollops such as in a belt, bag or shoes, or in skirts and pants which are far enough away from your face.

Hot English mustard

Now we are cooking with gas. This is a fabulous colour that will liven any winter wardrobe up. It is a much more user friendly shade of mustard, and is almost a deep deep gold in colour, so it evokes a sense of richness perfect for Autumn/Winter. It is fresh worn with white, or dramatic with black.

There’s no denying mustard can be a hard colour to wear, so if in doubt, invest in just accessories such as a bag, clutch or even shoes. You can also try a pattern with hints of mustard through (think wholegrain mustard) to take the edge of the yellow if it is too overwhelming for you. However you wear it, this colour is sure to pep up your winter wardrobe!

Trans-seasonal Flats!

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

Transeasonal Flats!

Wendy M. is head stylist and owner of Smitten With Style, a personal and corporate stylist that is helping women and men of all ages, shapes and sizes to dress their best from head to toe! With a range of services including shopping trips, Style Masterclasses, wardrobe consultations and corporate presentations, there’s sure to be a service to help you

With the cooler months closing in on our doorstep, you might be tempted to pack away the summer sandals. Not so fast, fashionista! Your summer flats still have a lot of life in them! Blessed with our warmer winters, Australia is the perfect place for transeasonal footwear.

To look uber cool though, you can’t just chuck on your sandals with your jeans and jumper and hope for the best. A super chic look is to play with layers, different proportions and textures.

Play with looks such as a long line cardi layered over cropped jeans and finished off with a lightweight scarf and gladiator sandals for a great little relaxed, casual look. Or experiment with a mini, boyfriend blazer and a flat, caged shoe for a real rock chic look.

Make textures and fabrics work for you by mixing up either a leather jacket over a denim skirt, or a leather skirt with a cotton tee, and throw on a terrific reptile print flats.

Gran a pair of brogues (all the rage this autumn/winter) and match them with some harem pants and layered singlets in staple cotton. And to look really on trend and channel the latest looks seen on the runways of NY Fashion Week, invest in some thin mid calf socks and wear them with your kitten heels. Scrunch the socks down slightly though – this isn’t school, it’s fashion.

It’s such a fun look being able to mix sandals with the heavier weights and feel of more wintry fabrics and styles and is a very Australian sense of style. AND you’ll stay super comfy (yet fashionable!) in your fabulous flats!!

Parisian Chic

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

Oh la la! Parisian Style

Wendy M. is head stylist and owner of Smitten With Style, a personal and corporate stylist that is helping women and men of all ages, shapes and sizes to dress their best from head to toe! With a range of services including shopping trips, Style Masterclasses, wardrobe consultations and corporate presentations, there’s sure to be a service to help you.

It seems you can’t go anywhere this season without seeing a strong Parisian influence on this autumn/winter’s new season fashion.

Flooded everywhere in shops from Portmans to Bardot, Sussan and even Rodney Clark, I’m seeing Chanel inspired jackets and quilted bags, pearls and stripes, navy and berets.

It’s a wonderful look but it does take a little bit of thinking to put together as you want to look a bit more ‘Chanel meets Gossip Girl’ rather than ‘Chanel meets Lady Gaga’!

So how best to wear it? The trick is not to overdo it. You don’t want to appear too “matchy matchy”, head to toe in these Parisian inspired creations, as wonderful as they are. So lay off the boucle jacket plus pearls over the navy and white striped tee – it’s all too much!

Instead, take one item of French frou frou and make it your own. Keep your other pieces decidedly modern and in keeping with your current style to really work this trend. For example, take a boucle jacket, pair it with some skinny jeans over a plain white tee, and throw on a quilted shoulder bag. Or channel a little oh la la inspiration and work the striped tee with a couple of strands of pearls – chunky pearls will best suit the relaxed look of the tee.

And for true French class, keep your outfit in the uniform black and white but amp up the style with a beret and an oversized quilted bag. Et voila – Coco Chanel lives on!

Denim Dayz

Friday, October 9th, 2009

This summer denim is back in a BIG way – staple jeans, little shorts, mini skirts, vests and yes even the jacket is back! But as with all trends, it’s back but just a little bit different. Here’s our top 5 tips on how to wear this season’s denim so that you rock it and look uber-cool.

1.       Let there be light

This season denim is a light wash. Say goodbye to your dark indigo wash denim (at least for now as next winter will continue to see dark jeans reign) and grab yourself a lighter wash jean. Whether it’s a skinny, straight, flared or bootcut that takes your fancy, make sure it’s light like these Sportsgirl jeans.

 

2.       Dazzle with embellishments

Another key trend is metal studs or buttons or any other metal embellishments on your denim. Top tips – square studded detail on back pockets feature on Sass and Bide jeans, so look for this trend as many other denim labels have followed suit. To stay super on-trend, keep your embellishments in this season’s hot metal colour of gold (or bronze).

 

3.       Jackets are back!

Dig out your old denim jacket (or better yet – get a new one!) and enjoy wearing it again! It’s back and it’s definitely cool. Throw it over your floral floaty summer dresses or rock it with a short mini or shorter than short black hot pants if you have the legs and a spray tan. In other words, work the denim jacket back into your look as a lighter option for Spring / Summer and put away your leather jacket for now. If you are going to invest in a new, updated version of the denim jacket, be sure to take note of point no 1 and ensure it’s in a much lighter wash than your old denim jacket, like this jacket from Alibi.

 

4.       Deep Distress

Take a trip down memory lane and get some distressing back into your denim. Whether it’s on shorts like these from Sass and Bide or jeans, a little distress detail will work wonders to make this 90’s trend so right again for 2009. This time around however, the distress details is smaller and more evenly distributed across your denim, versus the large holes in our knees that we sported in the 90’s.

 

5.       Denim Shirts

Light weight denim shirts will also be all over the high street shops this summer. Wear it open like a light jacket and never wear it buttoned up. If you remember the days when everyone owned a light coloured chambray shirt, don’t despair – this new take on the denim shirt is edgier, tougher and when worn with some serious accessories it will take your denim look to new heights.  

Whether you embrace one or all of this season’s new ways with denim, one thing’s for sure – there’s not going to be a way to escape this eternal favourite. Happy Styling!