Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2007 (Summary)

New season has come. Let's have a quick scan on the summary of latest fashion trends in F/W 2007. The key trends are as follows:

1. Gray/Grey Market

2. Couture Details

3. Cross Culture

4. Knit Parade

5. Suitting Up

As usual, we will go through each trend in more details in later blogs.

Chiffon - Another Great Fashion Material

After the discussion on satin, we would like to turn to another major material adopted by fashion designers in the design of high class fashion ie Chiffon. Chiffon is originated from the French word for cloth which has reflected its importance in fashion history.

Chiffon is a lightweight, balanced plain-woven sheer fabric. Chiffon can be made from cotton, silk or synthetic fibers, but is usually associated with silk or nylon. Chiffon can be dyed to almost any shade desired, however if made from polyester it is difficult to dye. Chiffon is a good companion with satin as both are are light weight and give a feeling of elegant and floating by overlaying each other. Therefore it is a popular fabric used in evening wear such as gowns, blouses, ribbons, scarves and lingerie. Like other crepe fabrics, chiffon can be difficult to work with because of its light and slippery textures. Due to this delicate nature, chiffon must be hand washed very gently.
Most chiffon nowadays is made from polyester (for stain resistance). Silk chiffon is regarded as the premium type of chiffon. It is dry cleanable and does not suffer from the same level of degradation and tearing as polyester chiffon.

Satin - A Great Fashion Material

For a long time, satin has been one of the major materials for high class fashion including couture fashion, party dressing and gowns. However, do you know exactly what satin is? Some people even mix satin with silk. According to Wikipedia, satin is defined as follows :

"Satin is a cloth that typically has a glossy surface and is dull black in colour. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibers such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is termed a "satin"."

The excellent features of satin such as light weight, shiny and soft surface has made it a popular material for fashion designers. Some satin manufacturers also add Lycra or Elastane inside the fabric content to increase the stretching ability of fabric and makes the clothes more wearable and fit to different body sizes. In general, fashion designers are keen to mix and match satin with other material such as chiffon, lace and embroidered silk to generate elegant effects.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (Back To Future)

"Back To Future" seems to be with a bit contradiction. How can "Future" can be "Back"? This is really a true description. The imaginary future fashion trend has been a hot topic in the 60's which was brought by the hot trend of space exploration. At the time, Appollo space plan of the US was starting to explore the moon and the former USSR also achieved great results in space exploration. People during the time also got crazy about the space. Fashion being a reflection of social culture also carried elements of space. Shiny materials in silvery, ironic or other metallic tones are the elements to show a feeling of cold and mysterious space. The styles are tunic skirts, mini skirts and short pants in sharp and clear cutting designs which shows a lively looks. This year "Back To Future" is a key topic of Spring and Summer fashion trend. The leading brands with such designs are Fendi, Channel., Miu Miu and Burberry Prorsum etc. So, don't hesitate to dress in this trend and get a feeling of travelling in a time tunnel to 60's space age!

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (Exaggerated 80's)

I always believe fashion is a reflection of the culture at the time being. For example, 60's is an age of the universe and the styles of fashion at that time is full of concepts of the universe. When you look at the 80's, what kind of things can you remember? 80's is a time of exaggerations. Oversize, batwing sleeve, bubble skirt, shiny metallic and clothes with sequins and exaggerated vivid colors are features of women's fashion in those days. Women at that time wants to show off with exaggerated concepts after the ethnic 70's. This year, this trend is back again for Spring and Summer. Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana and Yes Saint Laurent etc led this trend by presenting an exaggerated fashion design in their latest collections.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (White Again)

White again! Just like black is a classic color for Fall and Winter, white is also a classic color for Spring and Summer. In general, black gives an impression of mysteriousness and depth. White gives us a pure and light outlooks. However, unlike black, white is a more challenging color for women as clothing in white can easily show up the "imperfect" parts of the body. Maybe just because of the challenging factors, fashion designers always like to take white as an essential color in their collections for Spring and Summer. This year, famous brands like Versace, Prada, Dior and Sonia Rykiel etc all launch their collections of clothing in white. The most popular materials used are chiffon, satin, silk and lace which gives the best out of white. In addition to the color, fashion designers also add some sexy elements into their designs such as low cut, see through etc to give a more attractive outlook. Therefore, pure white plus a little bit sexy can be a powerful tool for outstanding yourself in this Spring and Summer.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (Summary)

Long time no blog. It's time for us to start our new season. First of all, I would like to take a look at the summary of the lastest fashion trends of Spring and Summer 2007. The major trends are listed as below :

1. White again
2. Exaggerated 80's
3. Back to Future
4. Get Sporty
5. Time Travel

In the coming blogs, I will discuss each trend in more details. Don't miss it!!!

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Couture)

For quite a long time in fashion industry, couture and ready-to-wear are two different sectors of business. Ready-to-wear goes for the general customers with a design to be more daily use and the price is also lying within the medium range such that the products can be sold at a large quantity. Therefore, the design of ready-to-wear would not be too exaggerated and more general fabrics will be adopted in the manufacturing. Couture goes for the higher end of the fashion industry with the use of high grade fabric and the design should be more stressed on the curves and shapes of customers to give an elegant effect. Gown design elements such as low cut, puffy sleeves, ruffles and laces, see-through fabric and other high grade fabrics are usually the elements of couture. However, the two sectors get much closer in design with ready-to-wear goes closer towards the couture end this year. This could be a good news to the office ladies as they can be of greater chances to try on the clothes more similiar to those dressed by celebrities to participate in some important functions. Famous brands which go for this direction include Balenciaga, Fendi, Yves Saint Laurent, Miu Miu and Chanel.

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Conservative)

For quite a while, sexy has been one of the most popular words used by fashion designers. Even in the fiercely blowing cold winds in winter, you can still see pop stars dressed in the sexy fashions designed by famous fashion designers to attract the attention of media. Off shoulder, low-cut etc are all the keywords representing sexy and above all, they are just synonyms of exposing yourself as much as possible. However, for this year, sexy dressing is out and conservative fashion like those have been popular in the 50's is back again. Fashion trend is always shifting from one extreme to the other and now it is conservative back again. Anyway, this is actually a good news for most of the ladies. Why? You don't have to expose yourself in the cold winds any more and you don't have to be in great body shape in order to show sexy. All you have to do is to follow the lastest fashion trend this year to cover yourself as much as possible. Above the sweater, you may dress in a small jacket to give a sense of layer or dress in clothes with different gray and black layers. This should be fantastic. Brands with fashion collections go in this direction includes Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Emilio Pucci, Atsuro Tayama etc. Therefore, being conservative is also a way of following the latest fashion trend.

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Cape and Poncho)

Cape and poncho are always one of the hot categories in ladies's outerwear collections for fall and winter time as they are suitable for ladies regardless of their body shapes and both offer a flexible way of dressing. You should maintain certain stocks in your wardrobe such that you would not be left alone when fashion designers turn to them once again. Fashion trends always repeat themselves after certain number of years with a bit new ideas in presentation but the main theme will not be too much different. The modern design of cape and poncho were introduced to the modern ladies fashion in around 50's of last century. Around those years, fashion designers from Paris tried the new short cape design which offered a more flexible and free dressing look. Such designs were suprisingly popular that more designs have been evolved from the original idea. Nowadays, short capes were offered in various material such as fur, faux fur, acrylic etc in different colours and patterns. As an alternative design to cape, poncho offers even more varieties such as turtleneck, buttoned or sweater types and many of the designs give different ways of dressing styles for different occassions. Just use your imagination for more and better looks with your ponchos!

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Go Checkers)

Checkers have been a classic pattern in fashion design. The best to present and being recognized is Burberry. It becomes so popular that it also launched another line - the Blue Label in Japan with a main tone of dark blue and black checkers. Many Japanese girls have gone crazy with this brand design. Nowadays, the checkers design in fashion has grown to a large varieties such as small or big checkers, checkers in horizonal or tilted arrangements and checkers in various color tones. In general, checkers give an impression of formal and classic. This year, the checkers have been back from various brands such as Balenciaga, Sportmax, Dsquared2 and Bottega Veneta etc. However, the checkers do not go small but bigger ones just like the classic tartan. To be more clear, the brown color tartan will be the most up to trend design in this A/W no matter it is used in skirts, dresses or jackets. But please remember, fashion trend is just a trend and you need to bear in mind your own body shapes. Large checkers dressing will be more presentable in larger size bodies. Good Luck!

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Ladies and Gentlemen)

One of the trends for this Autumn and Winter 2006 is Ladies and Gentlemen which means you can dress in a more "man" outlook even though you are a lady. Those typical man's looks are shirts and trousers combinations, "Tuxedo" dressing, tough women dressing in the 80's or milliary look. Please remember this trend is rather different from last year's trend of boy's look. Last year the trend is rather boyish with some boy's typical dressing of boy's jacket, boy's school uniform etc. However, in this year, the trend is built around ladies and gentlemen and the look should be more mature and man. Anyway, this does not mean that you can simply dress in your husband or father's suit. More ladies elements should be added to give a softer and female impression. A ladies hair style, ladies boot or ladies shawl wrapping around can be an excellant matching with the "Ladies and Gentlemen" topics of this year. Such dressing is also very suitable for office ladies which shows the soft and hard sides of modern female executives.

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Summary)

For this autumn and winter, the fashion trends may somehow be quite familiar to you as some are just continuation of the trends in the previous years. Anyway, old ideas can be executed innovatively to give a fresh new look. We will list down the main points below and further explain in the coming blogs.

Autumn and Winter 2006 Fashion Trends :

1. Ladies and Gentlemen : Men's look on ladies bodies
2. Go Checkers : Checkers are back especially those from Scotish skirt
3. Gothic Punk : Gothic and Punk look will be back
4. Couture : Ready-to-wear goes for couture
5. Cape and Poncho : The trend is back from 2004
6. Fur : All time favourite for Winter but you may choose faux fur if you love animals.
7. Conservative : Cover youself as much as you could.

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Color)

Even though summer has not passed yet this year, the fashion industry has prepared the latest fashion collections for the coming autumn and winter. For this year, some trends are continuities of trends from spring and summer and some are the re-invention of all time favorites. Let's have a look at the fashion color trends first. The four favorite colors from fashion designers this year are black, grey, gold and the suprising red.

Black
Black color is an all time favorite from fashion designers for A/W fashion collections. For this year, it is also the central color accompanied by white, gold and brick red etc to create more tones. High class materials such as crocodile leather are used for presenting the classic and elegant black color.

Grey
This grey trend is not a dull grey or simple grey but a mix and match of different greys. Different scale of greys should be presented in different layers and by different materials.

Gold
A continunity of the 80's bling bling trend of this spring and summber. The gold color designs are led by Gucci by utilizing high class fabric materials such as silk, fur and leather. All kinds of gold are welcome.

Red
A surprising color for this A/W as the red should be a color for spring and summer. However, adding the red has added more eye catch elements for this A/W.

Fashion Power from the Southern Hemisphere - Sass & Bide

Sass & Bide is another famous fashion brand from Australia. The label was founded by Sarah-Jane Clarke (nickname "sass") and Heidi Middleton (nickname "bide") who also use their nicknames to form the brand name. Sass & Bide began life as a stall on London's Portobello Road with customized clothes and then rose to new fashion heights with their famous East Village Jean - a sexy hipster with a daring 2 inch zip. In 2000, the brand has been recognized by Harvey Nichols, the famous department store in London and was allowed to be sold within their counter. Now, their fashion collection has expanded from the innovative new shapes and detailing in denim to an extensive and luxurious fashion range which showcases twice a year at New York Fashion Week. With their design characteristics of quirky and sexy, the brand has attracted celebrity fans such as Gisele Bundchen, Mischa Barton, Kate Moss and Sarah Jessica Parker etc. In particular, Sarah Jessica Parker has chose to dress in Sass & Bide to feature in the popular drama "Sex and the City"!

Fashion Power from the Souther Hemisphere - Kit Willow

WILLOW is an international fashion brand from Australia. The founder and fashion designer is Kit Willow. Unlike KAREN WALKER which is a bit cutie boylish, WILLOW goes for a more feminine style. Kit Willow likes to strengthen the romantic shapes of women with tight and pleated design of fashion. She makes use of natural fibers and chiffon to create a lightening effect which accompanied with sequins and beads to give a feminine outlook. The brand was first introduced in 2003 at Mercedes Fashion Week Sydney with its contemporary lingerie with delicately jewelled straps and fashion and right now its design has expanded to a wide range of ladies fashion. However, her design is still full of lingerie elements to show up the sexy body shapes of ladies. In the past few years, this Australian fashion brand has swept across the world and is now available in many famous boutiques in major cities such as New York, London and Dubai etc. Many celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Cameron Diaz, Kate Bosworth and Cate Blanchett have selected WILLOW as one of their favorite fashion collections.

Fashion Power from the Southern Hemisphere - Karen Walker

Traditionally, when people talking about fashion, they will mention the fashion from Europe especially from Paris which leads the fashion trend of the world. Later, fashion from US especially New York also generates significant influence in the fashion industry. Nowadays, fashion power from the Southern Hemisphere also shines along the fashion path. In the coming blogs, we will talk about some of the execellent fashion collections from the Southern Hemisphere :

KAREN WALKER (New Zealand)

A fashion brand named by its founder and fashion designer, Karen Walker who was born in New Zealand. Karen's collections are high casual with one foot in tailoring and the other in street wear. Mix and match of different extremes and pushing them together such as masculine and feminine, tailored and the street, luxury and casual are the major characteristics of Karen Walker's collection. Her fashion was described by UK's newspaper as "The kind of look that provided a means of appearing cool but not trying-too hard, cute but not saccharine, alternative but not self consciously so. The fact that these clothes appear to be so totally not 'fashion' is what makes them so now". Right now, this label has been carried in over 100 stores all over the world. Celebritites such as Jennifer Lopez, Kate Hudson, Claudia Schiffer and Madonna all favour her work.

The Da Vinci Code of Fashion

Lately the movie "The Da Vinci Code" has brought about great disccussions in many religious issues. If there are the Da Vinci Code of Fashion, what would they be?
The most famous painting of Da Vinci is Mona Lisa. This figure of a woman, dressed in the Florentine fashion of her day and seated in a visionary, mountainous landscape, is a remarkable instance of Leonardo's sfumato technique of soft, heavily shaded modeling. The Mona Lisa's enigmatic expression, which seems both alluring and aloof, has given the portrait universal fame. The dressing of Mona Lisa is the typical fashion of their time which is conservative and bulky. They were mostly made with wool, silk and velvet with natural dyes. Darker colors were naturally adopted. At the time of drawing, Europe is undergoing the Renaissance ages, a term adopted from the French equivalent of the Italian word rinascita, meaning literally "rebirth," describes the radical and comprehensive changes that took place in European culture during the 15th and 16th centuries, bringing about the demise of the Middle Ages and embodying for the first time the values of the modern world. Maybe from the smile of Mona Lisa, we can decode the Da Vinci Code of Fashion which means a radical change of fashion design will be coming in the later time and women will have a greater freedom in expressing themselve in fashion styles and own personalities.

The Magic of Accessories

Whenever you think that the clothes you wear are not attractive enough or you would like to add more features or attractiveness to yourself, why don't you think of adding some accessories to your dressing. The beautiful style can just be added with simple accessories such as necklaces, bracelets, ear rings or hair accessories. In the past, ladies may tend to dress such accessories in a more formal party and they are usually composed of precious metals and stones such as gold, platinum and diamonds. However, the concepts have totally changed nowadays. When you attend the latest fashion shows in the world, fashion designers tend to add more simple accessories to the models' dressing in order to make their designs more presentable. The most popular ones are necklaces or bracelets with ethnic characteristics. This may be a continuity of the ethnic fashion trend which became popular in the past fall/winter fashion. The elements of the necklaces are normally composed of irregular beads or square in vivid colors and there may not be only one necklace but multiple quantities in different length and compositions to present the ethnic concepts. Therefore, whenever you feel boring with your own fashion, add more accessories which may generate a spark in your life.

Sizing of Low Rise Ladies Jeans

The popularity of low rise ladies jeans gives a good alternative to ladies who love jeans but want to be more sexy in presenting her good body shape and slim waist. However, it could be a headache to online fashion sellers. As different jeans manufacturers give their own sizing chart for low rise jeans based on the actural design of jeans, there are no common standards in the sizing of low rise jeans. Fashion designers tend to design their own low rise jeans at different waist level. Some may want them to be dressed near the bottom or some would like to be at higher waist levels. To correctly present the size of low rise jeans become a highly difficult task for online jeans sellers. In order to sell low rise jeans which we thought to be an excellent match with our selling tops, we have developed a detailed measurement chart with illustrations to present the actual measurements of the jeans on sale. Customers are suggested to compare the actual measurements presented with their own best fit low rise jeans such that they can be more clear in the idea whether the jeans will fit them or not. However, the measurements generally may vary a bit and the method still needs some common senses of the buyer to approximate the fitness. Anyway, this method has proved to be effective and we have successfully sold some beautiful low rise jeans to some ladies and they love their jeans a lot! Fantastic!