I've had my eye on the A/W 11 trends for a while now. My observation of the end of year fashion started with that subtle movement of the hairy jumpers and the 50 denier tights into the once prime position of the printed maxi dresses and the neon bikinis. Although I rejoiced at the time (have to take up maxi dresses, 5'2" is not a model height and no tropical beach holiday this year to wear said bikinis), I must say that for the first time, I'm not really looking forward to Winter. This is not, owing to popular opinion, because I am what can only be described as Bambi in the presence of ice, but because I was a lot more excited about the S/S 11 trends than the A/W ones. I do like my darker colours, black just looks good on everyone to me, but it's that pesky "rust" colour which pops up this time of year that can upset me. Rust is orange. Essentially if you're not of an olive or darker complexion this colour seems to wash you out and make you look like you're trying too hard to be "on trend". This is one of the worst possible situations. I just had a quick browse of the new ASOS collection. I clicked on jumpers and hooray, ORANGE appears. A particularly awful one is an orange blocked with cobalt blue. You too can now look just like an over-coloured and over-flavoured cocktail. However, if you click on this monstrosity, you discover that they have failed to advertise that you can buy it in 2 other colours: "aubergine" and "blue". (I would also like to point out that the colour descriptions for the former one are yes, you guessed it, "rust" and "teal".) Here is a photo - I'm fairly sure that you will agree that rust, in the world of fashion is simply a marketing tool to make orange less scary to the average woman. Orange is scary. Especially when blocked with "teal":
Looking at the aubergine and blue one though I find that although the colours may be more pleasing, the actual jumper itself looks like a Year 9 Textiles student has cut up 2 different jumpers and sewn them together. Poor show ASOS. The prevalence of "rust" continues throughout the search of jumpers but I do spot that there is also a fantastic palette of blacks, greys, navys and the more majestic jewel colours (such as burgundy, petrol blue, crimson, emerald and primrose/mustard yellow) which are very much an ongoing trend. There are a whole load of trends at the moment and I want to cover a few, but in separate entries so that I actually have something to do with my excessive spare time. Therefore, I want to cover the rather beautiful, yet often daring Jewel Box Colours in this part of today's entry and how I have slotted them into my wardrobe. So, with no further ado here are my favourite Upper/Lower High Street Jewel Tone items:
1. Crimson/Ruby - I'm starting with my least favourite colour. This is only because red doesn't suit me. Apparently it should, but it just doesn't. Regardless of this however, red (the non fashionista name for 'crimson', 'ruby' or 'scarlet') can be one of the many ways to stand out this season. I think the only way you'd get me to wear red this season is with this item:
American Apparel - The Wool Cape (Valentine) - £145
Sorry for the quality - Here's a link to the AA website: http://store.americanapparel.co.uk/Rsawn301.html. Yes, it's super pricey especially since AA is not especially well known for it's quality. However, I love this item. It's perfect to add a block of ruby (or 'valentine') red into your wardrobe for a stroll round town or to a bar for an evening. Also, since you won't be wearing it all day/night you don't have to worry about standing out too much. I also know that it's a cape which I can't say is the most appealing item in the world. Give it a chance though. This one is fantastic because it isn't too cape like, it has a zip therefore it doesn't run the risk of drowning you out too much and it also seems to combine femininity with masculinity fairly well. The only downside since I have been in the rainy and windy North for the last 3 years, is that there is no hood for weather in which your umbrella would not survive. Another mention for a more formal look is this dress:
Vila - Verine Dress (Lava Rust) - £54.95
I have to say, my favourite thing about this blog today is my discovery of the fantastic variety of names for colours used by the fashion industry. It's like looking at a Dulux colour catalogue. This dress is perfect for the office, for a bit of shopping, dinner out with someone special or afternoon tea with friends. I think this one ticks a lot of boxes mostly because the structure is quite flattering to curves especially and therefore useful for a number of occasions where you can both show of your figure as well as conceal a 3 course meal. See French Connection for their Signal Red Lookbook.
2. Yellow/Mustard - like "rust", this can well be one of those colours that can wash you out. However, I'm going to cautiously suggest that any hair colour looks good with this colour except red, and by red I mean Rihanna red not ginger. I just want a moment though to show off my mustard trousers. Potentially my most daring item of clothing that I own. I am a massive fan of Moschino and I found these beauties on eBay a good 6 months ago. Everyone laughed. Everyone took the piss and now I can say HA - I have both mustard coloured, on trend, high waisted, peg leg trousers, and they're genuine Moschino. I will admit that they were a bit of a shock when I opened them and there is the question as to what on earth you wear with them (unfortunately "rust" looks good) but despite all these qualms, I may be in love. Here is a photo of them:
Sorry - iPhoto refused to save this in portrait
Onto a couple of mustard suggestions. Firstly, if you can find mustard trousers and are feeling brave, go for it. Wear a black top to contrast (you won't look as bee like as you'd think) or a rust one. More on the brown side than the orange though. I found these one on a quick search on ASOS:
ASOS - High Waist Peg Trousers in Cord (mustard) - £28 on sale
On to a couple more options from the ever questionable Topshop. I love Topshop clothes. But the shop is well up it's own arse and every couple of items I buy from there fall apart almost instantly because the stitching is so poor Nonetheless, if you're looking for high street mustard, here are some ideas from Topshop:
Topshop - Knitted Aran Collar Cardigan (mustard) - £48
Topshop (Rare) - Skater Belt Dress (mustard) - £32
French Connection - Lucky Snood (oak tree/black) - £20
So, a jumper, a dress and a snood. I actually love the snood. I saw it in store not that long ago and I am almost certainly going to buy it. Mustard is a lot of fun, and as shown with the snood and the jumper, you can have removable items as with the red/ruby so you don't feel you're overdoing it on the colour. For some high end designer inspiration, check out Fendi's A/W 11 catwalk collection. Also, I just want to add in here that gold is a nice addition as well. I've been wearing it on my nails lately, in particular No. 7's Stay Perfect Nail Colour in 'I'm Exquisite'. I just have to note that "exquisite" is a pretty perfect word. With mustard, black is the best colour to contrast with. Along with red, rust and white.
3. Berry/Amythyst and beyond - I first have to give a mention to my wonderful friend Cindy. A while back, in the middle of the summer, I find her cooking in this fabulous maxi skirt in a berry colour. She tells me it was from ASOS but unfortunately the colour she bought it in has since sold out. I guess you could call it a raspberry colour to be exact. This lighter colour ranging all the way down to a deep 'amythyst' is definitely on trend right now. I'm not going to call it purple, because this sums up to me my 11 year old self's pink and purple bedroom. Currently, I'd start with the raspberry colour and as autumn progresses into winter, I'd lean more towards the darker side. Also, darker for going out. I personally think dresses and skirts look best in this colour so here are a couple of choices:
ASOS - ASOS Petite Exclusive Mini Dress w/Cross Back Cut Out Sides (berry) - £25
Do the world a favour though and don't wear black boring heels with this dress. Try either elaborate black heels or maybe even orange/rust/yellow/mustard.
Motel - Becka Skirt (violet) - £32
Amethyst I have found is one of the harder colours to find flattering clothes in. You also run the risk with looking a bit like The Purple One in a Quality Street box if the material is too shiny. After all my searching, I honestly think my friend's maxi skirt is one of the best items I've seen in the berry/amethyst colour but sadly, it has now sold out.
4. Blue/Petrol/Cobalt Blue - blue to me appears to be one of the less worn colours in the world. Denim is always out there and seems to be the staple blue item in pretty much any British man or woman's wardrobe.
It is also an odd colour to wear as it often seems people put white with blue and you start looking a bit nautical. I'm going to admit that I only have one very blue item, besides jeans, in my wardrobe and this is a crushed velvet 3/4 sleeve, rather short vintage dress that I bought in a vintage haul on eBay. It was totally by chance and since then I have found it to be a very useful addition. However, here are some less obscure suggestions for the blue look starting with a link to Very for an on trend 60s look. I'm not sure what this dress would look like on however, I can imagine that it may well drown out a few people and others may be inclined to belt it which defeats the whole 60s look. There is also this blazer from New Look which again adds a somewhat temporary splash to an outfit (sorry for the lack of actual photos, these sites won't let me copy and paste). As suggested by the photo, this blue goes really well with cream as the main focus with the blue to pop.
And this going out look:
Vero Moda - Key Hole Drape Back Low Side Dress (shiney cobalt) - £22
and here's the back (but in black)
I actually adore this dress and at such a fantastic price why aren't you getting it right now? Also available from ASOS. I may even get this one it's so darn pretty and the cobalt colour is absolutely gorgeous.
5. Green/Emerald - this is my final yet favourite colour so apologies if I get too excited. Green is probably my favourite colour in general. It doesn't even particularly suit me but it's almost as versatile as black yet appears to be shunted into the sale rack far too often. First, let me demonstrate how beautiful green can be by directing you to Jaeger. Just take a look and tell me that their definition of green/emerald isn't simply wonderful. It's almost royally green. This is my most admired item, like New Look and Very though I can't paste but I found it on ASOS along with a £23 reduction in price:
Boutique by Jaeger - Textured Stripe Jumper (emerald green) - £115/£92
I would like to just sneak in my new green trousers though because although these may not quite be emerald, they do add the much needed green-ness to my wardrobe at at £10 from H&M how can you possibly go wrong? Apologies to everyone who has seen me recently for wearing them pretty much every single day:
H&M - Treggings - Online £7.99, although I swear they were £9.99 in store
Sadly for us mere mortals however, the truest emerald colours out this season reside in the designer end of the fashion spectrum. If you'd like to cry over some gems though check out Jil Sander - Navy, Pucci and Diane Von Furstenberg's catwalk collections. Even the best emerald coloured shoes are living with Kurt Geiger. Never mind. It seems that emerald green actually lives up to it's bejewelled price tag for the very best hues.
So here I shall come to a close on the jewel box but prepare yourselves for a closer analysis of some more A/W trends in the very near future (tomorrow). The jewel tones are, to me, a really exciting group of colours, and I hope that I've shown that they don't need to be reserved for evenings spent at swanky London bars, because, let's face it, only the minority of us do that. I think that the mustard hues are the most versatile, bringing a bit of sunshine to the darkening mornings that are closing in on us.
Here then I shall end with an iTunes shuffle (and a cheeky music recommendation to make you feel so very happy):
The recommendation:
Matt & Kim - 'Daylight'
Also, the title of my blog today refers to 'Levels' by Avicii (uh-VEE-chee according to Wikipedia) - massive love for this.
And the iTunes shuffle for optimum embarrassment:
A.R. Rahman - 'Mausam & Escape' (Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack)
Well, that was surprising. I paid for this. That's how much I like this album. And if you haven't seen the film and/or read the book, do it.
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