Inspirations from NY Fashion Week
With the recent come of fall and anticipation for rosy cheeks, hot chocolate and scarves, it may be a little premature to dream of spring. Nonetheless, fashion doesn’t wait. The newest spring 2014 designs were showcased during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York this month. I’m not usually one for spring — pastels aren’t my thing and I can’t do florals — but if spring looks anything like the edgy and bold looks featured on the runways this month, I’ll be a happy spring style enthusiast.
It may be that the only reason I like these spring looks is because they’re decidedly not spring-like. Instead of soft pastel color palettes I saw a lot of solids and dark or richly-hued colors. Flowy fabrics are put together with more structured and tailored looks, accentuating figures and creating elegance. And, my favorite, more urban looks for everyday wear. Here are some of my style inspirations for this coming spring:
Urban/sporty
Perhaps my favorite looks from New York Fashion Week had to be from Adidas and DKNY. They combine perfectly urban, street style with high-end design detail and refinement. I never leave my house in yoga pants and I don’t often wear sneakers, but I love a good track jacket and form-functional athletic wear. The above looks, to me, perfectly pair sporty with upscale urban. A beautifully belted black dress with black sneakers. Denim overalls with a trench coat and pointy-heels. A canary yellow collared shirt with a leather fanny pack. Or a bright red zip jacket paired with red sneakers to match. Genius.
How will this translate for me this spring? I’ll be more adventurous in pairing items I normally think don’t go together. Namely, my sporty clothes and my going out wear.
Long skirts
I lamented in a previous post I was over dipped hems (or high-low hems). And from the fashion week runways, it looks like that look has welcomingly been replaced. In lieu of the high-low, I saw lots of long skirts. Placed high on the waist, with a sexy side slit to show some leg or simply long and elegant, these skirts make spring exciting for me. Over the years, I’ve grown tired of the mini. And as a petite woman, I often find it difficult to wear skirts that are knee length. These skirts that come just below the knee or at ankle length, I think, could be lengthening for my frame while giving me that sexy smart look I love so much. I don’t know how to pull of a crop top yet, but I love the combination of the peek of skin with a crop top together with the modesty and mystery of a long skirt, as shown in the first look above.
Whites/ivories
I’ve also written about winter whites on the runway for our most immediate fashion needs. However, it looks like whites and ivories are continuing to make their mark and are carrying over into spring. Just as white stands out amongst the gloomy, grey days of winter, I think bright whites and cream colors are a great alternative to pastels for spring. Just imagine a beautiful, crisp white ensemble contrasted with the bright green grass and blue skies of spring. The beauty of white is that it works so well as a contrast against your surroundings. Ivories or off-whites provide a little more subtlety to an otherwise bold, minimalistic look. And, like black, white can be paired well with almost any other color. Maybe white is the new black for the warmer months in the year. In which case, I’m a fan; black has long had its reign in my closet. And as someone who has altogether too much black in her wardrobe (like most D.C. women I assume) and who is careful with color, I love white as a way to brighten up my wardrobe.
Dark darks
Yes, whites seem like a staple for spring, but rich, dark hues are also taking the place of predictable spring color palettes. A dark brown leather or a deep-hued green unexpectedly work well with me when I imagine spring. Spring is a fickle time of year, and it’s often difficult to dress appropriately for the weather. These dark hues I think will make for great transition pieces between the bitterness of winter and the warm invitation of spring.
Liz Parker is a NOVA girl with a long love affair with Washington, D.C. A self-proclaimed Washingtonian, she spends her days and nights coffee shop hopping and wandering around the city. She’s fascinated with street-style fashion and has a soft spot for thrift and vintage shops.