A new school year is the perfect excuse for a wardrobe update. Get the scoop on these campus-friendly trends, fresh off the runway.
Pump Up The Volume
From oversized jackets to too-big sweaters, voluminous skirts to perfectly-roomy trousers – this season is all about exaggerated volumes in all the right places. The trick to look haute and not sloppy is balance. Pair up voluminous pieces with streamlined, tailored ones – an oversized denim jacket with a bodycon mid-calf maxi dress, an oversized blazer with tailored shorts, or an oversized sweater with a skinny pant or tapered trousers.You want people to wonder if you’re wearing clothes that are three sizes too big – that’s exactly the point of the look.
Tarty Tartan
The fashion mavens have spoken– good ol’ tartan is the print of the season. If Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel designed a collection around it andPhoebe Philo of Celine featured it in sizable amounts for fall, you know it’s something worth paying attention to. The thing about tartan is that it goes with almost everything – tartan with florals, tartan with solids, tartan with stripes and heck, even tartan on tartan – the possibilities are literally endless. The classic tartan shirt is also incredibly versatile. Instead of wearing it like a shirt, try it as outerwear over a band t-shirt or over flirty, sweet dresses à la Saint Laurent. You could even tie the shirt around your waist for that classic 80s to 90s grunge look. Don’t just limit tartan to flannel shirts though, for designers have used tartan on skirts, trousers, blazers, jackets, caps and even floor-length couture dresses. If you don’t already have tartan in your wardrobe, now is probably a good time to go around hunting for this classic staple.
Blast From The Past
The latter decades of the 20th century seem to be the main source of inspiration for designers this season. The flared trousers and balloon blouses at Rachel Zoe, the wide-brimmed hats, billowy bohemian dresses and fringe at Saint Laurent and the mod-style dresses that Marc Jacobs sent down the runway for both his eponymous label and Louis Vuitton – it’s all about paying homage to the fashions of the yesteryear. Draw inspiration from the likes of Twiggy, Jane Birkin, Brigitte Bardot and John Travolta in Grease – style icons of the days gone by who still remain very relevant today. Throw on a varsity bomber jacket over a fitting t-shirt and high rise ankle grazers for a look that is reminiscent of James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause. Or go full-on dapper like Frank Sinatra with double-breasted blazers instead of regular ones, complete with pocket squares and a debonair smile. For the ladies, go graceful with mid-calf dresses that come with full skirts for a look that is very Audrey Hepburn (in almost every movie she made in her 20s), or go hippie with floppy hats and loose fitting long-sleeved maxi dresses – bell sleeves optional but preferred. Since this trend is all about digging up from fashion archives, you could save yourself some money by doing your own digging through thrift store bins or even your parents’ wardrobe – who knows what treasures you’ll find in there!