You might still be wearing your flip flops and sipping Pimms but it won’t be long until London Fashion Week gets all of the fashion editors excited about what’s hot for spring - and the release of the autumn collections on the high street.
Trends for Autumn 09 include the one that we’ve all been trying to avoid – or is that just me – the eighties shoulder pad revival. They pad appeared in all its dramatic glory in a lot of the catwalk collections for autumn 09, and there’s no escaping its influence.
It’s not just about the eighties though – look out for classic sixties influenced tailoring – apparently trouser suits are a hot fashion trend and the classic Audrey Hepburn dress looks set to replace the garish prom dress. The Oli fitted black stretch satin dress (£44) channels Audrey perfectly and is available up to a size 22. And this cute little corset dress (£45) is available up to a size 20. All you need is a nameless cat and a tiara..
http://www.oli.co.uk/Web/main/home.asp?N=0
Tip: When you’re shopping with Oli, use their ‘shop by size’ feature, to find clothes in a size 18, 20 and 22.
I’ve even spotted an Azzdine Alaia inspired body con skirt and corset top in Caryn Franklin’s Simply Be collection - and Evans are currently selling this season’s tulip skirts in hot pink. I love body con...not so sure it’s forgiving of those with chunkier thighs but hats off to any Just as Beautiful stylista with the guts to don the bright pink Evans tulip skirt.
Velvets and luxe fabrics will be a massive hit as the nights draw in – stuff the dreary economic climate and wrap yourself in something that feels good and looks opulent. Check out the fabulous ‘Billion Dollar Babes’ collection for City Chic at http://www.citychiconline.com/DRESSES-c11.aspx if you want to add some glamour to your wardrobe – the purple chiffon is to die for and purple is another trend to look out for in coming months.
Summer Sales...
The current gossip is that this year’s summer sales are likely to be spectacular, so get in there if you’ve booked a late holiday somewhere warm, and make sure you snap up some of the more stunning summer finds before they’ve all gone.
Autumn Previews
Simply Be previewed their autumn collection in June and it’s a cracker. I’m a real fan of Joe Brown at Simply Be, I love the slouchy jeans and cosy touchy feely jumpers, and the autumn collection is no disappointment. The boho look from the early noughties seems to have returned with a fabulous ‘Autumn Skirt’ (£40) and the Essential Skirt (£45). Both of these add a touch of gypsy chic to your wardrobe and teamed with the gorgeous beaded top (£50) they’ll see you through a rainy September in style. My advice to anyone buying from Simply Be is get in quick – most of the funkiest, on trend pieces sell out in the most popular sizes really fast.
iStylista
I thought I would try the new iStylista website, as it looked fun and – well it was rude not to. I duly logged my details and gave them my email address so that they could spam me until the end of time. When I logged in, I was a little over excited to see that the size options went up to a 28. Fantastic. The idea of the site is that you tell them a bit about you, and the site recommends lovely things that will suit your shape, size, colouring and budget. I lied and told them I could spend up to £300 a month of clothes, and I sat back to wait for all my recommended outfits.
The first item that came up was a Sass and Bide dress. Now, I wasn’t 100% sure but I didn’t think that Sass and Bide did plus sizes. Intrigued, I clicked on the cute dress and found that it was available in up to a size 12. Totally and utterly pointless, then? The inoffensive ‘lives not knives’ T-shirt which was apparently suitable for my age group was ‘one size only’ (because we’re all one size, clearly) and the jersey halter neck top was only available in a 10. At this point, I got bored of iStylista. The idea is great but if you’re a plus size, finding anything that you can actually wear is going to be a thankless task!
A much better bet if you’re plus size is the really useful know my size - http://www.knowmysize.net/
This site does a quick trawl of all the high street retailers and tells you what’s available in your size (up to a 22) and then puts them all into nice neat little categories. So In a size 22, under party wear/dresses there are quite literally pages and pages of gorgeous party frocks that all come in a size 22. I could have spent hours browsing, and spent an absolute fortune. So it’s thumbs down to iStylista, and a massive thumbs up for Know my Size...
