Author Archives: Blogger Chica

Stripes Are Big for Spring and Summer

If you really want to be in with the in crowd this summer be sure to wear anything striped.  The most fashionable striped things have the wide bars, like those old seer-sucker suits. The fabric should be in the hues that you are most likely see from people selling ice cream in old fashioned desert parlors.

 

Famed British designer Vivienne Westwood is leading the way with her Red Label collection that boasts the cutest outfit ever in wide coral pin strips and chic sleeves.  Tiny buttons and a cheeky forties collar complete the look. This is paired with a baby pink skirt that clashes slightly with the top, a pink and black purse and tan shoes.

 

Paul & Joe showed a similar striped shirt as Westwood in the same color only paired with a white skirt and a tailored silver suit jacket. Paul & Joe also showed the same style of shirt in a grey and paired with a pin polka dot jacket in silver and pink and slouchy white pants.  Another signature look of Paul and Joe were capri pants in baby blue embroidered with orange flower buds.

 

One beautiful dress by Paul & Joe is a floor to toe halter in carefully cut biased striped that would seem to be very Jackie Onassis if it were not laced in the front by Goth like threads.

 

A surprising trend that goes with this are hair accessories that look like big scrunchies. These are big striped pieces of fabric strung on elastic that are perched on top of the head.

 

Vivienne Westwood also showcased stripes on the diagonal in a sleeveless prom style. A beautiful grey, green and white fabric is cut on the bias and worn with thin fabric colored belt that matches. This is worn with long sleeveless gloves.

 

Yet another Westwood look is a candy striped shirt dress worn with white beatle boots and huge pendant earrings!

 

Designer Timo Wieland is also putting out stripes this Spring in the form of a very tight, body-hugging skirt in gray and white. This is worn with a cropped tank top.

 

Sportmax also showed stripes on the runway in the form of a head to toe pantsuit in thin grey and white stripes in a sheer light fabric.  The hem of the pantsuit grazes the floor and the very long sleeves are cut on the bias for an optical effect.

 

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Great Little Dresses for Spring

This Spring there are some wonderful little dresses coming out; some unique and some more traditional.   In the unique category is the sleeveless neoprene scuba dress by Tibi. This is a dress with no sleeves and a scoop neck that has a bathing suit type top and a flared skirt. It comes in a bright tulip pink. Topshop also makes a Scuba High Neck skater dress with a mandarin collar and in the color mandarin.

 

A more demure look that is equally sexy is Preen Line Harbour’s denim blue short dress with a wrapped bandage style top and a tailored mid-length skirt.  A bright neon strip of fabric that makes it look less casual and more cocktail-like and modern in look and cut interrupts the denim blue.

 

Instead of a little black dress Missoni makes a little green dress out of Jacquard. It has no sleeves and is a bright grass green and banded with a forest green elastic waist. White piping also give the dress waist a bit more interest.

 

Matthew Williamson has been delighting the chica crowd with his little cocktail dresses for a few years now. This season he authors a beautiful sleeveless above the knee coral shift that is decorated with scores of beautiful golden beads in the neck detail.

 

Some Spring dresses have longer sleeves. Amanda Uprichard makes an ultramarine blue dress with black detailing  that looks great worn with beatle boots or high heeled ankle boots.  The neck is a boat-neck and the sleeves are extra long and cover the hands part way.

 

Dresses with layered ruffles will also be very au courant. ICB has made a Grecian style dress with a tip flap and a bottom flap in attractive rich coral color. It is a handkerchief hem with a dip in the front and the back.

 

If you are a bit of a princess you will like the formal “pretty and pink” style mini dress by Erin Featherstone that features a tailored bodice and a poufed skirt with two huge bows on tying together a bare back The whole look is tied together with a pair of flesh colored shoes.  If baby pink is too prudish then H&M has a bright pink dress with a tulip skirt and a wrap around cut to the bosom is a nice idea.  However the height of this type of dress is the peach short half-scuba half-wrap dress with capped sleeves that is made by Halston.

 

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