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(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jennifer Booth, left, and Katie Kelsey, get a 1920s-inspired look with lace dresses, vintage jewelry and headbands.

The opulence of the 1920s roars onto the silver screen with Friday’s opening of “The Great Gatsby.”

Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary classic features an A-list cast (Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire) and soundtrack (Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Florence + The Machine).

But it’s the lineup of costume collaborations that is creating “flapper fever” in the fashion world. Names such as Miuccia Prada, Tiffany & Co. and Oscar-winning costume designer Catherine Martin have the fashion world bursting with anticipation.

“People have always been enamored with the Roaring ’20s; it was such a glamorous and prosperous time in America,” says Kyong An Millar, owner of Koo De Ker boutique in Salt Lake City. “I think everyone [in the fashion world] has been eagerly awaiting this film since we heard of production.”

Millar said during 1920s, some of fashion’s most powerful players entered the stage, and prominent designers such as Chanel and Schiaparelli changed the way the world viewed and experienced style.

Jennifer Booth, local fashion blogger (www.frayed-threads.com), explains that the ’20s introduced sex appeal into fashion as women said goodbye to their restrictive clothing and corsets. The flapper girl was introduced as spunky; independent women started wearing loose drop-waist dresses to hide their curves. They hiked their hemlines above the knees and covered their legs in fishnets and patterned tights instead of traditional stockings.

Feathered headbands, bell-shaped cloche hats, layers of long pearl necklaces and bold costume jewelry were typical accessories. Women bobbed their hair, wore faces full of makeup and used the first tube lipsticks to make their lips bold and dark.

Women still love the ’20s fashion and want to be like the graceful Daisy Buchanan in “The Great Gatsby,” Millar said. “What girl wouldn’t want to wear a sparkly frock, some great heels and go dancing till dawn?”

As the film’s release date approached, Millar said she has noticed more jeweled tops, feathers, fringe and sequins appear. “It’s such a unique look that has staying power.”

Booth agreed, adding that lace dresses, pearls, statement headbands and embellished cloche hats are ’20s-inspired trends that will take off during the next few seasons. They’re easily modernized, versatile for year-round wear and flatter practically everyone without too much work, she said.

The key to wearing this retro look, said Booth, is to take one vintage aspect and update it with modern accessories and trends. Try a drop waist-dress with gladiator sandals; a feathered headband with a sexy sequin skirt and heels; or layers of pearls with a classic little black dress.

For high style and glamour, start with pearls, as they are timeless and always a classic, says Julie Peterson, store director at Tiffany & Co. Plus, they go with everything from a simple tee to an elegant evening gown.

For an inspired look, add more pearls —you can never have too many pearls — layered with silver chains and an Art Deco piece, such as an onyx pendant. Adding darker stones gives a visual pop, and a contemporary style is achieved by mixing the two contrasts.

(source)

One of my biggest fashion inspirations is Bill Cunningham, the famed fashion photographer. He not only is extremely talented at what he does, but his simple outlook on life is so refreshing and sweet. You have to love this man!

A delicate, funny and often poignant documentary portrait of bicycle-riding octogenarian Bill Cunningham, the beloved New York Times style photographer who is world famous for his weekly “On the Street” column.

William J. Cunningham (born 1929) is a fashion photographer for The New York Times, known for his candid  street photography.

Bill dropped out of Harvard University in 1948 and moved to New York, where he initially worked in advertising. Not long after, he quit his job and struck out on his own, making hats under the name “William J.” After being drafted and serving a tour in the U.S. Army, he returned to New York and got a job writing for the Chicago Tribune. During his years as a writer, he contributed significantly to fashion journalism, introducing American audiences to Azzedine Alaia and Jean-Paul Gaultier. While working at the Tribune and at Women’s Wear Daily, he began taking photographs of fashion on the streets of New York. As the result of a chance photograph of Greta Garbo, he published a group of his impromptu pictures in the Times in December 1978, which soon became a regular series. His editor, Arthur Gelb, has called these photographs “a turning point for the Times, because it was the first time the paper had run pictures of well-known people without getting their permission.”

Bill photographs people and the passing scene in the streets of Manhattan every day. Most of his pictures, he has said, are never published. Designer Oscar de la Renta has said, “More than anyone else in the city, he has the whole visual history of the last 40 or 50 years of New York. It’s the total scope of fashion in the life of New York.” Though he has made a career out of unexpected photographs of celebrities, socialites, and fashion personalities, many in those categories value his company. According to David Rockefeller, Brooke Astor asked he be invited to her 100th birthday party, the only member of the media so honored.

In 2008 he was awarded the title chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. (Bio courtesy of Wikipedia)

See Bill’s On The Street slideshow on The New York Times

See a New York Magazine slideshow of Bill’s amazing work as a milliner in the 1950s

Read a 2009 article about Bill in The New Yorker

The holiday season is upon us and with Christmas and New Year’s Eve right around the corner, it’s important to hunt down that perfect dress.

Here’s some tips on how to look your best this holiday season:

Click to shop the Analili “Coco” dress for the upcoming Holiday season.

1. Be careful not to show too much. Balancing an outfit is important, if you are showing your legs, make sure to cover up on top. With a short dress, you can also wear a black tight to cover up your legs.
2. Don’t dress like a Christmas Tree. If you’re wearing a dress with a lot of bling, tone down the accessories.
3. You can’t go wrong with holiday red. A red dress and necklace is festive and chic.
4. Try transitioning a look for office to party. By wearing a jacket, you can make pieces more conservative.
5. Sparkles are great to ring in the new year. Bling, shimmer, and open back dresses are perfect for the holiday season.
6. Embrace velvet. Velvet is appropriate for the holidays and also very rich-textured.
7. Black skinny pants and pencil skirts are great if you’re not a dress person. Both can be dressy and conservative if you don’t want to wear a dress.
8. Don’t break the bank! Buy a holiday look that you can also wear throughout the year.

Germany’s capital is a wellspring of fashion labels producing eco-friendly attire.

Clothes and shows alike have taken shape in the studio of eco-fashionista Magdalena Schaffrin.

A new approach to design is taking root in Berlin, and it has nothing to do with all the tech startups that have set up shop over the past few years. The city’s fashion scene–which ascended to the worldwide stage in 2007 with the launch of Berlin Fashion Week–is increasingly being defined by a growing cadre of eco-designers: more than 100 labels that use organically produced, ethically harvested, and recycled materials for their garments. Both avant-garde and green, the shift represents the convergence of multiple threads of German heritage and culture. It’s also one of the fastest-growing segments in the $3 trillion clothing industry.

As trends go, Berlin came by this one honestly. Designer and fashion-show organizer Magdalena Schaffrin attributes the city’s place at the epicenter of sustainable fashion to a myriad of factors: There are eight fashion schools in the area; Berliners harbor a decades-old appreciation for all things green; the city’s high rate of unemployment encourages entrepreneurship; rent is cheap. Those traits coalesced to facilitate a subindustry that Tanja Muehlhans, who works with the Berlin senate as a strategist for creative industries, thinks could account for 10% of annual fashion sales within 10 years.

“Sustainability is a megatrend in fashion,” says Peder Michael Pruzan-Jorgensen, a VP at BSR, a San Francisco-based firm that helps businesses create sustainable strategies. “There are few brands not considering it. That was not the case 10 years ago.” It certainly was not: According to the not-for-profit Textile Exchange, the global organic cotton market grew from $240 million in 2002 to $5.16 billion in 2010.

If Schaffrin and her peers stay their course, that figure will continue to rise. Schaffrin runs the Ethical Fashion Show and Green Showroom events during Berlin Fashion Week, giving exposure to sustainable labels from around the world. She says that buyers from the U.S. and Japan were considerably active during BFW in July, and expects as much enthusiasm for this January’s upcoming gathering. “It’s a fashion movement,” she explains, “not a fashion moment.”

(original post)

In addition to being one of Woody Allen’s best films, “Annie Hall” also changed women’s fashion. When Diane Keaton donned a casual, menswear-inspired look, stylistas of ’77 shouted, “chic!”

“Flashdance” may not be a masterpiece, but this fan favorite made Jennifer Beals’ leg warmers, leotards and oversized sweatshirts become a definitive look of the ’80s.

As Eliza Dolittle in “My Fair Lady,” Audrey Hepburn’s costumes were amazing — they certainly don’t make hats like they used to — but they still don’t compare to the simple elegance of her black sheath dress and bejeweled up-do in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

Marilyn Monroe never hit the big screen without looking sensational, but her white dress in “The Seven Year Itch” might be the single most iconic fashion piece in film’s history.

Love it or hate it, Carrie Bradshaw’s style is all her own. Her wedding dress in the first “Sex and the City” movie, designed by Vivienne Westwood (not pictured here), sold out in less than a day.

Bridesmaids have the main duty of making sure the bride looks perfect and is calm on that big day, as they are some of the most important people in a bride’s life. When it comes to bridesmaid fashion, why shouldn’t bridesmaids look great too?

In the past, a bride picked one dress for all of the closest girls in her life. This led to many bridesmaids feeling uncomfortable while having to wear an unflattering dress. Whether it was due to an unfortunate color or an uncomplimentary cut, bridesmaids were commonly known to never put the dress on again. Now that it is 2012, all of that is changing.

What’s trending?

A few trends are emerging for bridesmaid dresses that will make it easier for everyone to feel and look great on that special person’s big day. Variations in color and style are becoming more and more popular as brides are realizing a happier bridesmaid equals a happier wedding.

Kayse Carter, owner of local bridal shop Pure Bridal, shares trends she has seen since opening her store earlier this year.

“A lot of girls are coming in who pick the color but leave the style decision up to each bridesmaid,” Carter said, “Strapped dresses work for busty girls and a tighter style for a littler girl.”

There is nothing wrong with wanting to look coordinated, but there is no harm in changing up the style to allow for bridesmaids’ unique styles to shine through.

Carter said, “Girls think having different styled dresses adds a little flare to their bridal party but usually keep a set color.”

Keeping a set color or applying other simple rules such as length or strap type is a great way to let bridesmaids have some reign while keeping the bride comfortable with their decisions. Also, if uniformity is a priority, using the same accessories, shoes or hairstyle can be a great alternative to having the same dress.

Big spender

Since being a bridesmaid means spending the money, brides are realizing that choosing a dress that can be worn again is a big plus. Designers are also finding more ways to make dresses functional for work and even other types of parties.

Carter shared that Pure Bridal aims to choose dresses from the hundreds of styles at the market that can be worn again.

She said Pure Bridal is “not the place for a dress that you will put on once and never want to wear again.”

(by Melanie Anderson – view original post here)

The color of 2012 is a citrus-red hue that will give your weary eyes a break from all of those neutrals. Tangerine Tango, Pantone’s 2012 color of the year, was selected because, “there’s the element of encouragement with orange, it’s building on the ideas of courage and action, that we want to move on to better things. I think it would be a disservice to go with a relaxed, soothing color now,” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, told the Associated Press.

The Pantone color of the year — which, last year, was a bright pink shade called Honeysuckle — is an annual influence on fashion and design. Tangerine Tango has already begun to pop up in fashion and cosmetics, with a strong showing in New York’s fashion week this fall. The bright orange is not an especially tricky color to wear, but it’s also not universally flattering — especially when it comes to cosmetics. Can you picture Tangerine Tango-hued eyeshadow? Pantone can.

By Maura Judkis

Thirteen-year-old blogging sensations are just the beginning. For Spring, designers kicked their youth obsession up a notch by indulging in some Lolita fantasies. Christopher Kane drew inspiration directly from the Kubrick movie for his sweet gingham baby-doll dresses, and Stella McCartney’s off-the-shoulder ruffled blouse and Moschino Cheap & Chic’s retro two-piece and floppy sun hat might also have been plucked directly from the film’s costume department. At Prada, meanwhile, itty-bitty pinafores were paired with pigtails, red lips, and plastic shades—the only thing missing was a cherry lollipop.

Tell us whether or not you’ll be flaunting the nymphet look….

- Romney Leader (style.com)

Suddenly round sunglasses are the look of the summer…

See the original post:
Why Round Sunglasses? A Style Investigation

The 1970s were not kind to macramé, but now designers have brought it back in a modern way this summer.

Continued here:
Fine Points: A Sleight of Hand With a Bit of String

Ali Baba pants at Ralph Lauren, djellabas at Gucci, turbans everywhere from Dries Van Noten to Paul Smith—the Spring runways were as shimmering and vibrant as a Moroccan souk. And there were as many slouchy, sexy silk jumpsuits as there are stars in an Arabian night sky… Here’s some looks from the shows…

Low-key and beachy is the theme this year, but you’ll still need a fat wallet.

More:
The Hamptons in Flip-Flops

COCO CHANEL, who is the subject of a new French biopic starring Audrey Tautou, had an aversion to frills. “A woman is always overdressed and never sufficiently elegant,” she once said of turn-of-the-century fashion, which favored impossible layers of lacy frippery. She believed that simple well-tailored pieces borrowed both literally and in spirit from her companions’ closets made for a more sophisticated, modern look; and a century later, stylish women seem to feel the same way. From boyfriend blazers to grandpa cardigans to this season’s return of the pantsuit, women are filching from men’s wardrobes.

“I just feel more comfortable in a jacket and trousers,” said the stylist Anastasia Barbieri, who was one of many women wearing menswear looks during the Paris fashion shows earlier this year. Hers, an Yves Saint Laurent suit, right.

Chalk it up, if you will, to the current economic climate. It has been argued that menswear dressing tends to gain popularity during recessionary periods, when classic, structured pieces convey a kind of elegant fortitude.

“There’s a mood that comes with that kind of dressing,” said Scott Sternberg, who designs menswear for women under the label Boy by Band of Outsiders. “It feels protective, safe. A beautiful jacket is like a cocoon, and yet it lends a certain confidence.” But Mr. Sternberg is quick to point out that the style is not a passing fad for his customers. As he explains, these are women who, long before menswear-inspired brands like Boy and the Row came along, headed straight for the men’s departments and bought the XS sizes.

“It’s similar to vintage shopping,” he said. “There’s a sense of ingenuity that comes with wearing something not necessarily meant for you. It’s like a badge of honor for these women. They don’t want a waistcoat made into a dress with a ruffly collar. They want these basic pieces so when they get up in the morning, they can put themselves together.”

See original post here:
Noticed: It Works For Us

Gucci. If there was any doubt that we are in the midst of an eighties moment, the longevity of leggings has cleared that right up. Every runway saw a pair or three…

Here is the original post:
Fall Trends: You’ll Still Be Wearing Leggings

Velvet is growing up this fall. It’s no longer a little-girl fabric, nor prissy and prim. Instead, you’ll wear sophisticated looks that are classic, soft, and feminine with a hint of toughness…

Link:
Fall Trends: Velvet for Adults

The news in jackets this fall? Size is everything. The masculine, oversize boyfriend blazer has returned from the eighties…

See the rest here:
Fall Trends: The Boyfriend Jacket Is Back

Even though we don’t think that this trend will emerge until Fall 08, we are constantly seeing this leather leggings or faux leather leggings trend on the runways and media. See Scarlett Johansson on the cover of Nylon Magazine below. You can also look at our previous Trend Watch posts to see other pictures.

Remember our post in March highlighting Balmain’s Fall 08 looks? Well, plenty of celebrities are latching onto his stylish creations – such as this dress worn by Christina Ricci on May 6th as she continued her press tour for Speed Racer, landing at the film’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere in a frilly keyhole dress and Manolo Blahniks.

How can you forget this dress from Balmain’s runway, worn by Kate Hudson on April 14th as she bared her legs follwing the U.K. premiere of her latest film Fool’s Gold.
The actress complemented the dress’s splash of shimmer with metallic peep-toe pumps.