Winter has come early here in Northern California and we are starting to think about cold weather. (Stop snickering, my east coast and Canadian friends ~ it’s cold to us!)
As my regular readers know by now, I love to get ideas from the fashion runway shows on www.style.com. Even though they’ve just finished posting the Spring 2014 Runway Shows, not many of us think that far ahead so you might want to check out the Fall 2013 shows for now. Since we live in a moderate climate, most of the fall fashions work just fine for our winter wardrobes, too.
There are several trends that are still popular from the last couple of years: skinny jeans are still hot, as well as pencil skirts , strapless evening gowns, and one of my personal favorites ~ boots!
The designers are showing lots of layering, which also works well here since our days often start out cool and warm up by afternoon, especially in the transition seasons. Whether it’s a textured jacket over a pencil skirt or an oversized jacket over skinny jeans, add a lightweight sweater or a tunic, and you can easily go from morning to night in comfort. Colors are classic black, brown, and gray, but also lots of jewel tones and some fun neon colors.
For the special occasions coming up, strapless gowns are still popular, but I have seen many with sleeves as well. A lot of sheers are being shown (check out Christian Siriano) and lace is very popular.
Ruby Red is all over the runways this Fall, as well as sleeves on dresses and sheer fabrics like this iridescent silk chiffon.
The silhouettes vary from architectural to very soft and drape-y. Black is always shown but jewel tones are hot for this season, as well as blush colors. Blush is tricky; getting just the right shade can enhance your skin tones. The wrong shade can totally wash you out!
For the more adventurous of us, there are a couple of new trends you might want to check out. Peplums are being shown all over the runways. (You know the “skirty things” on jackets and dresses that hide your tummy?) I’m not a big fan and getting just the right style and size peplum is tricky but there are many types of peplums being shown and that does make it easier to find just the right one. The shorter ones are harder to wear unless you have no hips but the longer ones and the slanted ones can be very flattering.
Here is a pleated peplum that really adds some zip to this linen jacket.
Some other popular trends are tone-on-tone colors and textures. Whether it’s coats or evening gowns, this trend is being seen all over the runways. And color-wise, blacks and grays are just as popular as the jewel tones.
charcoal sequined top shown with charcoal, brown and navy brocade silk skirt.
Not all of us are lucky enough to have the budget for designer clothes but when we have the ideas in our heads, we know what to look for in our favorite department stores or fabric stores.
And we don’t all have to be size 4’s to wear some of these styles. When I see a coat worn short over thigh-high boots on a skinny model, I think of how it would look over leggings or skinny jeans and boots.
I’m always looking for styles that will translate well on a “real” figure. I like lots of layers and diagonal lines that flatter the body. Try to think “outside the box” when viewing the runways. You may surprise yourself!
For more of my favorite ideas for Fall and Winter, check out My Style on Pinterest.
Barbara Stone is the owner of Barbara Stone Designs, a full-service tailoring and dressmaking business at 5200 Churn Creek Road, Suite P, Redding, CA, 96002. She can be reached at (530) 222-1340 or bstonedesigns@sbcglobal.net.
