Improvability Blog

(Based on an article I originally wrote June 2004)

I have to admit that the very thought of being told what to wear by a bunch of fabric manufacturers does not bode well with me, especially when they decided on the colours and fabrics that would be available in the shops TWO years ago! Patriarchal is not the word; more like a conspiracy to control us all is what comes to my mind.

Also the idea that you should try to fit

• YOUR body shape,
• YOUR colouring, and
• YOUR personality

into someone else’s concept of what the woman should be wearing makes my blood boil. I just hope you are not a slave to the current fashions – if you are, I feel really sorry for you.

Can I encourage you to wear what really suits you and not what everyone else is already looking dreadful in?

But it might help for you to know what you are going to be up against when the new collections hit the shops. For instance, I can see that, once again, I shall be struggling for hues that will make me look good – but then, Winters have been struggling like this for a number of years. Just stick to the basics of white and black, adding strong pink or red or blue to look your best.

If you are an Autumn or Spring, you will find plenty to appease you in the plethora of warm shades about. Summers, too, should be able to salvage something as pastel pink and duck-egg blue will always keep you looking elegant.

Autumn Fashion Trends (2004)

• Forties hard-edged glamour
• Cinched tailoring
• Cropped trousers
• Pussy-bow blouses
• Belted cardigans
• Autumnal shades – oranges, browns and greens
• Seventies inspiration
• Raw edging
• Fur tippets, coats and jackets
• Boxy jackets
• Layering – chiffons, knits, leather
• Eclectic mixes
• Empire-line chiffon dresses
• Tweed

PS. A tippet is a covering for the shoulders, as of fur, with long ends that hang in front!

There’s lots more fashion trends information to help you with styles and colours. If you’re a Eurochic style, then take a peep at the ‘Allure‘ look….. it might be just what you’e looking for!

Fashion trends advice
Good, indifferent, or just plain silly?

(Based on an article I wrote in December 2006)

Silly advice about Fashion Trends for 2006/7
or any season, for that matter

I have just received a missive from a well-known UK fashion stylist with a list of ‘five essential styling tips for December’ (her words, not mine): tuxedo jacket and trousers, black polo neck, soft shift dress, black cocktail dress and a smock top.

First of all, let’s get one thing straight:

• water is essential
• food is essential
• oxygen is essential
• and, in my humble opinion, love is essential or your heart will probably shrivel up and die!

A smock top (or whatever the latest trend is) is absolutely NOT. One addition to your wardrobe from any list may well make it complete or may help expand your choices of what to wear, but none of them are ever essential.

Lists like these make my blood boil. Who exactly are these self-appointed style gurus to offer generalised advice like this to all women? You are unique, utterly individual, and deserve to be treated as such. These silly people expounding silly nonsense should be taken outside and pelted with their own silly rubbish.

Let’s look at each one on this list and decide if YOU can wear it:

Tuxedo jacket and trousers

I can really see a Natural wearing this, can’t you? (heavy on the sarcasm here…). She’d feel like a trussed up chicken. A Classic lady is going to prefer a cocktail dress every time. A Creative will want anything other than two matching items. A Romantic will choose a pretty dress over trousers any day. Maybe an adventurous European will like the concept but in softer colours and fabric. Only a true Dramatic is going to feel great in this look.

Black polo neck

If you’ve got a short neck, the last thing you should be wearing is a polo neck; you’ll end up looking like Mike Tyson, with your head coming straight out of your shoulders – a V neck will always be more flattering for an angular body; a deep scoop for a curvy shape. And if you’re light or warm in colouring, then black will make it look like a black sheet walked in with your head following two yards behind. Try brown or caramel if you have warm skin tones; navy or charcoal will be a much better option for cool skin tones.

Soft shift dress

What exactly is a ‘shift dress’? The dictionary defines it as ‘a loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist’.

But the term seems to be used these days to cover just about every simple frock in the shops and magazines. The 21st century version of the once-shapeless shift has been updated to take account of a more womanly figure – Amalfi have added panelling to this grey specimen… Choose one to suit your personality – plain and elegant if you’re a Classic or European; dynamic stripes in a stiffer fabric for a Dramatic; soft colours and fabrics for a Romantic; natural fibres and staight up and down for a Natural. And if you’re a Creative – can you really see yourself in the dress shown here? If you really have to, try adding different textured tights, ankle boots or Uggs, and a multi-coloured jacket – at the very least.

Black cocktail dress

Once again, I fall over in a heap at the very thought of a Natural in a cocktail dress of any colour. I reckon you’ll feel far more comfortable going for wide-leg trousers in YOUR darkest neutral (what about chocolate brown, aubergine, or teal for a change?) with a tunic top or overshirt, perhaps in a softly draping fabric. Classics were born to wear a cocktail dress and will probably adore black. Dramatics will look good in this but add some sparkle to the outfit or you’ll feel ordinary. Romantics need to look for a pretty feminine cut and a much more approachable colour than black – soft jade or dusky pink perhaps?. Europeans may opt for this item but will look so much more elegant in a much softer colour – try bronze, indigo, or light moss.

Smock top

This is one item from the catwalks that sums up the whole silliness of following fashion. Which of these look at their best in a smock top?

1. Can’t-remember-when-I-last-ate supermodels?
2. Stick-thin teenagers?
3. Gorgeous 5-year olds with masses of golden curls?
4. Fuller-figured ladies who would like to look slimmer?

If you answered 4), you are deluding yourself – badly!

Please bear in mind that 48% of the UK population are size 16 and over and yet, still, we are bombarded with images of slim models sporting skinny clothing shapes, and being given daft lists like those above which are designed primarily for skinny people. Slim Romantics will look wonderful in a lacy voluminous top or dress, of course, but unless you want to add width to your silhouette can I suggest that you leave well alone?

In short

As Mr. Micawber would say, in short, please don’t listen to generalised rubbishy advice like this without taking YOU into account first. And remember who is paying the wages of these stylists too – big fat glossy fashion magazines who are funded by fashion chains and designers who place big fat glossy extremely expensive advertising with them to promote their clothes!

Browse Hair Colour Trends

Latest Fashion Trends

So, it is with great trepidation that I announce that we publish fashion trends information, browse our Archive of Fashion Trends and more.

Please, please, please take it all with a pinch of salt (or, in my case, a large gin and tonic) and think about which trends will suit you, your body shape, your colouring and your personality before you hit the shops!

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