Over the past years fashion trends have largely been echoes of the 20th Century; we've revived everything from the 1920s through to the 1980s - even a bit of 90s most recently. So it seems natural that we should venture back further, and add a bit of the 19th century into 2010 fashion trends.
Masculine fashion for women takes a dandy turn in Autumn(Fall)/Winter 2010 - or rather, a more dandy turn. Building upon elements already big in past seasons - like the tuxedo trend and military fashion, the female dandy in 2010 is part Beau Brummell, part Oscar Wilde, and at times a touch of Coco Chanel.
There are certain terms that evoke the feel of the female dandy; some we'll take from history, others from the looks which have hit the 2009/2010 catwalks.
While androgynous, the 2009/2010 dandy trend is definitely feminine. If you're thinking Diane Keaton as Annie Hall you're a little off the mark. It's a mixture of sharp tailoring and stereotypically masculine clothes, but all cut to accentuate and flatter the female body.
Away from the 2009/2010 catwalks we can find to the 1700's dandy for inspiration for this trend. As the decadent Charles Baudelaire one highlighted of dandyism, it's a frame of mind for a person who "elevates aesthetics to a living religion".
Finally, as another luxury fashion trend which finds its roots firmly in Great Britain, elements of the female dandy trend should always evoke aristocracy and the associated wealth.
Cinched Waists
A cinched waist is one way of feminising a masculine outfit. Try adding a waist cinching belt or nipped-in jacked to neaten up an overall dandy look.
Brooches
Brooches are one of the best way to slow off that dandy edge, but to get the dandy fashion trend spot on you'll need to aim for a brooch that is slightly larger than most of those made for women. I suggest taking inspiration from men's brooche to get the androgynous feel spot on.
Fob-chain, waistcoat, and ruffled blouse at Ralph Lauren
Moving a little further away from the core Regency elements comes Hermes Autumn(Fall)/Winter 2009/2010, with masculine womenswear taking an aviation-inspired turn, reminiscent of Amelia Earhart.
There were also plenty of other examples and variations on the Autumn(Fall)/Winter 2009/2010 runways; some comprising complete dandy looks, others using subtle elements. For more pictures of the trend on the runway, click on the gallery below.
Mixing It Up
Of course you needn't only look to the given designers to find pieces which will perfectly evoke the female dandy. For instance you could borrow on elements of the military fashion trend, such as Balmain's military jacket, which also shares the masculine/feminine high-fashion quality. Adding man-style pant suits into your wardrobe can also transcend to Coco Chanel masculine territory, while vintage ties can be tres sexy with a feminine - yet understated - outfit.
Interfiliere have released a massive selection of colours for their fashion colour trends report for Spring / Summer 2010. It looks as though we're in for a very green-based season with the a wide variety being featured in the palette; though also prevalent are pinks, blues, browns and even a neon green (of which we are not particular keen).
Whilst at first glance the palette looks vast it seems to play on quite a similar set of hues, featuring mostly light & bright summery colours which try to capture a younger and a more up beat tone then the much more demure colours we saw from Pantone's colours for fall/winter of 2009 & 2010. Stylists involved with the viannual colour meeting organised by Eurovet have said that while we will probably see these colours used on their own to some degree, we will mostly see them as parts of either embroidery or used in extremely colourful pop graffiti prints. Also predicted is a re-occurrence of the romantic trend and inspirations taken from the Pop Art of the sixties and seventies.
For the full report check out the Interfiliere website.
It seemed a while ago that every fashion house was going to have a mobile phone: first came the Prada phone, then the Armani phone, the Levi's phone, and at one point there was even talk of a phone from Chanel. Then after the iPhone took the world by the storm people discovered a different type of designer gadget so it just seems that Miss Sixty & Alcatel have come to the party a little late... and really their phone leaves us underwhelmed.
When I first saw the phone I was utterly sure that it had to be a fake. It seems so unbelievably dated, though apparently it's real and it's either too early or too late for April fools. So if you're sick of your slick iPhone or over that Prada phone you've had for so long here are the features you're going to get with the Miss Sixty phone;
Thanks to Balmain's sexed-up military jackets from their Spring/Summer 2009 collection, we've seen plenty of rock-chic takes on the military fashion trend. So it comes as something of a nice surprise to see Sienna Miller step out in a much more classic version of the trend.
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