FASHION WEEK TRENDS: GO BIG OR GO HOME

Sleek silhouettes might have reigned the Paris and Milan fashion week catwalks this season but in many of the collections we saw oversized coats, knits and trousers... even belts! More often this trend is neutral in colour if you don't count Issey Miyake and his bright red creation. Perhaps these looks would work better in Europe but if it were cold enough here would you try this trend, or do you prefer a more snug fit for your outerwear?

FASHION WEEK TRENDS: COLOUR

It was obvious early on that certain colour trends were emerging this season. Thankfully one of my favorites reigned supreme for fall/winter. Green! Wether it's sea green, olive, emerald or moss it's up to you. The army green, if not militarian trend was strong this year and extended to coats, knits, hats, shoes and scarves. 

Second to green this season you could barely go a show without seeing burgundy or red, specifically the former. Givenchy chose red as a theme alongside stars and stripes but other designers chose it to make more of a statement. Or in the case of Mugler, burgundy made up entire looks in different shades.

Last up is blue. Diesel Black Gold released their look in a powdery tone but the closer we got to Paris the blue became more electric. Again with blue we see this used more as a statement piece so you can take pointers from these looks on how to execute it into your own style.

NAME THAT TREND: THE CAMO PRINT 2011

I first noticed the reinvention of the camo print on Nickelson Wooster who shot to fame because of his outrageous and wonderful outfit choices outside of Fashion week. Camo as a tie and blazer? Okay! No longer is this common trance-party attire circa 1998. And those heavy pocketed pants, oi. Remember Joe Soap?
Shoot through to 2011 and the fashion scene is starting to embrace it once more by including it in the detail. Not all people are as confident with this sort of trend as Nickelson Wooster but we can learn from the examples below shot outside fashion week this year.

Now with NYFW at a close it was surprising to see Tommy Hilfiger experiment with the camo print in the form of a colour soled boot and zip-up jacket. Notice the white jeans allow the overall look to calm down just a touch. One of my new favorite shoe brands Del Toro even released a brogue in this print which although surprising is pretty cool and would make a fine addition to my wardrobe. But leave it to Addict and C-law who collaborated on their own version-- a boat-boot hybrid that I'm certain will go down well with the boys. 

What do you think of this trend? Would you bring the camouflage to the city?

FASHION SLIPPERS, LIKE HUGH HEFNER? SURE!

Derek Geddes of Elizabeth Galloway sent me a fascinating article on the demise of societies efforts to dress better, that it's all a sign we have given up. This article references the recent riots of course and the abundance of sweatpant wearers. While many of us do actually make an effort it isn't all wrong. So how about a way to be comfortable and fashionable at the same time? Honestly jeans everyday is about as bad as it gets for me but one can still wear it with more formal pieces. 

Hugh Hefner demonstrated that he can wear slippers everyday, even if that meant leaving the house to attend premiers and events. And while he made it famous he wasn't the one that made it trendy. Recently at Milan FW we saw a few men donning slippers as a fashion statement and it really isn't that hard for you to do the same thing. Just look at Stefano Gabbana and his adaptation. It's simply a loafer equivalent and should be worn with the same ease. 

Stubbs and Wootton have famously created a collection of these slippers in an assortment of fancy design and fun colours but I was particularly impressed with Del Toro who embroidered animals (as seen at the top), initials or your own preferred style as they can custom make your pair. Now that's customer service. Would you wear this style?

Of course if you're going to do it you may as well go all out and try something like the spiked and glittery dragon-scaled Christian Louboutin slippers. Just watch where you walk before you hurt someone.

NAME THAT TREND: THE BRACELET AND WATCH TREND

We covered all the trends in terms of clothing but one of the most common trends I noticed from this past fashion week in Europe was the duo of bead bracelets and nylon and canvas strapped watches. I really love the look, especially when it is paired with a more relaxed take on formal attire. The boys from Milan and Paris are not afraid to wear a friendship bracelet or two and nor should you. It's about balance, the right amount of colour, nothing too bulky. Asos.com has a few on their site and they're super cheap.

The watch is fantastic and is by Georg Jensen of course. This Nato watch-strap can be purchased for 65GBP. If you fancy the Koppel timepieces displayed in the images below you can get that too for only $1195USD. Chump change.

What are your thoughts on this trend? Would you wear a friendship bracelet with your watch? Let us know.

THIS WEEK ON GQ.CO.ZA: MILAN FASHION WEEK TRENDS 2011

Alright so fashion week comes along and reminds you your duds are due to expire soon. Wonderful. On GQ I discuss some of these trends and include one that may have a little difficulty taking off locally for 2011.

CLICK HERE

NAME THAT TREND! OXBLOOD ROUND TOES

With trends recycling the way they do, it is no wonder that we run screaming move on from the pointed shoe style from the late nineties and early noughties. On my trip to America last month I unfortunately encountered many in this variety, horrified of course to find them raise up at the tip or covered in faux-alligator.

The trend of today is the love child of Dr. Martens and, I don't know, a very old bottle of wine. These round-toed beauties are available from Paul Smith and Alfred Sergant to name only two. Wear these like you would your more preppy items. Would you buy into this trend?

THE RASSLE OF THE TASSEL

We men (those of us who will admit it) love shoes. Even if our tastes only extend to what ever 'kicks' are in this season or we merely take good care of the few that we own, that love is still there. We are not very different in that way to woman, we just exercise more restraint. I, however fall into that category of men who own more shoes than necessary. But I have few vices as it is.

Recently I purchased a pair of tasseled loafers. Why, I hear you ask? Because not only were they on-sale and exquisitely made, but they had a longer end than the average square loafers your Grandfather might have worn. Like most of the modern remakes of fashion the fits have been re-modified to work for our times. Plus it is such an easy shoe to wear because it immediately smartens up your regular Sunday duds.

I took to Twitter last month at the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards and the response was largely popular.

Already a fan of brogues I thought it would be an interesting challenge to wear my new loafers and not look like Hugh Hefner. The result? Basic raw denims, a solid but colourful shirt and a fitted blazer. Allowing the shoes to speak for themselves is what makes or breaks the use of statement shoes. 

While the fashion minded have celebrated the return of this shoe it has not been loved-up as much by the general public. Fears of looking like the aforementioned continue to loom. It doesn't help matters that shoe-god Christian Louboutin has now released suede tasseled loafers to end all tasseled loafers. Mr. Louboutin himself warns that his "Daddy Flat's" 'are not for the classic daddy at all'. For a more fearful man, you can always opt for his tasseled boat shoes instead.

You can find different versions from top designers like Bottega Veneta or even cheaply from Asos.com, so if you could wear this style it's available to you. Let us know, would you though?

THE TREND THAT WON'T GO AWAY

This post was originally aimed at the similarities of Adam Lamberts style and an editorial by Xexmag.com. The thorough use of studs, chains and jewels make this an interesting change for the usual editorials that we have been seeing lately. Upon further inspection I was seeing this 'Glam' trend appearing all over the internet. But note this is not the glam you thought it once was. The all-new glam trend is a dirtier, rough version used by Lambert, Britney Spears, Lady GaGa and Ke$ha to name a few. 

From 2009 fashion houses like Prada and Burberry were releasing their studded garments amidst a large demand for this trend. Like most of these flash-trends I expected it to be gone by the time it hit the stores. Alas here we are in 2011 and the studded/glitzy/sequency/jewel-encrusted trend is going nowhere. 
What do you think about this style?

RUFIO - Model XEXPOSE: Editorial Spotlight // Ryan Medel @ Mark Dimuzio @ Major // Stylist: Omar Alexander // MUA/Groomer: Diane Calle // Photographer: Sailey Williams //Designers: Deryck Todd, Bruce Snell, Natasha NYC, Patricia Fields. Images collected from Selectism and click blog.

A NEW TREND'S AFOOT: COLOURED SOLES

You may know by now that I am an obsessive statement-shoe collector. My first 'out there' shoe was a pair of olive green brogues which I have mentioned too many times. From there my love affair expanded and my threshold, so to speak, for more animated shoes got stronger. I whole heartedly believe you can wear a crazy, loud, over-the-top shoe of your choosing if you dress the rest appropriately. 

Then I stumbled on a new concept; take a regular shoe and paint the soles a bright colour. Genius really, don't know why I didn't know of it. Naturally a whole bunch of designers caught on this trend early and the above shoes are just a portion of what is available.

It really does make you wonder why it's even a 'trend' at all. Shouldn't we have done this ages ago? It makes perfect sense to differ the colour of a more formal shoe somewhere. It makes for an interesting change though, doesn't it? Mark McNairy hit the nail on the head though on this trend with a collection of shoes I could only hope would walk into my cupboard some day. Every one of these shoes are fantastic and further take a more conventional look to another place. A better place!

Would you wear these? colored soles trends colored soles trends colored soles trends

THE 'BALMAIN BOOT' LOOK

One of my favorite looks to come out of fashion week (and by that I mean outside of fashion week) was the varsity jacket look as photographed above. Since said jacket is already on my wishlist and it's a bit difficult to locate locally, I have moved my attention towards the boot. The whole look has already been nicknamed the Balmain boot look since they released it in their 2010 and 2011 campaigns. When the 'Gas' boot appeared before me I immediately thought of this look. Of course you're in luck for two reasons, firstly this boot was made locally by Bronx shoes, and secondly they retail for a measly R649! I'm still on the lookout for a black pair though.

Now it's just a matter of locating the varsity jacket but while I'm in the U.S in April I will scout around for a more affordable version to Balmain, although obviously it would sit pretty well in my wardrobe.

Get cracking people because it won't be long before it's cold enough and you can wear what you want again! For additional information about Bronx visit their website or call 021 590 7000. 

UPDATE: These boots are also available in black from Bronx.

{Top image courtesy of mymanybags}

Mickey Mouse fashion trend

"Who's the leader of the club... That's made for you and me? M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E"

We all recall our friendship with that large eared character from our younger days. Because not only was he thoroughly entertaining to that tiny six year old, but he was everything that that time stood for; innocence, all round goodness and some great T.V.

The icon that is Mitchell Mickey Mouse debuted alongside Minnie Mouse in 1928. Fast forward to 2010 and his unchanged face is still in our hearts... (and in some cases on our bodies). 

It's hard to say where the fascination started but it happened and before you knew it, Mickey had returned in the form of fashion statements, accessories in big budget music videos and landed in some of your favorite high-street stores. Of course it all started when Lady Gaga appeared in her popular video for  'paparazzi' wearing the Jeremy Scott glasses. These are the same ones that would later be worn by Beyoncé in their 'telephone' video. It didn't take long before Rihanna followed suit with her newer tough-girl image and her own set of ears.

Supposedly the main reason Disney added the white gloves was to allow audiences to distinguish the characters' hands when they appeared against their black bodies. The three black lines on the backs of the gloves represent darts in the gloves' fabric extending from between the digits of the hand, typical of kid glove design of the era.

Having appeared vastly across the internet on blogs, famous bloggers and even celebrities (see Kelis below) it's a valid question to be asking you: Will you be joining the jamboree?

Leaving no accessory un-studded, UNIFORM EXPERIMENT this week released a dicky bow in this style. For a measly cost of ￥10,500 (approximately R960) you can get your own in black, blue or white at their website.

Louboutin Animal Printed/Studded flats

Bloggers know when something is about to make an impression on the fashion World. We know it because we all want it, and we all want to blog about it (Kevin and OOoOO). Christian Louboutin is no stranger to this blog, and I would proudly like to introduce you to these studded flats which now come in Leopard and Zebra print. Now these are statement shoes! Approach cautiously.





Statement shoes, as I've been asked before should be worn with care. Dress your whole outfit down to allow the shoes to do the talking. That's how you end up paying £315+ for a pair of shoes. Of course like most trends, other designers have jumped on that bandwagon too. Including Giacomorelli, whose shoes were spotted by Tommy Ton on the streets at Milan Fashion Week. I have a tough time deciding which ones I like more.







photo credits: wwd/Tommyton

BURBERRY, YOU STUD YOU.

While Christopher Bailey is not bowling you over with colours and prints that we have not seen before, what he is doing is keeping the legacy of the brand fresh. Burberry just wouldn't be Burberry without the trench, and frankly I wouldn't want it to be any other way. Keeping to a similar colour palette as last season Bailey introduced a heavy Rocker influence with the use of the Stud trend in many forms.







In addition to this, Bailey experiments with mesh tops, transparency and even leather shirts to further define the 2011 Spring/Summer season as a prominent Biker rebelliousness. The point he makes is that the subtlety's of his changes are effective without overpowering or insulting any die-hard Burberry Prorsum fans, all the more pulling Burberry to the modern age.











And of course, finally Burberry releases a Gum-boot for their mens range. Which in our current climate would be perfect! So you know...

COLOUR BLOCKING TRENDS MENSWEAR

{FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: D&G, ICEBERG, BOTTEGA VENETA, BURBERRY, ETRO}




TOP {FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: FERRAGAMO, GUCCI, ETRO, ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA}
BOTTOM {FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: NEIL BARRETT, D&G, COSTUME NATIONAL, ROBERTO CAVALLI}



{FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: VERSACE, ROBERTO CAVALLI, BOTTEGA VENETA}



{FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Z ZEGNA, TRUSSARDI, ROBERTO CAVALLI, VERSACE}



TOP {FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: FERRAGAMO, PRADA, BOTTEGA VENETA}
BOTTOM { LEFT TO RIGHT: FERRAGAMO, ROBERTO CAVALLI, PRINGLE, ICEBERG}