Fall 2012 Fashion Trends

As most of us know, California follows the seasons and trends of fashion to the beat of our own drum. While Europe and New York tend to be more structured and polished with each season, we are blessed with one year round.... summer.  So while the rest of the country is layered up in 'traditional' fall clothing, we tend to bare it all... all year round.  There are a multitude of different trends that hit the runway last spring, these are among my favorite and possibly the most wearable.

School girl chic

Now if any of you grew up with my generation, you would have immediate flashbacks of Alicia Silverstone circa "Clueless" with tartan micro-minis, knee highs and argyle prints. Scratch that image out of your minds before you read on. This upcoming season finds new ways to be inspired by the old schoolyard cliches. While most of us reference clueless or Gossip Girl for our school girl chic looks, you must look beyond those decades and get inspiration from a combination of decades. Hang on to those tartan minis, but add an element of surprise that makes you tilt your head and say, "I think this works". Be daring and mix sexuality with innocence, rebellion with conformity, and pull inspiration from moms generation and your older siblings generation.
Androgyny 2012

"In a society where the roles everyone plays are obvious, the refusal to conform to any standard will excite interest. Be both masculine and feminine, impudent and charming, subtle and outrageous. Let other people worry about being socially acceptable; those types are a dime a dozen, and you are after a power greater than they can imagine." - Robert Greene (american author known for his books on strategy, power and seduction)


Society's definition of what's 'acceptable' has also changed. A woman wearing a pantsuit, for example, is now common place and hardly thought as boundary-pushing. So in turn, for androgyny to be noticed the game has been upped considerably.  From one decade to the next, the 90's waif (kate moss) has evolved to almost genderless.  She evolved from the boyish figure to having edgy tattoos, piercings, attitude and a sexual confidence that is almost irrelevant. Now the fashion industry has embraced openly gay/ bisexual/ or transgender models such as Andrej Pejic or Freja Beha.    
 Lets take a piece of their confidence and transform ourselves into something sexy without being obvious with a push up bra and short skirt. Find a beautifully embellished blazer that gives you strong shoulders, but keeps you in your comfort zone with a girly print, or instead of curling your hair, slick it back and wear it down. Fall this year is going to get you out of your norm and thinking like the fashion icon you are.

Coral to Crimson and eveything inbetween

Im not going to lie, this part was totally influenced by Mister Freddie B himself. Sitting in the break-room, brainstorming what I was going to write about for this falls fashion trends, I hear him blurt out, "Well, I hear Crimson is very in this fall". With that, I did some research and, sure enough, fashion definitely painted the runways red this year.

From DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger, Peter Som, and Tom Ford, these designers displayed red with vengeance and elegance, and everything in between. Red. Its the most emotionally intense color, stimulates a faster heart beat. Its the color of love. This primary color is not just called a bold hue for nothing. Red clothing gets noticed. Red leather clothing gets noticed more.

Have fun with this year's trends. Be daring, get out of your box!!!! Try different textures, accesories and combinations. If you're not ready to buy that velvet peacoat that we could use once a year in california, strive for a statement belt or handbag. And when you have conquered that move on to a skirt or dress. You will get noticed, so wear it with confidence and I promise, you'll survive this year's fashion trends.


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