Instant Goddess: Spring/Summer 2013 Trends You Should Know About

Instant Goddess Springs Forward

Following on from last week’s pill popping; I can report that I’m still waiting for that much lusted-after spring in my step! And on the subject of spring, I’ve been doing a little bit of research on what should be filling our wardrobes in spring/summer 2013. I know, I know, it’s a tad early; you’ve barely had a chance to air your winter warmers. But winter is so last year, Goddesses! Besides, I’ve missed all the best sale bargains by simply not getting down to the shops in time. A very sorry state of affairs I know, but that’s what happens when full time housewifery calls. It’s tough, but real (I hear my Mum saying).

Anyway… back to spring/summer 2013. This is what you’re looking to buy once the sales are finally over and what to keep if you’re having a spring-clean of your wardrobe:

 

Stripes, Plaid and Squares.

This season’s print is all about squares, stripes and anything linear. Squares and plaid were prominent at Louis Vuitton, Clements Ribeiro and House of Holland, to name but a few.

Louis Vuitton and Clements Ribeiro

House of Holland and Chanel

Ok, so no squares and no print at Chanel, but fabulous rectangles, and what about that necklace?! Those rectangles featured heavily, teamed with different designs throughout the Chanel catwalk show – they really are the business and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for a high street version this coming season.

But even bigger than squares this season are stripes, and anything goes: horizontal, vertical, diagonal – you name it, if it’s got a stripe in it you’ll be bang on trend (and doubly so if it’s monochrome!) Good ole mono is back in town this season in a big way.

Stripe dress and stripe shorts with floral top, both D&G… these look very high street-friendly so keep ‘em peeled, Goddesses!

Monochrome stripes at Marc Jacobs and diagonal metallic stripe dress by Jonathan Saunders. Here we have not only stripes, but metallics too… iridescence, sheen, metallic – whatever you call it, it’s big this season! Which leads me on to…

… Metallic, Iridescent and Sheen.

Metallics showed their face last spring/summer, and now they’re back, making even more of a statement. Not just gold and silver, but high-sheen fabrics in any colour. Also think iridescent and you’ll be on the right track, (although approach with some caution as shiny fabrics can look cheap, in a ‘second hand car salesman’ sort of way). Keep that in mind, and not in your wardrobe and you should be all right!

Roksanda Illincic and Jonathan Saunders show how to brave the sheen and come out on top.

Alberta Ferretti cropped sheen trousers, (not one but two trends… sheen plus cropped trousers, which are back again!) and Burberry metallic print skirt and shirt.

Colour

We’ve already touched on monochrome above. The other big players this spring/summer are: Fluorescent – think acid lemon, neon pink and effervescent neon orange; Total whiteout; and a lot of Blue, red and yellow. 

Simone Rocha and House of Holland. Hello Sunshine! Are you brave enough to go head to toe in this yellow?

Erdem, (radioactive orange, the nice way!) and Christopher Kane, who gives us bright pops of orange and pink, teamed with fondant colours from his collection. 

Carte Blanche

Head-to-toe white appeared time and time again across numerous collections… no sticky-fingered toddlers or red wine-toting friends allowed within a 20-metre radius, Goddesses!

Ralph Lauren and Chanel. For day or night, white ensembles are big this season.

Valentino and Simone Rocha dresses. White needlework, especially broaderie anglaise, eyelet and cut-out designs were also big hits.

Red, blue and yellow.

By blue, I’m talking about the cobalt blue shown so well in this trouser/shirt combo at Ellie Saab and by yellow, (aside from the acid and sherbet lemon already mentioned), I mean this deeper, more grown-up yellow shown in the shorts and bag above over at Paul Smith.

As for reds, look to Alice by TEMPERLEY and Paul Smith above to get the idea. Note the split in the Paul Smith skirt, which is another theme for this season (more below).

Flower Power.

Apart from the heavy presence of monochrome giving a nod to the 60s, flower power, broaderie anglaise and applique were also prevalent on the catwalk. Prada, Moschino and Louis Vuitton all notably looked to the 60s for inspiration.

Prada went flower crazy.

60s monochrome at Louis Vuitton and Moschino’s flower power daisies (plus A LOT of backcombing!)

More Moschino, this time broaderie anglaise; and full-colour flower power at its best.

So what else?

Biker and bomber jackets are also big news this season, great for toughening up a floaty floral dress – or if you don’t have the figure for fashion staple of the moment, jeggings, layer your jacket with a longer line jumper underneath.

House of Holland and Moschino bomber jackets

Cropped trousers and cropped tops. Yep, bare midriffs were on show at many of the collections (sorry Goddesses!) You can go the whole hog and bare a lot, as seen at Louis Vuitton and Preen to name just a couple, but I think that oh-so-subtle, peek-a-boo cut outs as seen at Erdem and Roksanda Illincic are the way forward in this case. Less is more, Goddesses!

Roksanda Illinicic and Erdem dare to bare in the subtlest of ways

Split skirts. Slashed to the thigh? Not necessarily, but side splits in skirts are back, as seen at Christopher Kane, Paul Smith, Preen, House of Holland and Peter Pilotto.

Peter Pilotto and House of Holland side splits.

 

Hair

This week Andrea Clark, Creative Director of The Mandarin Salon at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong gives us the rundown on new year hair.

New Year, new you.

Many of us are now making our way back to Hong Kong after holiday trips overseas and in the meantime everything has grown – our waist lines, our credit card bills and the length of our hair.

I loved a comment I got from a client the other day. She said, “I feel I am better than this, so give me a new look, a new style.”

My lovely guest didn’t even look in the mirror. Whilst enjoying a relaxing mani-pedi, she closed her eyes and we began. Leaving the hair just past the shoulders, we removed a few inches of tired ends. Long layers create movement and we gave her a long sweep of a fringe that skimmed the eyebrows which brought out her eyes and framed her face. Finally random layers on the crown were chopped to enable her to get some height when she ties her hair up to show off a new, clean and healthy-looking ponytail.

Once we return the hair to optimum condition, the next visit should be for a colour change. We’ll move away from the popular ombre look that she has now, to a colour veil or peek-a-boo colour. Stay tuned for the next instalment to hear how to achieve these new year colour trends.

 

Midweek meal inspiration.

This week it’s low fat, fast and easy (and so has Instant Goddess written all over it!) Courtesy of BBC Good Food, I give you Japanese mirin-poached beef.

For steaks, relative newcomer Good Chow are worth checking out. Their US-imported steaks are tasty and juicy, the prices are very reasonable and they offer home delivery. All packaged in individual portion sizes… so great for home freezing.

 

Yogi tea saying of the week: “Face fear with love”

Instant Goddess saying of the week: “Full time housewifery and full time mothering? No thanks!”