straight from the streets
Being a serious fashionista, you have probably wondered what people are wearing on the other side of the world? If your city’s fashion is up to speed with other cities? Where their trends started and who started them? I'll admit it, this runs through my mind quite often. Having recently gone to London, one of the major fashion capitals of the world, I was able to answer all of those questions firsthand.
Some say London street fashion sets the pace in the fashion world. It is said that the mainstream fashion we see in chain and department stores started on the streets of London two seasons prior.
I noticed so many fabulous styles and trends, but will try my best to narrow it down to the 3 major looks: feminine, skinny, and monochrome.
Londoners are playing up the whole feminine trend. Ladies and men are wearing lots of paisleys, florals, polka dots, and lace. The major item for spring is a dress (women only, of course). Capped sleeves, ribbon waisted, ¾ length, and loose flowing dresses are the way forward. Many women wore their dresses with cowboy or lace-up boots, platform pumps and/or leggings. Adding a big belt to cinch in the waist changed the appearance of many dresses. It is a hot look!
This look wasn’t all about dresses. Many are still wearing their frilly Victorian blouses and tops.
To contradict the previous look, I was also quite impressed with the “skinny” look. Unfortunately, this look is hardly embraced in Western Canada. We are so comfortable putting on our favourite boot cuts and carrying on with our day. Not for the fashionably English! It seems as if they spend serious time getting into their pants. No matter what size the women were, they were still wearing the skinniest of jeans/pants. (Obviously, if you really can’t pull it off, don’t try it!) These “jeans” are basically denim leggings. The tighter they are the better. This look has been made famous by 2 of the most stylish women in the world, Kate Moss and Sienna Miller.
On the streets of London, the girls are wearing their stonewash black denim skintight (what a mouthful) jeans with oversized white tops/camisoles and black waistcoats (vests), cardigans, or leather bomber jackets and paper-boy caps. A lot of women wore them with pointy flats or tucked them into their flat boots. This style is reminiscent of the 60’s mod look.
Since the 60’s look was mentioned, I managed to clue in that with Factory Girl, Sienna Miller’s latest film due out soon, had something to do with the monochromatic tone of the London streets. Factory Girl is about the life of Edie Sedgwick, the 60’s “it” girl. She was very well known for wearing black and white striped dresses, sweaters, and tops with baker-boy caps. It seemed as though the London streetwalkers had incorporated white and black into everything they wore. Prison stripes and other monochromatic patterns were everywhere; on chunky sweaters, oversized t-shirts, and
camisoles. This look was by far the most exciting and prevalent on the streets of London.
I was impressed with everyone’s total individuality. It was good to see that fashion is not dictated by the main chain stores of a city, but instead, by people who have their own ideas and have no inhibitions in carrying it out.
Currently, Zara have the best thin legged jeans and dresses for a reasonable price. Miss Sixty, Diesel and Seven have some great ones in dark denim and black.
