Our guide to the year’s hot and easy-to-wear looks, and how to give them a twist of individuality
In 2012, whilst we hurtle with ever more uncertainty towards the future, it seems that the high street fashion pack want to crawl slowly back towards the past. Trends from the last three years are repeating and recycling with one crucial difference – more and more retroism and adoration for the old-fashioned.
We’ve been taking a look at the range of dresses UK retailers like Warehouse are offering for spring/summer 2012, and it looks like the Olympic year is going to be one of floaty takes on old-school ideas of femininity.
Still, this doesn’t mean we all need to look like Blousy Brown (from Bugsy Malone…come on, you must remember that one!). Whilst many of the tea-dress shapes, round collars and long-length skirts are reminiscent of another era, there’s the definite option of bringing it into the twenty first century with accessories and edge.
Oversized scarves are still extremely popular and an excellent way to add some individual style to a drop-waist dress or sharp, colour-blocked pleated dress. Don’t be afraid to mess up and mix up the colour palette and patterns with your accessories.
If you take the dresses – such as Warehouse’s Snaffle Belted Dress (pictured) or Crepe Shirt Dress – as your pretty solid, conservative base, you can actually create a radical and individual comment with bold and bright, clashing accessories. It is all a question of being ambitious and ignoring what you might be told in the shops or by magazines.
Think huge bangles in neon colours or very loud, wooden jewellery that will immediately create contrast. Swap out the thin belt which accompanies the dress for a woven belt – explore your local charity shops for interesting discards and patterns.
Forgo a necklace, as this type of collar won’t sufficiently show it off – and instead try out long earrings, clashing 80s-style jewellery with the 40s-inspired cut and length of the clothing.
