I don’t think anyone is really clear on when the pre-fall season is. I always assumed that it was that small gap of time from late August to the official first day of autumn on September 21st, but don’t hold me to that. Pre-fall is essentially summer, am I right? Earlier this year when said shows came out, I looked through nearly all of the ones on Style.com. I sorted all of the photos into folders based on trend.
All judgements aside of how anal-retentive I may seem, my extensive work actually benefits you, fellow Chictopians. Below you will find my top five favorite pre-fall trends that you should definitely try out, but we can still be friends if you don’t.
Black & White (see main photo)
Black and white. Ebony and ivory. Dark and light. Call it what you will, but never call it boring. This season, designers have proved that erstwhile notion straight up wrong. Black and white are technically not colors, but really just the absence and presence of light in a pigment. Stick ‘em side by side and you’ve got yourself quite a combination. The key to getting the right contrast is to make sure your garments are in their purest shades—the blackest black you can find and the whitest white. You can layer the colors in any order you want, color block (really it’s pigment blocking), and experiment with different textures. Since the colors are, well, nonexistent, feel free to have a blast pairing, say, black leather pants with a white fur coat. It can work. You may be tracked down by the ASPCA, but whatever.
Leather (see Helmut Lang)
If you look at anyone who wears leather, you can almost guarantee that they are either a) a complete badass or b) a horseback rider. This fabric has become progressively more accessible to people across every age group and economic classification, so don’t be afraid to wear it liberally. It also comes in all colors of the rainbow! ROYGBIV FTW! Another bonus about leather is that there’s really no specific way to wear it—leather skirts, pants, jackets, vests, shorts, dresses…it all exists. Just make sure you’re wearing each garment during the appropriate season: leather is perfect for autumn and winter, but do not wear it in the summer because you will die of heat.
Draping (see Chanel)
Draping is synonymous with Rami from Season 4 of Project Runway in my mind. This pre-fall, draping can mean more than that. So much more. Jersey gowns, saris, and minidresses have entered the crew of drape-able apparel. Saris courtesy of Chanel, go figure. The deal with draped clothing is that the styling is not quite up to you—it depends on who makes the clothes. Alexander Wang, Helmut Lang, and Badgley Mischka drape beautifully.
Boxy Coats (see 3.1 Phillip Lim)
Menswear for womenswear has been awesome ever since women were socially allowed to wear trousers. This season, designers have been channeling David Byrne, Annie Hall, and all their boxy-coat-wearing buddies. These big coats are now feminine and masculine at the same time, which is just perfect for everyone. They’ve been designed in funky colors, fantastic prints, weird fabrics, and fresh lengths. The new hemlines for these jackets are falling right above the knee; very demure, but also a nice change from last autumn’s floor-sweeping coats. The best part about these jackets is that they are huge statement pieces. If you buy a big ol’ red coat, you can just wear it with a pair of pants and look like queen (or king) of the place.
Peplums (see Alexander McQueen)
You’ve all heard the hype about peplums. You’ve seen them everywhere (Zara, anyone?). Peplum is a word that half the people I asked about them could not identify as part of the English language, so how are we supposed to know how to wear it? They have this bizarre way of being either extremely surreptitious or ridiculously conspicuous. The only thing that stays constant with peplums is that they always create the illusion (or back up fact) of an itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny Scarlett O’Hara sized waist. Hourglass figures galore! They add a lot of volume and an extra oomph to any outfit. Jokes aside, Zara offers some really great and affordable options for those of us who can’t afford Givenchy but don’t have the patience to DIY it.
Which trend is your favorite? Is yours not on this list? Challenge us in the comments section or on Twitter (@everybodyisugly).
By Odelia Kaly
Images via Style.com
