The arrival of fall can get weighed down by a covetous need to buy, buy, buy, owing to the surplus of trends deemed “must-have.” Closets demand restocking—it’s true—but not every trend to hit the streets is necessary for fashion survival. This season, play it smart and invest in just a few key “best in trend” pieces to spruce up your wardrobe and keep you shoulder-to-shoulder with the Joneses.
Where You’ve Seen It: Velvet is back… again, but this time, it’s taking on a more than just simple shapes. For fall 2016, designers favoured a more royal interpretation of the luxe fabric, showing it in new colours—deep shades of plum and dramatic blue hues—with ultra-feminine embroidery, as seen at Luisa Beccaria.
How to Wear It: This new wave of velvet is making way for the statement piece. Find yourself a velvet jacket with embroidery detailing (we love the floral design in the Zara look above) and try it paired over a T-shirt with jeans. Or, should you be a go-big-or-go-home type, amp things up in a full velvet pantsuit to say: you’ve arrived.
Where You’ve Seen It: This trend is a modern classic that goes hand-in-hand with the cooler fall months. Try as you might…you will never escape tartan patterns, but in this season’s case, the option to go with a simple check is there. Chanel’s FW16 collection embraced the style, showing it off in head-to-toe looks, but for us, it’s all about the jacket.
How to Wear It: Turn to an overcoat to inject a pop of preppy chic into a basic outfit or to stylishly grunge up a print look. Stick to a black and white pattern, should your wardrobe side on the colourful side, or go with a bolder shade, like this red coat from J. Crew, if the prints you wear share the same colouring as silver screen movies. As seen over the past few seasons, mix-matching patterns is a trend that’s here to stay. Say ‘90s!
Where You’ve Seen It: It’s romantic, feminine and most definitely a French thing. As is to be expected of one of our favourite French labels, Leonard Paris put the girly-back into blouses with delicately tied pussy bows, beautifully offset by different textures.
How to Wear It: Simple, casual, yet chic, this ode to the ladies of Disney is an ideal accent to fall tops, specifically because of how perfect they look peeking out of coats. When in want of some added feminine charm (not to mention a touch of Bohemian flair), a blouse with a bow detail—like the staple piece from H&M shown above—goes a long way, be you bound for the office or off to dinner with a date.
Where You’ve Seen It: Metallic is back in full force, and this season, it’s taking over the skirt. Ever since Gucci brought us this treasure last year, we’ve been loving this look. Now it’s time for designers to get creative with styles. We think Delpozo’s pleated and multi-textured take on the trend is a stellar example of just that, bringing things to the next level with its Tron-esque glamour
How to Wear It: A bi-coloured metallic skirt is where it’s at. A piece like this pleated beauty from Topshop will elevate a solid blouse and Boho-up a printed top or even a patterned shift dress. Versatility is this skirt’s strength, making it the ultimate day to night piece.
Where You’ve Seen It: Time to step it up a block. Our love for this heel style is rooted in comfort. Notably, not always something you can say about shoes that offer picture perfect silhouettes. While some designers are going sky-high with the trend, Anna Sui proved that block height is optional.
How to Wear It: We recommend going low when picking the height of your block. It looks modern and your feet will thank you for it. Try a sleek, sling back, like the ASOS heel above, with a pair of ankle-length cropped pants. We guarantee, people will commend you on your retro groove!
