NYFW sees pastels, sportswear and...penguin?

It's Sunday, you are feeling a little worse for wear after last night and you just found your housemates false eyelash stuck to the bottom of the glass you are drinking from. Life is looking a little less razzle dazzle and a little more, 'isn't it misleading that Monday rhymes with fun-day'. So with the final few hours of your weekend slipping away, I bring you a few more trends that have graced the New York Fashion Week catwalks over the last couple of days. And just remember, Vicky Beckham hasn't eaten since 1992, so your life could be worse.

Sporty Tailored Separates: We are well into NYFW and so all of the big names have come out of their cotton strewn labs to bring you the crème de la crème of the new season's trends. One such artiste being the oh so coveted Alexander Wang. The man is next to Celine in making the most perfectly tailored/draped/cinched/sculpted separates for women and this collection did not fail to impress. In a twist on both the classic tailoring and the laidback sportswear, the two have been combined to make a new office wear trend which will have even the most uppity bosses taking you seriously. Well as serious as one's boss can take you when you are wearing a crop-top shirt and the equivalent of culottes....in fashion that is pretty damn serious.



Sheer Delight: I have made it very VERY clear to my lovely mother that there are only two designers I want adorning my body on my wedding day  - either Vera Wang or Monique Lhuillier. Monique understands that underneath it all, most of us women just want to be a princess. We want the frothy dresses, the smattering of crystals, the layers of lace (more royal princess than gypsy wedding...) and as is a HUGE trend for SS14, the soft feel of a sheer veil covering our bodies. Take a leaf out of her book, cover everything that needs to be covered and let the rest peek through a thin translucent fabric. Sheer beauty.



Pastel Perfection: Quelle surprise I hear you cry, pastels are in for SS14. Well yes, this is perhaps not ground breaking, but it is one of the easiest trends to wear and so pretty much deserves its crown as queen of the obvious. Prabal Gurung has created a line of the most spectacular suits, cocktail dresses and separates in divine shades of lavender, mint and bubble gum pink. Get a perfectly tailored suit in one pastel colour to make the boys realise you are sweet but still the boss.



Stripes: I mean who doesn't love a pinstripe suit on a woman right?! Ok, no-one....well no-one until now. Who said you couldn't wear two different stripes in one outfit? Well certainly not Altuzarra who has created a collection of striped separates that look like they may have been created from one of your Dad's old pyjama shirts, but surprisingly are some of the most flattering pieces on the catwalk. With vertical stripes to lengthen the body and a perfectly cut shirt, tucked into a skirt which shows the sexiest slice of thigh, the only thing you need to worry about is whether or not someone will mistake you for a tube map.



Monochrome: As always one of the most anticipated collections was that of Victoria Beckham - is it really true this sugary pop-let is turning her talents to impeccable fashion designing? Well yes it is. In one of her most grown up yet, the SS14 collection sees angular shapes, sheer panels and sports-luxe additions. Very un-VickyB. Generally I thought it was magical, all but a few cocktail dresses which weren't to my taste, but as the pro-ballers always do, she has managed to nail a one of the biggest trends - monochrome. Add a touch of white to your black outfit and make sure you visually pop in the crowd. So obsessed with the fact she layered the colours on top of each other instead of building them into one garment. Who knew that Penguin from Batman would turn out to be the most fashionable villain of them all?



And with that I will leave you with style and substance - Vivienne Westwood at her best during the SS13 FW shows....saving the planet and wearing face paint.

Im in the FROW don't you know

If, like me, you are in fashion, it is a day of mixed emotions - wonder, excitement, fear, delight, worry, longing and sheer unadulterated terror. No, it is not something as light-hearted as your wedding day, the birth of your first child or even that time you picked up that pair of exact Louboutin replicas from Kurt Geiger for a quarter of the price (you can always just Dulux the sole). No, it is the beginning of....FASHION WEEK. In New York, London, Paris and Milan there are girls who haven't eaten anything but soup for the last month in hopes they can make it to the Holy Grail....to the FROW. And for those of you thinking I am mocking this, please believe I am not. I would give my right Manolo to even be allowed into the event space, this is my territory, my Mecca, my life. Over the next month I hope to give you a little insight into why.

Yesterday marked the beginning of New York Fashion Week. It runs from 5th  -  12th of September and is followed graciously by London (13th-17th Sept), Milan (18-23rd Sept) and Paris (24th Sept - 2nd October). For those of you who aren't aware, this is a time when the fashion world simultaneously stops for a moment and yet is the busiest they have ever been. The globe's best designers are currently adding the final touches to garments that until now have been but a dream on paper, but by the beginning of next year will already be lining the wardrobes of your favourite stars. If you are Victoria Beckham you may well get so excited by this whole process, you have to take a little break from the harsh lights and even harsher critics...


Anyway, with Anna Wintour's sunglasses firmly on the face which is attached to the body which is sat in the most coveted seat there is in fashion, we know it has well and truly begun. And here is what we have seen so far of SS14...

The Barely There Dress - It is cold, it is dreary, it is time to wear a slip? Seems bazaar perhaps, not if you are among the likes of Tess Giberson who paraded a host of the cutest underwear/outerwear/barely-there dresses down the runway. Team with a fur coat if you are cold or just accept it for what it is - a sexy update on your Nana's nightie.



All White - Pure as the driven snow? Well with the likes of BCBG Max Azria bringing us a collection even the White Queen would be proud of, who cares? Pair white with white in SS14 and dazzle in the spring sun.



Boxy - The slimline shapes of this summer melt into boxy coats in AW13 and angular shapes in SS14. Take a liquid leather skirt, such as at Chadwick Bell and pair with a top that will poke anyone who gets too close. Square those shoulders ladies...



Ethereal - It seems when Rankin painted Holly Willoughby in head to toe silver, he knew what was going on. Add a little unearthly spirit to your clothing by pairing silver leather with frothy chiffon like Zimmermann to create the look of a space ballerina. Strange, but it works.



Bare Your Soul - Remember when Tara Palmer-Tomkinson went out in just underwear and a fur coat and we all thought she was loopy? Turns out she was just VERY ahead of the crowd. Love the skin you are in seems to be the new trend at fashion week as everything from midriffs to cleavages were on show at Peter Som...its all well and good when you look like Cara Delevigne I suppose.



So there is just a little taste. I will be back with more trends and looks each day. Just remember, you may not like the fashions, the models or the thought process behind these events, but to people like me (and there are a lot of us) this is an art form of the highest level. And if you still aren't convinced, well I will try over the next four weeks to change your mind.

Finally with every post I will leave you with a past favourite fashion week ensemble. Today....Alexander McQueen AW13. Enjoy!