Posts Tagged ‘animal prints’
Whilst many of us claim not to care about fashion, most of us will concede that we don’t want to look completely dowdy and want our clothes to look fairly up to date. Others are dedicated followers of fashion who want to keep up with trends in ladies clothes and wouldn’t dream of wearing last years style. On balance though, most ladies tend to pick out certain styles of clothes that don’t go out of fashion and will last for many seasons and update with a few really on trend pieces each season.
Here is how you can keep up with the latest ladies fashions and decide which will work best for you and your budget.
There are plenty of places to find inspiration and ideas for the latest ladies fashions. You can start by looking at the designer collections for the season. Whilst you may not be able to afford these clothes, many of the trends from the catwalk will trickle down into high street fashion.
There are all sorts of different ladies fashion magazines that cater for different prices ranges and target audiences. Most magazines will publish regular trend reports which will give you a great summary of the latest looks for the season and how you can achieve them. Whilst some of the looks may look a little over the top, or unwearable, you can always adapt the latest trends to suit you. For example, instead of wearing all over animal print, an animal print scarf is a great way to look fresh and up to date but in a very stylish way that suits almost anyone.
You can also find an expensive designer look in a magazine and find more cost effective alternatives with a high street or online ladies fashion retailer. If a particular style of clothing doesn’t suit your body shape, then replace it with something that does. For example if skinny trousers don’t suit you, then get some straight cut trousers instead like the classic black wide waistband straight leg trousers pictured above.  . It is great to keep up with the latest ladies fashions, but it should never be at the expense of looking stylish.
Fashion blogs are also a great way to find out about the latest trends and how real people wear them. There are so many different fashion blogs around ranging from street style blogs which feature some very stylish people of all different ages, shapes and sizes to personal style blogs where writers showcase their own personal take on style.
All of these places are great for getting information, ideas and inspiration on the latest ladies fashions and trends. But it is much more important how you interpret and adapt these fashions and trends to suit you. Keeping up with the latest ladies fashions does not mean that you have to buy into every single fashion and trend each season. You should just pick and choose from the pieces that you like and the pieces that suit you. When deciding what will look best, you should carefully consider your shape, age, colouring, personality, budget and lifestyle.
You may have read about it in recent fashion magazines, camel is the colour of the moment. You only have to look on the catwalks or in the high street shops. Everyone is looking for camel coloured clothing for this autumn and winter. The rise in popularity of camel is thought to be due to the economy as people are looking to invest in clothes in versatile colours that will go with everything. Fashion editors and designers are loving the colour which is also sometimes referred to as caramel or beige. Camel coats, capes, jumpers and dresses are amongst the garments that are tipped to big news this autumn and winter.
Camel certainly has a lot of plus points. It is one of those colours that looks good on just about everyone . It is a warm shade that naturally makes people complexions glow and looks great with a range of hair colours from blond to black. It also goes with so many other clothes and works as the perfect blank canvas for adding statement accessories.
With camel being such big news this year, what will those of us that are addicted to patterned clothing do? Well their are two possible options. You can wear plain camel basic and team with patterned accessories, or tops. Animal prints, florals and abstract prints all go really well with camel. There is also the option of choosing a camel print. By camel print we don’t mean a print with images of camels, although this might look good too, but a print which includes the colour camel. This is the perfect way to work this versatile colour in a really interesting way. If you consider plain camel coloured clothes to be just a little bit boring then the camel print is definitely for you. With the camel background being the perfect neutral colour to show off bold black and white as well as bright colours like red and orange.
This camel and orange animal print lightweight jumperis the perfect way to wear a camel print. It is subtle but also eye catching and looks amazing with a pair of black trousers. It is also a great accompaniment to wear with a camel coat, cardigan or jacket.
This camel and black long sleeved jersey top is a great casual way to wear the camel colour. The long flared shape is really flattering and looks great with leggings or slim fit trousers.
A traditional animal print top is also a great way to wear this look. It works so well for so many occasions in the daytime or evening.
If you are not a football supporter you might have picked up on the fact that something fairly major is going on in South Africa over the coming weeks  and starting from today. The FIFA World Cup kicked off today in Johannesburg following a ceremony in the stadium which resembles a huge African cooking pot. The ceremony and concert on Thursday night included music by a variety of international and African musicians and performers. As all of the worlds focus is currently on Africa, we thought it would be a good time to look at some of the influences that Africa has on fashion and clothing.
One of the first things that springs to mind when thinking of African fashion is the bold prints. The graphic designs usually incorporate black and sometimes white mixed with rich and bright colours for maximum impact. This season African prints have been a huge trend and they are also mixed and clashed for an eclectic and eye catching look. Although there is a very typical type of African print that most of us probably visualise when thinking about African fashion, African Art which inspires so many designs and is hugely diverse but it does tend to favour abstraction over naturalistic representation. It is the abstract element that gives so many clothes that instantly recognisable African flavour.
Many of the animal prints that are so popular originate from animals that live on the African continent including leopard and zebra. We love this ivory contrast animal print cardigan  As with the traditional African prints, these clothes feature deep and rich colours. Animal prints are again great designs for mixing up and this seasons animal prints are very much more subtle versions than they have been in previous seasons with patchwork effects combining different patterns.
Three dimensional design is a major part of African art with sculpture being of great importance. Elaborate winding and draping of fabrics around the body is another way that Africa has influenced some of the clothing that we wear. Designers like Junya Watanabe make full use of this technique for dramatic outfits and turbans like head wear but draping can also be used in much more subtle way. This year draping is a huge trend whether it be with softer fluid fabrics or stiffer cotton fabrics that produce more volume when draped.
African inspired clothing usually is brightly coloured and bold with royal blues, oranges, yellows and reds amongst the most commonly used colours. The vibrancy of these colours is what really brings the clothes to life with clashing and competing colours making an outfit very difficult to ignore.
There are also many accessories inspired by Africa with chunky beads and large bronze coloured plates. It is often said that if you are wearing bright patterned piece of clothing you should choose more subtle accessories so as not to compete. This does not apply to African inspired outfits where the more colour, the better. Big collar style African inspired necklaces are particularly popular this year when worn just overlapping the neckline of the dress so that it looks like they are actually part of the dress.
There is currently an abundance of patterns and prints in ladies clothing but there is often a lot of confusion amongst women as to which patterns and prints suit their style, shape and age. Consequently many of these stylish, printed clothes are being overlooked in favour of plainer pattern free alternatives. However, this can often result in women feeling like the contents of their wardrobe is very boring and longing for a bit of life to be injected into it.
This can be done quite easily with the addition of a few statement fashion pieces which feature a print or pattern. One of the biggest trends of recent times, when it comes to patterns and prints, is animal print but many women shy away from these particular prints as they believe them to be unflattering. Traditionally animal print, in particular leopard print, was viewed as something quite cheap and tacky. However, this is no longer the case and animal print has experienced something of a renaissance. Although there are many items of animal print clothing which still look quite cheap there is also a vast amount which looks stylish and classy. Care and attention must therefore be given to choosing a piece of animal print to ensure that any purchase made by a woman results in her looking sophisticated and tasteful.
For those trying to introduce animal print into their wardrobe or for those who are uncertain of the trend it may be advisable to start off small. For example why not begin by opting for small clothing additions such as animal print cardigans. Cardigans are great staple items which should be present with every womanâ??s wardrobe.  If the right animal print cardigans are chosen then they can be worn with a multitude of other fashion items including black trousers or alternatively it can be worn over a dress. Animal print cardigans are a subtle way of reflecting this trend but for some women cardigans arenâ??t quite subtle enough. For those women it is advisable that they rely upon trimmings, belts and other accessories to reflect the animal trend.
Animal print accessories such as belts represent a great way of injecting this particular trend into an outfit. In addition to this it is great for women who are unsure as to whether they are able to carry this particular trend off or not. Accessories are versatile and can therefore be worn with a range of ensembles but more importantly they are extremely understated, consequently allowing the wearer to ease herself into this trend gently.
Although animal print was previously seen as something cheap and that many thought that the women who wore animal print somewhat resembled Bet Lynch but this is no longer the case. Rather animal print can be seen as classy and sophisticated and moreover it can add a youthful feel to an outfit. However, it is still recommended that time is taken to find the right piece of animal print clothing and that not too much animal print is worn at once, one item of animal print clothing per outfit is sufficient.
The animal print dress is a key style for this year with a variety of animals lending there beautiful patterns to dresses ranging from mini to maxi. Animal print has been in and out of fashion for many years with slightly different variations keeping each seasons look fresh and new. Traditionally leopard print is probably the most popular of animal prints for dresses. A few seasons ago we witnessed the leopard print on a smaller scale for a more delicate and understated look. It has also been popular in muted and faded colours, grey and blacks and even bright colours as seen at British designer Christopher Kane’s catwalk shows.
Animal print and particularly leopard skin print has gained itself a bit of a reputation over the years as being just a little bit racy but when worn in the right way, they can instantly transform to classy. The latest animal print look to emerge for spring summer 2010 is a patchwork effect combining either the same or different types of animal print.
Here are some of the key animal prints to look out for:
Zebra print - this really is a fun print for wearing on a dress. The bold combination of black and white looks even brighter if combined with bright or primary colours. Try adding bright red, pink, green or blue accessories to a leopard print dress for an eye popping look. Zebra prints look best on women with dark brown, black or silver hair colours.
Leopard print - this classic animal print looks great when combined with black or camel accessories. Try wearing a leopard print dress with a classic beige trench for a really sophisticated look. You can also combine leopard print with other patterns for a really on trend look as seen at the Paul Smith spring summer catwalk shows. Leopard prints look great with caramel, brown and blonde hair colours.
Giraffe print - another fun print, giraffe, is great for combining with the seasons neutrals. Dresses in this print are fairly unusual but probably tend to be slightly more casual in style, great for combining with a faded denim jacket for a relaxed Sunday afternoon.
Snakeskin -Alexander McQueen really worked snakeskin on the catwalk for spring and summer 2010. With dresses and accessories in multi coloured snakeskin inspired prints. Snake skin is usually used for accessories particularly shoes and handbags but this summer snakeskin will also be a feature on printed dresses.  These deep coloured prints are all about texture giving the appearance of a snakes shiny scaled skin. This look is glamorous and perfect for evening dresses.
Most animal prints are bold and eye catching but if you look carefully you can find an animal print dress that is more subtle. Look for prints that contain this summers neutrals, camels and beiges and combine with shoes and accessories in understated nude colours. grey and white combinations also look much more subtle than black and white versions.
An animal print dress will look amazing in any animal print or a mixture when combined with this seasons safari jacket and tan leather handbag and sandals. For a really stunning animal print dress, there are sequined or metallic animal skin prints available or even some with just a little bit of shimmer.