Shoes

Shimmer for the Holiday season and into resort

 in Bay Area Fashion / General Fashion / Shoes / Trends  tagged holiday fashion / holidays 2010 / resort 2011 / spring 2011 by

The holiday season is fast approaching and stores are beginning to put out holiday shopping displays, gifts ideas and catalogs. As the holiday season approaches, party invitations begin to arrive in the mail, email or via social networking. One of the challenging parts of the holiday season is finding formal or party attire that is festive, easy to wear and not too cool as the temperatures drop. Thankfully, the upcoming resort season includes shimmer, sequins and everything that sparkles, allowing Fashionistas to find holiday attire that can also be worn during the resort and spring seasons; as well as the wraps that can keep us warm.

Adding shimmer to a holiday outfit is part of the fun in keeping the holiday season full of sparkle and a festive outlook. Formal dresses can always have shimmer or sparkle and are an easy way to shine at a formal event or cocktail party. Another bright and cheery way to add sparkle to a holiday outfit is by pairing a sequin top with dark jeans for a girl’s night out, velvet trousers for a semi-formal evening, grey wool trousers for daytime shimmer or even a leather skirt, black leather winter shorts, wool shorts; ahhh, the possibilities are endless. Sequin tops that are a solid color are the easiest to create outfits with and also have better lasting power year after year. 

Another easy way to add shimmer to a holiday outfit is through accessories. Metallic shoes and handbags are a great way to add shimmer to an outfit for day or night. A metallic or sequin wrap is also a great way to spice up a little black dress, or other solid colored frock for formal events, cocktail parties and semi-formal occasions.  Stella McCartney has a great shimmer top which can easily be worn during the day with white pants in spring or for evening occasions with black leather short or velvet trousers for the holidays. O

f course, leave it to Jimmy Choo to create amazing shimmer shoes that be worn all year long; click here to see! Donna Karen has a fabulous black, body conscious sweater for the holiday season which can still be worn alone on cool, early spring evenings. This sweater is great for daytime or evening, plus it is easy to layer for additional warmth. Fabulous!  Jewelry is another way to add sparkle to an outfit whether or not the garments have shine, does not matter! This bracelet by Fragments for Neiman Marcus a-ma-zing! Cookie Lee has a ton of sparkle for the holiday season at fabulous prices. Click here for Cookie Lee shopping info. Sparkle and shimmer is part of the fun for the holiday season; and thankfully it is also part of the resort trends!

There was also sparkle and shimmer on the runways for spring 2011, so this is a great time to invest in at least one garment with some shimmer. Look for basic colors such as silver and black. When choosing colors, look for softer colors that can carry into spring such as muted plum, pastels and light tans. Sequins and shimmer always swings into fashion for the holiday season, so anything with a bit of flash is perfect for holiday investment dressing. Thankfully, shimmer is also part of the resort and spring trends, making sequins and everything that sparkles the perfect investment for now and into 2011. Happy shopping and stay fabulous.

Shimmertop Sparkleshoes

Photos: Cathy/Bay Area Fashionista 2010©

Spring 2011 fashion trends: Candy Colored Shoes

 in Color Trends / General Fashion / Shoes / Trends  tagged candy colors / spring 2011 / summer 2011 by

The resort collections are always a snapshot of what designers will be showing for spring. The current resort collections are filled with candy colors of bubble gum pink, bright purple, sunshine yellow, apple green, burnt orange and cherry red. At the conclusion of the New York, Paris and Milan runways, the color scheme was much broader than that of resort with the addition of black rocker chic, dreamy pastels, ocean blues, crisp whites and shades of beige. In addition to the color palettes on the clothing, designers opted for candy colored shoes in suede, satin and leather.

Nina Ricci showed cherry pie red and sunshine yellow sandals with floral embellishments. Christian Dior showed single colored and two tone, bright high heeled sandals with wrap up straps paired with nautical color palettes, crisp white, pastels and candy colored frocks. Gucci showed jewel tone, thin strap sandals with metallic gold ankle straps. Versace included bright turquoise sandals amid neutrals in her spring runway collection.

As resort rolls onto store shelves, designers such as Lanvin and Yves Saint Laurent are showing brightly colored sandals and wedges. Many designers are mixing two or three, unexpected candy colors together such as yellow with pink or pink with orange.

Candy colored shoes is a great trend to follow if you enjoy adding a bit of pop to an outfit. A candy colored shoe can instantly update an outfit from last year or add a bit of sass to a neutral outfit or crisp white dress. Just in case the candy colored trend is one that is fleeting, investing in one pair of shoes is more cost effective than purchasing multiple items of clothing in candy colors that may not be in fashion come 2012. Hopefully candy colors have staying power past this spring. After several years of neutrals and minimalism, bright, happy colors are a breath of fresh of air. Happy shopping and stay fabulous. 

Spring 2011 Fashion Trends: Rocker Chic

 in General Fashion / Shoes / Trends  tagged rocker chic / spring 2011 / summer 2011 by

Rocker Chic appeared on many of the spring 2011 runways including Burberry Prorsum and Chanel. The Rocker Chic trend includes black leather pants, black leather shorts, motorcycle jackets, leather skirts, studs, fingerless gloves, heavy make-up and edgy jewelry. Unlike the Rocker Chic trend a few years back, the spring 2011 trend is sleeker and more understated than the last time around.

Designers included small studs in both gold and silver on the spring runways for 2011. The studs appeared mainly on accessories such as handbags, shoes, gloves and cuffs. The studded handbags from a few years back were heavily studded and included large hardware on the straps. For spring 2011 the studs are more minimal; being shown as trim around the edges of handbags.

The Rocker Chic footwear for spring 2011 included motorcycle style boots; both ankle and knee high. The boots include studs, buckles and zipper-like details as well as other, small metal embellishments.

Rocker Chic is a trend which is not being done head-to-toe for spring 2011. The look is to be understated with one or two hardcore pieces mixed together with basics or minimalist pieces. You can pair studded footwear with Levi’s and a tee-shirt or a motorcycle jacket over a soft sundress with classic sandals. You may want to look for one or two pieces of this trend that catch your eye such as a handbag or fabulous pair of boots, and then mix the items in with the rest of your wardrobe.

This is one trend that can easily be found in many Fashionistas closet’s. Since the Rocker Chic trend was around just about three to four years ago, many fashion savvy shoppers have motorcycle boots and black leather tucked away in their closets. Also, Balenciaga lovers will be right on trend with their BBags in any style of hardware.

The Rocker Chic trend can easily be found on store shelves right now, making it one of spring’s trends that can be jump started right now. Nine West currently has fabulous ankle booties with studs for fall which can be worn now throughout 2011; after all, the ankle bootie is a huge shoe trend for spring 2011 too! In fact, the Nine West collection for fall includes multiple rocker chic pieces which can easily carry you into fall, and the prices are not too shocking on the wallet  Happy Shopping and stay fabulous 

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Fall boots from Nine West at Nordstrom Valley Fair. Photo Credit: Bay Area Fashionista ©2010