spring 2011

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. 

The Colors of Spring 2011

 in Color Trends / General Fashion / Trends  tagged spring 2011 / summer 2011 by

The color palettes from the spring 2011 runways were varied and offered many choices for Fashionistas who may be picky about the colors they wear. Designers in New York, Pairs, Milan, London and now China have shown, or are showing, collections in crisp white, warm beige neutrals, bold mixed colors, whimsical soft pastels and rocker chic black. With trends for spring ranging from ladylike (feminine) to hippie chic to rocker chic to vintage, it is no wonder that the color palettes are varied and provide such a large range.

Although is has been argued that white is not actually a color, for literary purposes, we are going to consider it a color here at Bay Area Fashionista. 

Dolce & Gabbana created an almost all-white color palette for spring with feminine and carefree, yet structured frocks that signaled a turn towards a more carefree form of dressing for 2011. Other designer such as Badgley Mischka showed whimsical, soft colors that mimicked a dream or took onlookers back to a calm, floral meadow lined with willow trees. Bright and bold colors were mixed together at runway shows such as Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs who placed bold color choices together in color blocking or by mixing solid colored pieces and adding colored accessories which introduced an additional color. Although, since Marc Jacobs heads up Louis Vuitton, this could be why there was a similar color story in the runways shows.

Since many resort collections such as Dior, featured candy colors and neutrals, this is a great time to find brighter colors that interest you before the spring collections hit store shelves. While shopping for colors, look for bright solids that can be mixed together unexpectedly such as purple with green or burnt orange. Neutrals, black and white play an important part for spring, so these are always good colors to find inside your closet before pulling out the charge card  Happy shopping and stay fabulous.