Tag Archives: fashion style

2009

Top 10 Fashion Trends of 2009

2009

Fashion trends for 2009 include a rainbow of delicious colors, exotic prints, interesting fabrics and bold accessories. With most buyers scaling down their clothing budgets due to a tightened economy, fashion is becoming very focused. Make the most of your wardrobe dollars by choosing a few quality garments and accessories that capture the essence of 2009 fashion.

1.    Vibrant colors. In an effort to cheer a somewhat gloomy outlook, vibrant, electric, delicious colors are pulsing through the fashion scene. Fuchsia, electric blue, bright lemon yellow, vivid citrus greens, and deep purples top the list of popular colors. Soft pastels are also making a showing, so if you aren’t quite ready for the neons, try a garment in lavender or dusty rose. Slate Grey is one of the few neutrals currently seen on the runways, and is elegant for daytime or evening wear.

2.    The dress. Dresses are everywhere, especially those with asymmetric looks. Designs tend to be more modest and offer greater coverage than the previous strapless trends. The one-shoulder dress is a top pick for evening wear, as worn by First Lady Michelle Obadiah at the Inaugural Ball. Other dress styles include those with draped Grecian designs, full-length maxi dresses and 60’s inspired A-lines.

3.    Exotic patterns and materials. This year exotic prints, animal prints and tribal-inspired designs are everywhere, giving fashion fans lots of variety to choose from. The tribal motif continues on shoes and accessories with accents such as bead work, lots of fringe, and Southwest color palettes.

4.    Sheer fabrics. Sheer fabrics have quickly risen to become a leading trend. Fortunately for the average wearer, this style isn’t about baring it all, but more about adding interest and elegance to a look. Sheers are draped, flowing and layered.

5.    Jumpsuits. Believe it or not, the Dynasty-era women’s jumpsuit is back in a big way. Current styles include both fitted and drape cuts in a huge variety of fabrics and prints. Add a wide belt for instant chic.

6.    Harem pants. MC Hammer would fit right in with the current harem pant craze. This super comfortable look features a very loose cut through the thigh and crotch area, then gradually tapers to the knee, ankle or leg. It can be paired with just about any shoe, from sandals to boots.

7.    Statement jewelry. Jewelry is big and bold, and includes everything you could find at a vintage shop: chunky necklaces, exotic bangles and bracelets, massive rings and costume brooches.

8.    Accents such as flowers and bows. Feminine touches include pretty 3D floral accents at the shoulder, waistline and hem. Ruffles and bows are another recurring theme, particularly along hemlines. These girl accents also adorn accessories.

9.    An emphasis on the shoulder and sleeve. Eye-catching accents are everywhere on clothing these days, especially at the shoulder. Shoulders are receiving a lot of attention from the fashion world as the one-shoulder design peaks in popularity. Puffed, leg of mutton, bating, cap and kimono … regardless of what they’re called, sleeves are also hot.

10.    Daring shoes. Mile-high heels in interesting colors and textures, along with the bold gladiator sandal, are back this season.

Tween

What Is Tween Fashion?

Tween

A tween is a child who is almost a teenager. He or she is no longer a little kid, but also not quite an adolescent. He or she is at an in-between age, usually 10 to 12 years old. There are distinct fashion trends for this age that tend to be a compromise between parents and children. Gone are the days of frilly dresses, accessories, cute outfits of childhood. Parents have lost that complete control over what their child is willing to wear. However, for the most part parents are reluctant to allow their tweens to dress like teenagers. Tweens themselves also feel not quite confident enough for revealing outfits. Therefore the resulting compromise creates tween fashion.

Tweens are often seen in the more conservative young styles that are in fashion for teenagers. At this age, they choose a variety of colors and try out things that are not typical of younger kids. It is at this point when kids start to gravitate towards black and get away from the more childish styles. Tweens also like to choose dress up clothes that are much more grown up than anything they have worn previously. T-shirt dresses and mini-skirts are common choices. They are often toned down by adding tights or a sweater to help cover up a bit more. Jeans are also a hallmark of fashion for tweens.

Tween fashion also includes accessories. There are accessory stores which cater precisely to this group. Girls can find earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings, hair accessories and much more. The use of accessories allows them to customize their own style a little more and make it all their own.
Some of the best sites for finding true tween fashion include:

www.oldnavy.com
www.ae.com
www.aeropostale.com
www.forever21.com
www.gap.com
www.abercrombie.com

These stores are also commonly found in many shopping centers. They can provide entirely for a tween’s wardrobe. The choices found amongst their racks are all outfits that appeal to tweens, teens and even young adults. The tweens just tend to gravitate towards the less provocative items that these stores carry.

One of the hottest items in tween fashion is customized T-shirts. Tweens start to show their independence, sense of humor and their personality with their clothing choices. An easy way to do that is by choosing to wear T-shirts that say what you want them to say. Tween specialty stores like Justice for Girls and many other retailers carry ready made printed T-shirts that have cute sayings, funny remarks, interesting designs and more.

Tweens can also order their very own custom-made T-shirts that have exactly what they choose printed on them. You can order the color, size and style you want and then design the image or text that best represents you. Some great examples of what to have printed on your custom tee include:

•    Tweens rock
•    Eat, Sleep, Do Nothing
•    Peace, Love, Shopping
•    I heart soccer
•    When in doubt, ask your friends

Get your custom-made tween style T-shirt today and look your absolute best.

Style

How to Find Your Own Fashion Style

Style

Fashion is a constantly changing and evolving. The fashion industry and the media have a great amount of influence in determining what is considered fashion and what is not. It changes from season to season, place to place and age group to age group. In fact you can spend your whole life being told what is fashionable and what is not. However, following fashion advice can be time consuming and very expensive. For these reasons it is important to develop your own fashion style and use it as the basis of what you wear.

For anyone who is looking to find their own fashion style, there are many things to take into consideration and many things that can help you pinpoint a style that works for you. Ask yourself the following questions in order to get started.
•    What are your favorite colors and which colors look best on you? These will work well in your fashion style, because if you love the color you are more likely to wear it.
•    What types of patterns are you most attracted to? Do you like stripes, polka dots, plaids, modern prints or solids?
•    Do you prefer ultra feminine clothes, masculine styles or something in between?
•    Do you enjoy following fashion and love to be on the cutting edge of it or do you tend to lean towards items that are considered classic?
•    Can you go through your wardrobe and find items you bought 5 years ago that you wear still or do you invest in almost all-new stuff every season?
•    What are your favorite clothes? Is there one thing in your wardrobe that you have a predominance of?
•    When you look at fashion around you, is there one person’s style or one particular look that most appeals to you? Why don’t you emulate it?
•    Are your clothes divided into work clothes and casual clothes? Are there some things that carry over?
•    Is price were no object which designers would you wear or whose look would you copy?

By analyzing what you like and what you don’t and the things that attract you most in fashion, you can get a great basis for finding your own fashion style. Choosing to opt for the latest trends is one option. Only classic looks is another. However, in reality most people wear a mixture of both. Select classic things that you know you can get years of wear from and use them as the foundation for your wardrobe. They should be in your favorite colors and styles that you will look forward to wearing and that you know you look good in. Use fun additions from the season’s hottest items and accessories to personalize your own style.