"I believe in style, not fashion."
-Ralph Lauren
There are several trends this year, and season, you should absolutely avoid. The French are less taken in by trends and stick to a more classic/conservative wardrobe. American women are often slaves to trends and everything nouveau. Not only is this bad for one's finances, but the environment as well. A recent global study by Fashion United UK, noted that Americans do not wear up to 82% of the clothing in their closets. Yet we continue to purchase one trend after the next. According to the Wall Street Journal, "American shoppers snap up about five times more clothing now than they did in 1980." (Dana Thomas, The High Price of Fast Fashion, April 2019).
1. Please no more, my eyes are bleeding. Hot Pink clothing seems to be everywhere, especially after Valentino launched the Pink Dreams campaign earlier this fall. I have never been a fan of pink. I like pink in soft and small doses, perhaps a crisp medium-pink button-down shirt or a preppy baby-pink sweater. However, the pink trending as of late is eye-piercing pink, flaming-pink, pink in all of its hell glory. This is by no means angel-pink and the flame will go out just as fast. Even Valentino left this eyesore behind and is revving up to entice us with shades of purple, fuchsia and gold for the holidays. Quelle Horreur? Don't buy that either! It's like a bad goulash.2. The oversized blazer. If you are a woman that is out of shape, this is the trend that will make you look even more so. If you are tall, small bosomed, and pencil thin like a runway model, you will look completely androgenous. If you are petite, you will appear to be wearing your father's old clothes. If you are overweight, this will add another ten pounds. This look does zero favors for most women, and if you add the baggy "boyfriend-style" jeans with the oversized sloppy blazer, you will simply look homeless or suddenly shrinking.
3. Nail art is tacky. Not only is having nails so long that art can be displayed on them tacky, but I can assure you Michelangelo never imagined he would see a version of the Sistine Chapel lacquered onto a woman's nails. Women of high distinction do not apply nail art. This has become the acquisition of those with uncultivated tastes and much needed intellectual pursuits, and at present not the economy for frivolous, unnecessary spending.
4. Combat boots and short skirts. Young women, mostly in central and eastern Europe are quite taken with this style. It's as if they are heading off to battle and then maybe a discotheque after. They tend to pair these clunky, unattractive boots with leather shorts and skirts, and black stockings. Some even add a beret in some misconstrued idea they are being fashionable. I am not a huge fan of miniskirts, as they lend nothing to an elegant appearance. To then add any sort of boot with them is reminiscent of the 1990s. It's an outdated look and one that is undeserving of a reappearance.
5. Floral farm girl maxi dresses. If your desire is to hide ALL of your sex appeal, this is the look for you. These Little House on the Prairie dresses have been all the rage for the past few years, adored in particular by southern ladies, and the Hamptons and Palm Beach set. If you wear this look anywhere else in the world, outside of perhaps the Hawaiin Islands, you will appear deranged. Everyone will stare and perhaps giggle. French women, of course, never supported this look. It was completely avoided as an American atrocity.
I see so many wayward young women today taken in by looks worn by musicians and artists and lost Hollywood starlets, and in turn using these uncultivated styles to "influence" other equally wayward young women. To put it simply, if you are adorning yourself with visibly false eyelashes, long fake nails (with nail art!), mermaid hair extensions down to your waist, a face heavy with makeup, a logoed designer purse, topped off with visible tattoos and a mini skirt, you are heading in the wrong direction. This is the look globally associated with street walkers, not ladies who wish to look elegant, intelligent or expensive.
My advice is always to stick with a classic foundation and add an accoutrement of personal style. This is the key to being chic and elegant. Simply going by the standards of the fashion world is uneducated. The media driven fashion machine is mostly a world of fantasy and art, not a sane person's directory of what to wear out to dinner.
