Accessories are a booming healthy sector of the fashion
market. Everywhere there is a huge demand for accessories.
The fact the accessory market is so healthy means designers can actually
be creative with their designing. Many fashion designers
are coming up with off the wall
ideas which amuse and attract buyers.
Extreme bag creations are often perceived as more attractive
fashion accessories by consumers who want to stand out in a crowd. Many people
are no longer shy about being early adopters or of deliberately
inventive self styling and are now choosing to look different
from their peers. Whilst there are many separate pages for
bags and
jewellery on site, this web page concentrates on new fashion
accessories for spring summer 2007 looking at key accessory
trends in bags, belts, scarves, jewellery, mobile phones,
parasols and headwear.
Fashion accessories update a look more than anything else.
This oversized bag shown left and from Debenhams puts this
photograph firmly into 2007. Read more about 2007
fashion trends in
big bags here.
Left Designers at Debenhams purple puff sleeve dress £45/€70
from the range called Jeans by Jasper Conran. J Jeans by Jasper Conran cork buckle
platforms £40/€62; Red Herring slouch bag £25/€38; Mood
bracelets £4/€7. Images courtesy Debenhams PLC.
Remember whilst accessories do update an outfit it's also
wise to keep your fashion look to one or two main more quirky
statements a season.
Clutch fashion bags are an instant update and luxury features
such as suede linings add a high end feel. If
choosing a designer bag always carefully observe the
hardware buckles, chain and catches and opt for bags with both a
quality trim and a custom look. If you are over a woman over 40 go for quality and
ensure the rest of your outfits are based on classic items.
For
certain events a heavy large handbag might sometimes be wrong and a smaller
bag a better choice. Whilst for a casual situation, a straw, raffia, shell or
bamboo bag may look much more the correct accessory than a polished
business like designer leather frame bag.
Instead of a formal handbag the best alternative for some
circumstances may be great jewelled evening
purses in hard or soft fabric styles.
This 'Occasionwear'
evening purse right and from Debenhams has the convenience of an underarm
bag and the look of a clutch. It's studded with oversized square
crystals following the latest designer catwalk trend of the
season. Great value too for any event with a hint of
occasion about it.
Jewellery effects have been moving onto plainer evening bags
for some time. These are not traditional bugle beaded bags
of old, but bags with jewel trim finish or actual hardware jewel
object especially on the minaudière or along chain clutch like
this one from Dune.
Right - Image courtesy of Dune - Dune 'Mintow' clutch bag
perfect for evening,
£50/€70.
The
decoration has the look of a clutch with a flower corsage
attached, but of course worked in beads.
Those who own fabulous large gemstone jewellery
brooches or 1980s costume jewellery can simply pin one to a
plain clutch and give it an instant update.
The fashion trend for designers using oversized chunky
Swarovski crystals on clothing has also spread into jewellery
styles.
Read more
about Swarovski here and their new Xilion cut.
Many manufacturers produce crystal, but Swarovski crystal is
top notch. This Swarovski necklace with heart and bow
pendant is from Vivienne Westwood available from Harrods combines several looks.
Right - Vivienne Westwood bow and heart pendant £89.95 - Rhodium
plated white metal and Swarovski crystals.
This crystal bracelet left is a mass market item and quite a fashion snip. It captures the
look of the trendiest styles on offer and at a bargain price
from Matalan where bracelets start at the low price of £4.
Note how similar
the style of crystal decoration is to that on the bag above.
Watches and jewellery are also going through a period of
record growth. Even though the price of precious metals
has soared gold sales for example are still increasing annually. The market for luxury goods is seeking rarity or distinctive
qualities that makes an item stand apart from the norm.
Strong jewellery trends include zoological influenced jewellery
designs with owls, bugs
and butterflies.
The
company also ships to UK, but
you must contact them for the special shipping and payment
arrangements.
Coloured
precious gems have gained consumer interest again and this season there is plenty of
competitive good colourful costume jewellery in the
stores.
Current costume jewellery is not only affordable, but also stylish and modern.
A great deal of it pays homage to sixties looks with space
odyssey futuristic and metallic effects. Do check out chunky
link chain
necklaces like those sold by House of Fraser.
Left - modern trends
in fashion jewellery from Debenhams show how circular pendants
with dream catcher looks continue the snowflake pendant frenzy
seen over the holiday season.
Read more about new
jewellery
looks here.
Various actresses have been seen adopting spectacles not just
as vision requirement, but purely as an accessory. Just as women have for decades bought clothes to reflect
their mood so now they are opting for wardrobes of spectacles
just as they have rows of fashion handbags especially it bags.
Glasses are becoming as important to some women as shoes with
no one pair of spectacles identifying a woman’s look.
Inter season cruise collections are a real hint of trends we
will see later in the shops when the real season occurs. Although the optical field is still dominated by metal frames
the oversized sunglass trend means that the influence is passing
to other eyewear.
Big Jackie O sunglasses
like these right and from house of Fraser may be a fashionable alternative to the Raybans.
For 2007 look out for rounder silhouettes to spectacles and
stylish feminine frames with more body in coloured plastics and
mottled tortoiseshell effects. Make your next pair of
spectacles have plastic
coloured frames to stay ahead of the fashion in glasses.
Ray-ban wayfarers sunglasses are the frames of now. But even
if Raybans and oversized sunglasses are all the rage, ask
yourself, 'do they suit me?' Nothing is more unflattering
than a spectacle frame that is wrong for your face.
There
are plenty of straight exotic looking scarves in the shops.
These can be used to tie as headbands or worn conventionally to
elongate the body.
But
the newest look is that of big printed square head-scarves
draped around the shoulders or worn as cowboy style neck cowls.
They are a simple easy way to adopt the more exuberant lively
patterns of Spring 2007 and a whole generation have probably
never sported this particular variety of the scarf fashion
accessory.
If you are convinced the
largest floral cabbage rose patterns may do less for your
shape than you hope, then purchase a scarf which is kept at
neckline level rather than wear extreme pattern as a skirt or
blouse.
This beautiful silk
Pucci scarf left is from Harrods and is printed with all the
colours you need to see you through 2007.
The purple, blue,
turquoise and cerise will enliven any plainer outfit. The square headscarf is an easier 80s trend
for everyone to wear
than some of the electric punk colours on offer in 80s inspired
clothing styles. Electric colours can be harsh
against the skin if worn as a solid colour. Image
courtesy of Harrods is of Harrods Pucci scarves - Multi-coloured Lava or Pink Lette
Leaf designs (£159).
One
accessory that has been downgraded for many years is the
parasol. I'm someone who cannot stay in the heat of the sun so I was thrilled
to find this lovely pagoda parasol on sale at the Dotcomgiftshop. This English rose design Edwardian
Parasol. (Code: 15059A) is just £10.95.
Whether or not you have a medical reason to stay out of the
sunshine a parasol will help protect your complexion from damage
and ageing.
In days gone by no young lady would have dreamt of taking a
promenade without a parasol to protect her peaches and cream
complexion. Now you can add a little ladylike Edwardian
glamour to life with this pretty parasol. The unique design with
tasselled handle is taken from
original Edwardian fashion
plates. As you can see this beautiful Turquoise has a very
summer like look.
Turbans were featured in summer shows and are perfect to
cover up messy hair on the beach and especially useful for those
between hairstyles. Turbans are perfect for fashion
shoots, but unless you are an early adopter think twice if a
turban is really a must have for your personal list. In my
opinion there are better looks that define this season.
But you never know they could be all the rage by autumn!
If
you need to get your hands on the turban style then House of Fraser have a selection. They also sell headbands as
do most stores this season. An
easy headband is simply any scarf tied around the head.
If you fancy a diamanté style Alice band then look no further
than Marks and Spencer or Accessorize.
Glove manufactures are reporting a rise in order enquiries.
Not surprising when we are living in a fashion era currently
based a silhouette trend for elbow to wrist exposure. This
season there are plenty of gauntlet and longer length gloves in
a wide range of colourations with fancy trims, contrast piping,
bows and buttons or other novel effects.
Legwear has been in the doldrums for a decade, but fall has
seen a rise in the wearing of exciting new leg wear looks.
Danskin found sales last year tripled in spring 2006 and by then
had also started to produce lines for department stores. This
spring is all about shorter dresses which may be way too short
for many women. One way to cope with shorter looks is to
wear footless tights, leggings textured, lace or coloured
tights.
However it's clear that high street retailers have been slow
to fill the hosiery sections. Women are looking for interesting
legwear only to find that hosiery departments have become run
down and that space once allocated to a colourful selection of
tights and other legwear has been eroded by the rise of the
handbag as an object of desire.
Newer legwear objects of desire
for the young include neon fishnet stockings and footless leggings in metallic gold and silver offer
alternatives to a softer almost 'hidden' metallic look.
American Apparel sell metallic footless tights. However as
spring moves on I feel this trend will be the wrong look for high
summer.
Tights or pantyhose are not what they once were and women
know tights are more comfortable to wear than earlier versions
were. Some brands now use Body Care by Lycra yarn which releases
small beads of moisture that soothe and moisturise dry legs.
The moisturisers last for over 20 washes. Marks and
Spencer have their version of such moisturising comfort wear
tights called Bodysensor.
Coolmax is
another product used in hosiery.
Generally belts are either pencil narrow or extra deep. Right bow tie belt from French Connection.
The front fastening of belts is often highlighted by extra
straps or ornate buckles or other decorative hardware fittings. If there is no buckle maybe you'll find a bow, general
texture, pleating or ruching on that belt, bag or shoe.
Many belts are strongly coloured in bright primary hues or
other strong tones including hot pink, electric blue, vibrant
yellow or green. Neutrals like these tones here are
always in fashion.
Cutwork lace and appliqué effects which have been seen on
handbag surfaces has moved onto belts as shown in this image
right.
Some belts and pocket welt bands have top-stitching in rows
set 8mm apart - a 1970s 'topstitching' trend is back.
Fashion designers have been slowly moving into designing
mobile phones. Not content with adding watches and
jewellery to fashion clothing ranges Versace, Dolce&Gabbana and
Kate Spade have all designed for mobile phone companies.
Now Prada has joined these designers to produce a sleek black
mobile phone. This is a contrast to the gold branded
cellphone that
Dolce&Gabbana produced with Motorola.
Style has become increasingly important to mobile phones
regarded by many as accessories rather than a communication
tool. This is not surprising when one realises many people leave
the house not with a huge 'it' bag, but just a mobile phone
hanging from a wristlet.
As mobile phones have become smaller and more unnecessary
features have been tagged on, so the numerals for keying have
become miniscule. Cellphone designers take note - those
who need reading glasses are very irritated by small mobile
phones, but with already undersized numerals forced out by other
add-ons. With baby boomers turning sixty this year someone
or some company could make fortune if they designed a classy
looking mobile phone with easy to read numerals without the user
having to burrow for their reading spectacles.
Blonde highlights just are not seen on anyone, apart from those who
have missed the news or been hibernating. The modern bob continues
since a well cut bob
demands minimal attention for busy working women. Victoria Beckham's adoption of
her particular bob look may be the kiss of death to
it or bring even more interesting variations. Personally I
like her bob cut with her elfin face. But if you have a
few decades on her, then remember a centre parting can be very
harsh and severe making you look more Plain Jane than Pretty
Polly.
Ponytails have melted into twisted buns,
side partings have moved back to the centre and plaited braids
and big hair have all been shown in the past months.
Modern make up can be bright 80's make up around the eyes and cheeks,
although some may find the eye make up in particular too vulgar,
too colourful and lurid. Amy Winehouse thickly spread
eyeliner may be fine when you have no natural under eye bags,
but adopt the look with caution and refine it to soften it a
little. You are sure to be noticed. Metallic eye make up and
pastel pink pale lipstick or a
mere smear of foundation gives the blocked out look
that blends well with futuristic clean space odyssey looks.
Fingernails of course can shine with Chanel Black Satin nail polishes.
Pale looks are in, but if you have to wear shorts, then lightly tanned legs do look nicer. 'Dove' is the new St Tropez
or Fake Bake self tanning system and provides a daily build-up of
a fashionable soft gentle coloured tan.
It's not just tights that have been challenged
over the past decade, but also lip gloss use rose through the
nineties. Some women are even addicted to the taste of
Lancôme's Juicy Tubes. Others loathe the way that these
sticky lip glosses can easily imprint on cups, drinking glasses
and teeth.
Lip gloss has had its moments in other fashion
history eras and was very popular as a lipstick sealant during
the early seventies for that Kathy Kirby/Joan Collins look. Too many of the modern lip glosses
are shimmering too much and this is not a good look with
shimmering fabrics. If you shimmer in one area of your overall
look you must tone down other areas otherwise you will look like
a fairy on a Christmas tree. But now lipstick is back, possibly newly cased in
a gorgeous gilded container and for 2007 the colour to adopt is
pink. I'm already converted to the colour, but nothing
will stop my addiction to the staying power of Max Factor
Lipfinity.
So even if you have very little to spend on the
accessories above I'm sure your budget will run to a new pale
pink lip colour as you step into summer.
Read more about these colours and about
fabrics on the Spring 2007 colour page.
Fashion-Era.com looks at women's costume and fashion history and analyses the mood of an era. Changes in technology, leisure, work, cultural and moral values. Homelife and politics also
contribute to lifestyle trends, which in turn influence the clothes we wear. These are the changes that make any era of society special in relation to the study of the costume of a period.
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