The Best of Spring and Summer 2008

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Angie is co-founder of YLF and its resident fashion stylist.

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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

The Best of Spring and Summer 2008

— by Angie

on August 6, 2008

End of season sales are drawing to a close and it won’t be long before stores are full of Autumn and Winter merchandise. We’ve seen the last of Summer collections even though most of you have months of hot weather to endure (it’s that crazy retail cycle again). If Summer is your dominant season, remember to stock up now.

You know the drill. YLF closes every retail season with a “best and worst”. Raves today, rants tomorrow. I enjoy hearing your final thoughts on the last six months of fashion. Here are my raves:

White jeans: The ultimate warm weather bridging piece. Everything looks good with a pair of white bottoms.
Clamdiggers: A versatile cropped pant option and the perfect answer to the Summer skinny.
Shirt dresses: Great over skinnies or on their own. A classic piece that can be interpreted in a multitude of ways.
Bright coloured clothing and accessories: We saw every bright colour this season. Yellow, citron and tomato red are personal favourites with turquoise in the wings. I hope turquoise is a big colour next Spring.
Cardigans: It’s been the best cardigan season yet. Every colour, style, print and fabric composition was represented. This versatile item is a must in every wardrobe. Three cheers for fab cardigans.
Spring trenches: I was impressed with the style and colour choices this season. There was a great assortment and retailers thought further than the classic black and tan belted looks. Bravo.
Back and white: I love black, white and cream outfit combinations. It was great to have these choices alongside vibrant seas of colour in stores.
Cracked patent: Love it’s urban edge. Long may it last.
Voluminous trend: These silhouettes are liberating for the midriff area. Woman can look polished in looser styles if there’s strategic tailoring to other parts of the garment. I like having the voluminous trend alongside the body conscious trend. Ample choice in one fashion season is how it should be.
Longer length tops and tunics: An elegant and comfortable look that I continue to love.
Flat shoes: There was a superior assortment of comfortable flat shoes this year. The fact that I found three pairs is a miracle.
Waist belts: They make for a great polished hour glass look.
White accessories: White shoes, bags, belts and watches make a fresh and strong impact. My white watch, cream flats and cream trench are the best items I purchased this season.
Wedges: The quintessential modern heel. I can’t imagine my wardrobe without a stable sassy wedge.
Gladiators: A great way to dress down an outfit.
The re-birth of Banana Republic: Their new design team is stellar. After years of boring product, they have never looked better.

Hopefully you found loads to rave about this season. Let’s hear about it in the comments.

Spring 2008 · Summer 2008

21 comments · Add a comment

Nicole

My biggest rave for this season is the return of the tunic. (maybe it’s been back longer than one season, but things take a while to trickle down to me). I’m also with you Angie on the white jeans! I am also glad to see longer shorts. One thing I’ve noticed over the last 4 months, is women are dressing up more, more skirts and dresses and less pajama bottoms out in public. (Now if we could just get rid of Crocs.)

August 6, 2008 at 7:35 am

Nan

I agree Nicole…the dress/skirt is seen all over my office. Everyone seems to be embracing them and making them work this season! If I could pick only one favorite component of Angie’s list, it would be cardigans. I love cardigans in every sleeve length they make!

August 6, 2008 at 8:11 am

carissa

i most enjoy and wear white jeans, looser fitting (be it voluminous or tunic) tops, and the wedge. that or a variation is pretty much my uniform, as i stay home with the children.

i agree people are dressing up more, thankfully veering away from the whole brittney spears show the midriff style. awful.

August 6, 2008 at 8:26 am

Joy

The return of dresses and skirts has been a breath of fresh air. I hadn’t worn white bottoms for years and love them for summer. Clamdiggers are another favorite. I’m hoping they will be even stronger next spring. Love wedges!

A concern about cardigans…My very favorite style has been very cropped bolero style or nearly so that I found at Ann Taylor this summer, but I’m wondering if investing in more of this style is a mistake. Will they seem dated next summer? Longer lengths like the boyfriend cardigans for fall seem to be the new look. What length is safe to get at sales and will work next spring?

August 6, 2008 at 8:37 am

Morgan

My dominate season sounds much more fun than my dominant one.

August 6, 2008 at 9:07 am

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

The tunic has been back for 2-3 years Nicole, but it was new for you this season. I’m thrilled you recognize how great this look is for you. Don’t forget how much you love your new white watch!

Good point, Joy. I’d say that a basic little button up cardi is a classic basic. Sort of waist length or a little longer. The pukka ‘50’s style cardigan of you know what I mean.

August 6, 2008 at 9:49 am

Niecey

Angie. . . . . what is a pukka style cardigan? I have never heard of that term before. Can someone post a picture for me? Thanks !!!

August 6, 2008 at 10:09 am

Tanya

I have enjoyed a huge part of your list Angie. I too have discovered shirtdresses/tunics over skinnies/clamdiggers this summer, thanks to you. I also love white jeans ( and accessories), brights, wedges,patent and cardigans. I have also found three pairs of super-comfy flats, again thanks to you. And i got tons of stuff at BR, and judging by their early fall things, I may go bankrupt buying out half of their stores. I do not think I have ever enjoyed a season more fashionwise and hopefully the fall would be equally good.

August 6, 2008 at 10:09 am

Shell

i do love most of the items you mentioned, esp. Banana Republic becoming fashion-savvy!

i feel i may have missed out on some of the newer items b/c im still a poor college student, but it seems like many of these raves have carried over slightly from past seasons, so i still have most of them covered.

i am sort of a cardi fanatic, so i still have a huge assortment in nearly every color. my newest purchase though was a tomato red cropped cardi from BR, and i adore it. im wearing it today actually!

August 6, 2008 at 10:55 am

Joelle

I have incorporating a lot of the things on your list into my wardrobe this spring & summer. My favorites were bright colors, cardigans, black and white outfits, longer tops, and flat shoes. I am glad about the disappearance of the crop top–too many people were walking around wearing those things that really shouldn’t have. And I agree that Banana Republic has very much improved this year! I used to think of them as a good store to go to for basic items, but not much more. This year their designs were more interesting and they had more color variation.

August 6, 2008 at 11:02 am

Maya

Cracked patent, flats, gladiators, brights, Banana Republic, volume, and spring trenches all get my thumbs up.

I actually found this season to be one of the most disappointing shopping seasons in a long time (for me). Stores were full of trends I desperately wanted to wear but weren’t flattering on for one reason or another. I guess it’s a good thing since I couldn’t do much shopping anyway. I never did manage to find a shirtdress or a pair of clams that I liked.

I don’t know why but I generally do better with fall/winter trends, so I hope the coming season brings something better.

August 6, 2008 at 11:11 am

NancyF

(website)

@Niecey: “Pukka” simply means “proper.” It’s a Hindi word adopted by the British colonists during the Raj, and still used as a slang term in the UK (and the British diaspora).

August 6, 2008 at 11:48 am

Sal

(website)

Angie, I did buy a pair of white jeans on your recommendation, though I’ve yet to trot them out. Soon, I think! Everything else on your list lives happily in my wardrobe EXCEPT gladiators, tunics, and white accessories.

August 6, 2008 at 11:57 am

Ana

Clamdiggers, white bottoms, voluminous white blouse, and my chunky white watch! All these things were completely new to me, and they ended up being my favorites!

August 6, 2008 at 4:11 pm

Audi

(website)

This season I’ve loved the shirtdresses, tunics, waist belts, brights, cardis — pretty much everything on your list except for the gladiator sandals. I cannot WAIT for those awful things to go out of style. They make the legs look shorter and have no trace of femininity at all. Down with the gladiators!

August 6, 2008 at 5:21 pm

Jenn

(website)

I love, love, love the bright colors we’ve seen the past couple summers! Bright blue, wearable yellows and oranges, grass green – all of them. I can wear bright colors with white and denim – my two go-to bottoms. I always feel cheerier when I’m wearing a splash of bright color. Especially with white accessories.

This is a great list! I still have two months of summer (in Texas it’s almost always summer), so this is a good list to remind me what to look for on the sales racks. Thanks, Angie!

August 6, 2008 at 6:46 pm

Patricia

As nice as that white watch is…I would never pay $1,195 for this item. Do you have more affordable items for your readers?

August 7, 2008 at 6:45 am

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thank you for the explanation of pukka NancyF. “Pukka” means authentic, or “the real McCoy”. You were spot on.

There are loads of affordable white watches around, Patricia. The picture of this particular watch serves as eye-candy because it’s beautiful. Perhaps these posts will help:

http://youlookfab.com/2008/05/.....e-watches/

http://youlookfab.com/2008/04/.....ry-budget/

August 7, 2008 at 7:26 am

Patience

I love it all too! — white denim, voluminous tops, gladiators, waist belts, clamdiggers, white accessories, bright colors. These are my favorites

August 7, 2008 at 7:41 am

Julia

I’ve bought four pairs of flat shoes this year and they are my go to shoes now. Also the white watch and clamdiggers became my favorites after seeing them on YLF. Thanks Angie for introducing them to us!

August 7, 2008 at 9:23 pm

Joey

Thank you, Angie. I love your season must haves and season wrap up columns. I look forward to them each season. Your guidance in the must haves ends me up with season favorites. Mine were–the white watch, bright assessories, cracked patent, ivory flats, longer length tops, clam diggers and cropped cardis to go with DRESSES. Your tip on having contrasting buttons on my white trench was spot on. Bye, bye lab coat! Thanks again. This column helps me transition from my favorite season into the rest of the year.

August 9, 2008 at 6:09 am

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