If you live in the Northern hemisphere you’ve seen the last of the warm weather collections for 2009. Even as many of us fight through a heat wave, retail stores are about to stock up on Autumn and Winter merchandise. Absurd I know, but that’s the nature of the crazy retail cycle.

You know the drill. YLF closes every retail season with a “best and worst”. Raves today, rants tomorrow. I would also like to hear your closing thoughts on the last six months of fashion.

Here are my general raves:

• Superb recessionary pricing structure: In all my retail years, I’ve never seen a fashion season as heavily discounted as this one. So many bargains!
• Brilliant accessory selections: Accessories are the fasted and cheapest way to inject a bit of new into an existing wardrobe. Scarves, bracelets, belts, handbags, hose, headbands, watches, wallets, hats, pins, necklaces and earrings have been particularly strong this year. What a clever retail reaction to our tough economic climate.
• Delicious 80’s revival of fashion: Designers have taken inspiration from “the decade of anti-fashion” and made it killer. I’m blown away with how creatively and successfully the best of 80’s styling has been re-interpreted.

More specifically:

• Dresses and tunics: Stores have generally shown an excellent assortment if you were prepared to dry clean, hand wash and wear sleeveless. I’ve managed to do major frock and tunic shopping with clients this season, which is not the norm.
• Leggings: We’ve seen the best selection of leggings ever: zippered, studded, ruched, embossed and stirrup styles in all sorts of fabrications, colours and leg lengths. The perfect accessory to dresses and tunics and a totally fabulous look.
• Biker inspired styles: Tough edge fashion looks continue to trend and they are close to my heart. The huge assortment of both subtle and overt motorcycle detailing on all sorts of wardrobe items has been inspiring. Something for everyone.
• Boyfriend items: I’m not drawn to boyfriend jeans, but enjoyed boyfriend-inspired items like cardis, jackets, watches and shirts. I got a nostalgic kick out of the shoulder pad trend in boyfriend blazers and hope to find a version that works for me.
• Volume: Banded tops, sack dresses and cascading cardigans have been winning waist-less pieces. They are an excellent way to camouflage muffin top and add a fun, arty element to your look.
• Silver grey: This has been the season for grey. As popular as black and white, I’ve enjoyed seeing grey function as another versatile neutral.
• Sea of green, yellow and turquoise: It’s nice to see how this fresh Summer palette has been embraced by retailers and consumers.
• White items: Warm weather is about adding white items to ensembles. With the fab selection of white tops, jeans, dresses, skirts, shoes and accessories, it’s been easy to incorporate an instantly fresh Summery look into your style.
• Gladiators: The sandal of the season has been stellar, making it possible to refresh past season’s outfits with the addition of this single item. Even I managed to get a comfortable pair, which was a tall order.
• Colourful non-patent handbags: Loads of magnificent handbags in matte fabrications and interesting textural tones have made a welcome change to the sea of patent we’ve seen over the last three years.
• Deeper assortment of higher rise jeans: While there is still a shortage of fabulously fitting jeans with higher, girdling rises, stocks have improved. Let’s hope this trend gains momentum next season.

Bring on the raves, ladies. I’m excited to hear your impressions.

The house of Valentino came out with a collection of sculptured handbags that was second to none this season. Just for fun, here are my insanely unaffordable dream handbags that represent the very best of Spring and Summer 2009. Perhaps I’ll find them on eBay one day.

When denim button down shirts started resurfacing in prêt-à-porter collections, I thought, you’ve GOT to be joking. But the penny dropped five minutes later as I saw a whole slew of outfit combinations before me. Now I can’t wait to add the worn looking item back into my wardrobe.

Denim shirts have been around for decades and most of us have probably worn them at some point in our lives. Remember the Levi’s version with the press stud buttons that was “it” in the early 90’s? I had one of those and loved wearing it open with black 501’s, a lace camisole and Docs. I don’t want to wear a denim shirt in that way again, but I like the idea of creating a dressier vibe with a similar denim shirt.

Picture this:

Denim shirt rolled up at the sleeves + lace camisole + dressy black skirt + black patent obi belt + refined textured hose + dressy heels and chunky pearls

I love to create contrast in my ensembles. Not only with colour, but also by mixing different levels of dressiness. As I write this I’m wearing a dressy, sea green, shantung blouse over a casual pair of denim clamdiggers, matched with a skinny, studded, black double wrap belt. It’s the same idea as pairing a rigid biker jacket with a soft feminine scarf, casual Converse with luxurious white pearls, or a sophisticated black sheath with a worn out webbing belt.

As soon as I find a denim shirt that works, I’ll post the looks I have in mind. Better yet, if you have the elements in your wardrobe, post a picture of your remixed denim shirt combinations on our forum as inspiration. So ladies, are you as excited as I am about giving a denim shirt new life?

Ignore the prices of these designer examples. I posted them so you can see what’s in the fashion pipeline. You can thrift a suitable denim shirt for $15 and achieve a fabulous remixed look.

In American English a jumper is a sleeveless, collarless dress that you wear over a blouse, shirt or knitted top. In British English, a jumper is a pullover, or what Americans call a sweater. South Africans call this a jersey (and use “sweater” to describe a knitted long sleeved T). I call an American jumper a pinafore, and have a love-hate relationship with the item after being forced to wear one as part of a school uniform for 12 years.

When I used the word “pinafore” in the States I got blank stares. I used the word “jumper”, meaning sweater, and got equally confused looks. But I can’t get used to the American usage because a jumper will always be an item of knitwear in my mind. So, I now use “dress” when I mean pinafore. I use the words “pullover” and “cardigan” when I’m referring to knitwear. I keep the word “jumper” for home.

When I have a change of heart about a fashion item, I own up to it. If you’ve been with YLF since its inception, you might remember that I was challenged by skinny jeans when they first resurfaced over three years ago. I blogged about not liking the look and being unable to wear skinnies again after wearing them to death in the 80’s. But shortly after that, I was all over the silhouette and subsequently wrote about giving them a second chance. I’m grateful I did, because my wardrobe wouldn’t function without multiple pairs of skinny jeans.

I’ve had a similar change of heart about harem pants and it took a trip Israel to help me get the look. When I saw women wearing harem pants with sass in Tel Aviv, I felt silly and narrow-minded that I’d boxed the trend as a no-no. Shame on me. But I know better now. While I’m still not a fan of the styles with very low hanging crotches, the others look great. The harem and harem-esque style pants in jersey knit and denim that you see pictured here get my vote.  If I could find a woven silk pair, I’d definitely give them a try. The cropped versions remind me of pedal pushers and knickerbockers, which I loved wearing 25 years ago. I guess I got a little nostalgic on this one.

But the harem pants below don’t make it through my filter. They look like nappies gone wrong no matter how you wear them. I wonder if the trend will stick around? My guess is that the more wearable styles with regular fitting rises will become more mainstream while the others will fall away. Time will tell.