André Courrèges and David Bowie pass away, Grace Coddington shifting roles at Vogue, the world’s most sustainable corporations, and other news from the style trenches this month.

• Iris Apfel has teamed up with Wise Wear for a line of wearable tech that looks like real jewellery.
• H&M is launching a collection of eco-friendly skincare products.
• In other news, the Swedish retailer is planning to open 425 more stores worldwide in 2016.
• André Courrèges, the innovative French fashion designer, passed away on January, 7.
• This month we sadly also had to say goodbye to legendary musician, pop chameleon and fashion icon David Bowie.
• For its next fashion collaboration Target has teamed up with spinning giant SoulCycle.
• Grace Coddington is shifting roles at Vogue. She will continue on as Creative Director at Large and take on outside projects.
• An Alexander McQueen biopic is in the works.
• Manolo Blahnik will also be profiled in an in-depth documentary.
• Here’s a first look at the new Uniqlo and Christophe Lemaire Spring collection.
• Mattel is adding tall, curvy and petite body types to its Barbie doll line.
• Two museums dedicated to Yves Saint Laurent are opening in 2017.
• This Summer, Athleta is introducing Athleta Girl, a line for girls aged 6 to 14.
• According to Canadian research group Corporate Knights, Adidas, H&M, and Marks & Spencer are among the world’s most sustainable corporations.
• J.Crew just launched its first full-fledged sunglasses collection.
• Guess has released smart jeans that promise to moisturize and calm your Winter-dry legs.
• Uber is planning to make same-day deliveries in select U.S. cities for retailers like Nordstrom, Rent the Runway, and Cole Haan.

Fun Fashion Fact

French industry legend André Courrèges is credited as the inventor of the miniskirt (together with Mary Quant) and famous for his go-go boots. But did you know he was also one of the first designers to popularize pants for women and make them a high-fashion item, appropriate for formal and business attire.

This ensemble was inspired by an outfit I saw on Pinterest. Since I’m wearing my pearls again, I’m especially interested in this easy-to-pull-together combination. In fact, I’m sure I’ve worn a version of it before. It combines modern classics with trendier pieces. In fact, you’ll probably be able to shop your closet for most of the components. 

The components of the ensemble:

Jeans: Choose any style of jeans in black, blue or grey denim. The wearer in the photo is wearing boyfriend jeans, but feel free to wear skinnies, cropped straight legs, culottes, flares, boot cuts, clamdiggers, shorts or straight legs. Or wear a denim skirt if that’s more your style 

Striped Top: Choose a T-shirt or pullover in black, navy or grey and white stripes. Of course, you can choose any colour in the stripes, but the classic combination in neutrals does look sharp. A white or cream stripe also picks up the colour of white pearls. That said, a grey striped top picks up the colour of grey pearls. 

Moto Jacket: Choose a black, grey, ink or white moto jacket. A denim jacket in black or white is also fab. If you’re not into moto jackets, choose any style of black, grey or white topper that works with the outfit. Feel free to layer a coat over the entire outfit if it’s cold.  

Pearls: Make a statement with baubles! Add a pearl necklace in a chunky style because pearls look more playful and trendy when they are oversized or clustered. If chunky pearls aren’t your cup of tea, stick to a classic strand with small beads. Or choose pearl earrings or a pearl bracelet if necklaces aren’t your thing. 

Footwear: Add any style of fashionable sneaker, boot, pump, loafer, flatform or platform that works with the outfit. Keep the colour black, white, cream, metallic or red. 

Handbag: A red handbag with fringe creates a fun juxtaposition, but you can choose any red or  fringed bag. And if that doesn’t work, choose a bag that completes the outfit your way. Add extra jewellery, eyewear, headgear, hosiery and watch as desired. 

I can put the look together right away with what’s in my wardrobe, and here are the exact pieces.  There might be a denim skirt in the mix soon too.

The Business of Fashion investigates if rental businesses can fix the maternity fashion market.

The Guardian reports on a different maternity wear trend: “Savvy brands are creating ‘investment’ pieces designed to live long beyond pregnancy — and be worn by people who are not pregnant at all.”

This roundup introduces us to five brands that offer a modern approach to maternity dressing.

Fab Links from Our Members

Deb enjoyed this New York Times article about “The New Abnormal Normal“, but is now wondering if stirrup pants are really coming back.

Sally shares ways to style your wraps and scarves. Angie likes the Sporty Luxe version at the end best.

Beth found this Threadbase article on T-shirts very interesting. It goes into how various T-shirts change with wear and over the course of many washing and drying cycles.

Annagybe informs us that Dolce & Gabbana is making luxury hijabs.

On the heels of last week’s link about Canada Goose becoming a luxury item, La Belle Demimondaine wanted to share this piece about how wearing one of their jackets could make you a target.

According to Net-a-Porter, flared cropped jeans are THE jeans of the season and seasons to come. I agree, and suggest adding them to your wardrobe in black or blue denim if you’re a trendy jeans gal and wear jeans very frequently. Many of my clients will be adding flared cropped jeans to their denim capsules if they haven’t done so already. 

Flared cropped jeans fall into two camps — straight crops and flared crops. Straight cropped jeans are more sleek through the leg and flare out less dramatically above the ankle. Cropped flared jeans on the other hand, are wider through the leg and create more of a flared bell shape on the hem above the ankle. 

Examples of Straight Cropped Jeans

These are generally easier to style and create a more streamlined look. They are also less leg shortening and emphasize the hip and thigh less. Personally, I much prefer them to the more flared version on my narrow calves and ankles. They are less dramatic but more lengthening to my eye. 

Examples of Flared Cropped Jeans

Cropped jeans that are more flared at the hem above the ankle are more dramatic than the straights, but tend to be more leg shortening. That’s because the horizontal line of the exaggerated flare is more pronounced, drawing the eye sideways instead of up and down. Flared cropped jeans can also exaggerate the size of the thighs and hips, although this is not always the case. Cropped jeans with a wider flare tend to work well on a larger calf and ankle, and on a long leg line.

I have a pair of crops that are more flared at the hem. I simply offset their leg shortening effect by wearing a column of colour. I wear high-contrast tops and footwear with the cropped straights because their silhouette is more elongating. 

Cropped jeans need to be cropped at least two inches above the ankle bone so that they look intentional, and not like your jeans are too short. Some of my jeans are cropped three inches above my ankle. 

Cropped jeans also need to be paired with the right footwear. Here are some troubleshooting tips. I LOVE cropped flared jeans, so much so that they have become a wardrobe essential. But I’m very particular about how they should be styled to look “just flattering enough”. Your figure flattering priorities might be different to mine, but I like to “close the gap” by wearing high-shaft booties, ankle strap footwear (the strap has to be above the ankle), or high-vamped flats and heels that are tonal to the jeans. 

I’ve found that cropped flared jeans did a marvelous job of changing the landscape of my wardrobe. I began adding them to my style last year and now have many pairs in blue denim. I will be adding a few pairs in white denim since we can wear this style of denim year round. I’ve also hacked an old pair of white skinnies and black skinnies to see if that worked. It worked well enough, but the hacked silhouette isn’t quite as fab as the real deal.