Gone are the days when heels higher than an inch was the best footwear option for dresses. In fact, these days it’s more fashion forward to pair flat footwear with dresses and skirts.  Plus, flats or heels of an inch or less can effectively dress down an outfit. It’s unexpected, refreshing, and for many an extremely comfortable option. 

The outfits here showcase an assortment of dress silhouettes with an equally large assortment of flat footwear styles. These examples are by no means exhaustive, but they are a good base to work from. Some pairings are a lot more wearable than others because they create conventionally flattering proportions by elongating the leg line.

Flat Sandals with Short Hemlines

Pairing flat sandals with shorter hemlines is the most wearable option because the combination makes your legs look longer. Showing part of the kneecap is ample skin, and there is no need to show more if shorter lengths are not your thing. Wearing low contrast sandals further lengthens the leg line, thereby offsetting “that stumpy feeling”. Bookending the colour of the sandals with your hair is another slam dunk that grounds the look. Curved hemlines visually elongate the leg line even further.

Flat Sandals with Knee-Length Hemlines

Wearing a longer hemline with flat sandals can feel a little short-legged but there are ways to overcome that. Try wearing a dress with a high-low hemline, or again, create a low contrast between the colour of the sandals and your skin tone. Both strategies make the lower leg look longer while wearing a longer hemline. 

Flat Sandals with Long Hemlines 

Preventing the short-legged feeling with midis and maxis can be overcome in two ways. Wear maxi lengths with side vents to give the illusion of a shorter hemline. This is especially effective as you stride because the vent opens to expose leg skin. Wear midi styles with asymmetrical hemlines because the broken line of the hem adds structure to the leg. That’s why the straight hem of the midi skirt in the bottom right corner looks the most “stumpifying”. It’s a fashionable look that requires a relatively long leg line to look more proportional.

Loafers and d’Orsays with Shorter Hemlines

These examples showcase high-vamped footwear with an assortment of dress lengths, which are the trendiest combinations at the moment, and the toughest to pull off. The exposed foot skin of sandals helps elongate the leg line because “skin equals structure”. High-vamped footwear shortens the leg line. To some extent, you have to be at peace with the shortening effect of high-vamped footwear. 

The principle is the same. A shorter hemline offsets some of the stumpy factor of the outfit, and half a kneecap is ample skin if short hemlines aren’t your thing. Pointy toed flats also help elongate the leg line. Dress silhouettes that are cut fairly loose prevent the hem of the skirt from riding up to a shorter length.

Sneakers and Birkenstocks with Dresses

It’s extremely fashionable to pair sneakers with dresses, which we discussed at length a few months ago. Pairing Birkenstocks with dresses is just as fashionable. In both cases the point is to create proportions that are just flattering enough, instead of striving for conventionally flattering proportions. 

On the left, the asymmetrical hemline and visible kneecap elongates the leg line. On the right, the side slit creates leg exposure which visually lengthens the leg line. The repetition of white in both the top and bottom parts of the outfits creates a cohesion that pulls the outfits together.

Flat Oxfords with Dresses

Flat oxfords are a very stumpifying shoes that intuitively seem a bad choice for dresses, especially if they are in a high-contrast colour to the skin on your legs. It’s much easier to create flattering proportions with heeled booties than flat oxfords. I’m voting this combination as hardest in this list, yet it’s also the most fashion forward and interesting.

The shirt dress on the left creates slightly more flattering proportions because of the curved hemline and visible kneecap. The outfit on the right is more shortening, even on a tall leggy model, because of the straight hemline and longer length of the dress. But at the moment this look makes the more fashion forward statement. Who knows, perhaps we’ll all think it looks flattering five years from now.

Wearing flat boots and booties with dresses is another option, and one I’ll cover at a later date. In the meantime, I’m encouraging all my clients to continue wearing their dresses with heels, but also to experiment with flat footwear. Manipulating trends so that we can be fashionable and comfortable is part of what is so liberating about modern fashion. 

I LOVE wearing dresses with loafers, sneakers and laceless flat oxfords, and have been doing so for weeks in our stunning Summer weather. My dress lengths are either just above or just below my kneecap, and the footwear is either white or silver, so low contrast against bare leg skin. At the moment, these combinations are my favourite way to wear warm weather dresses. Relaxed, modern and sans sandals.

Do you wear dresses with flat footwear?

The overwhelmingly positive reaction to the comeback of forest green was quite a surprise. WOW. Judging by that, the colour should be a mainstream trend in short order. For those who love this shade of green, I hope you score fab pieces for Fall and Winter.

Of course, forest green is only one of four dark neutrals that are finally making a statement together in the upcoming season, and ink blue is one of the others. So it will be fun to compare preferences for the established ink blue with the newcomer forest green.

Forest green isn’t represented in my wardrobe, but I do have a growing capsule of ink blue. I like forest green, but I LOVE ink blue. I am Team Ink Blue. 

Over to you. Do you bat for Team Ink Blue or Team Forest Green? Tell us why and no batting for both teams. Note that you don’t need to have more of one colour represented in your wardrobe in order to bat for the team. It’s a simple preference and that’s that.

Fringe trends cater to a small audience, and they’re usually fringe for a reason. Fashion buyers believe that consumer traction for the silhouette, combination or colour will be low, or at least low to begin with. From their point of view, the item is risky, will be hard to sell, and needs time to be accepted by the marketplace. It might sell in small quantities for a while before it goes mainstream, if it goes mainstream at all. 

Some trends seem to languish in fringe trend limbo for a long time. For example, Jumpsuits and rompers have stayed fringe for years. Retailers have been assorting limited quantities and they must be selling well enough to suggest trying for another season, but not flying off the racks in a way that suggests they’re about to explode into the mainstream.

Some trends stay fringe through exclusivity. This is often true of brand new runway trends. They initially surface in ranges by high-end designers, where the price keeps them exclusive. Designers deliberately support this exclusivity by only offering the trend in their highest end lines. Lower price brands stay away because the trend hasn’t shown enough signs of mainstream acceptance. Round shouldered jackets and two-piece dresses are examples of fringe trends on the exclusive track at the moment.

Many fringe trends become mainstream trends. Recent examples are boyfriend jeans, cut-out booties, hard-edged looks, and high-low hemlines. These items gained traction over the course of a few seasons, ultimately giving fashion buyers the confidence to order them in larger quantities and increase their availability. It’s fun to see a trend start out as fringe, and go mainstream after two or three years. 

A good indication that a fringe trend is about to go mainstream is when the popularity for something seems high, but availability is limited. The case for the trend is even stronger when it is wearable by a large part of the market. The hard part for the buyer is recognizing these opportunities and then taking the risk. 

Here are four trends that I would be expecting to go mainstream if I was still a buyer today:

1. Midi Skirts: Midis are still fringe. Calf lengths are hard to wear, but just-below-the-knee lengths are much easier. They are ideal for a more conservative office environment and for those who prefer not to bare their knees. Also, the elegance factor of a longer skirt is high. 
2. Forest Green: Judging by the overwhelming support for the colour last week, this dark neutral should go mainstream very quickly.
3. Midi and Maxi Coats: It’s hard to find a dressy coat that’s knee-covering (midi) or calf length (maxi). These lengths are great to wear over midi dresses and skirts in colder weather. They were widely available in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but have stayed fringe since then. I bet their increased availability would stimulate Fall and Winter dress and skirt sales. 
4. Baggy Trousers: Although roomy trousers are slowly becoming more popular, tight trousers reign supreme. Mega slouchy trousers with low crotch points are still an acquired taste, so it makes sense to keep those silhouettes fringe. But baggy trousers with a relaxed fit on the hip and thigh with a tailored crotch point are perfectly wearable by us all, and provide a refreshing change to tighter silhouettes. 

Fashion is a delicate balance of fringe and mainstream trends, and I thoroughly enjoy following their development over several seasons and even decades. Identifying the next big trend is always top of mind for a retailer. There is an incredible array of analytics that supports the decisions made by buyers, but there is just as much intuition and educated guesswork involved. I loved being a buyer. It was a stressful job with a big burden of responsibility, but at the same time extremely exhilarating.

Every decade has its good and bad fashion moments, and that includes the 1980s. Yet many people seem to only remember the worst of what I regard as one of the very best fashion decades, which is why I often find myself sticking up for the brilliance of ‘80s trends. So much of today’s incredible fashion can be traced back to the ‘80s. 

Our forum recently asked me to pull together some fabulous ‘80s looks, and I obliged right away. I also had great fun putting together a pinboard of fabulous ‘80s fashion, which showcases actual photos that were taken back in the 1980s. There are many examples of ’80s elements that have been modernized in current looks. It’s this throwback to ‘80s style that makes me love 2014 fashion so very, very much. 

Let’s take a peek:

• Oversized coat, rolled jeans, sneakers, shuffle socks and clutch.
• Harem pants and fashionable athletic sneakers for Sporty Luxe.
• The roomy layered blazer with big shirt.
• Rainbow hair and more rainbow hair.
• Triangular dresses with low backs and pointy flat lace-up booties. Lots of white.
• MJ, all buttoned up.
• Cropped tops with high-rise bottoms.
• Distressed boyfriend jeans with lace and slipper flats.
• Hard Edge is routed in punk style from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.
• Soft fluid separates that are both feminine and masculine.
• Monk strap oxfords and angular draped blazers.
• Leggings, gigantic pullover, pointy toe booties and structured bag.
• Another leggings look with oversized topper.
• Baggy trousers with blousoned jackets.
• Laceless flat oxfords with baggy pants.
• The most famous red moto jacket of all time, with a Mini Michael.
• Elegantly roomy white suits with black sunnies.
  
• Graphic, colour blocked structure with ample movement and interesting hair.
• Annie Lennox.
• The partially tucked big white shirt with baggy short shorts.
• Aviator looks with attitude.
• The shirtdress with low-slung belt and sandals.
• The sweatshirt with sunnies.
• One of the most memorable sweatshirts of all time.
• Pajama-esque pattern mixing.
• Vibrant Hip Hop.
• Shredded jeans, big hair, stilettos, and a little Rock and Roll.
• Acid wash, oversized motos, skinnies and high-tops.
• Round shoulders, flat oxfords, rolled jeans and pastel suits.
• Soft moto jackets.
• Neon.
• Androgynous layers with a good amount of pretty.
• Stunning brights in structured drape with ankle booties and heeled oxfords.
• Purple Rain. Buttoned-up with studs and shoulder pads.
• Pointy toe flats.
• Pointy toes, rolled pants, high-rises, high-tops, leg warmers, shoulder pads and bright bangles.
• Boxy tuxedo shirt with slip-on sneakers.
• Another gorgeous soft suit.
• Round shouldered tartan.
• More round shoulders.
• Roomy angular drape.
• Sporty perforated mesh with luxe satin.
• Roomy sporty brights with bling.
• Glitzy bombers with bucket hats.
• And military fabness.

I could go on and on about how these ‘80s looks make my heart sing. Yes, there was also lots of less-than-fab frilly, twee and poufy styling. Shoulder pads, make-up, big hair and glitz were out of control. Sometimes we wore outfits so oversized, they wore us. And excessive neon and over the top colour combinations made our eyes hurt.

But to my mind, ‘80s silhouettes and juxtapositions were delightfully interesting, creative and detailed, and therefore worth a lot of praise. The era was as dressy as it was casual. There was ample colour and graphic black and white. Women’s trends were masculine, and men’s trends were feminine, which made for a marvelous melting pot of style.

Of course, my memories of ’80s fashion are shaped by my influences at the time — one giveaway being the prominence of the British band Duran Duran in my collage. If you were enjoying fashion during the ’80s, what in particular sticks out in your memory? And if you are seeing ’80s fashion after the fact, what are your impressions now?