We have fabulous news to share. We are officially welcoming Veteran member and long time YLF supporter Inge to the YLF Team. Inge will be helping out in several areas: coordinating YLF competitions, helping Greg with technical support, and acting as liaison with some of our partners. Most exciting of all, Inge will be running a new part of YLF that we are launching on Monday — our very own little online bookstore.

In YLF Books Inge will be curating a selection of books, movies and magazines covering all aspects of fashion and style. She has an impressive 17 years of experience in the editorial, marketing and printing side of the book business. She also works as an independent editor and book translator, and is currently building her new personal book shopping business. With Inge’s knowledge of publishing, passion for fashion and style, and understanding of the YLF message, there’s no-one better to manage YLF Books. She will be telling you all about it first thing on Monday morning.

Inge is Belgian and lives in Antwerp. You might remember that we had a ball with her in Brussels and Antwerp last year. Although Dutch is our mother tongue, Inge and I do most of our communication in English, throwing in the Dutch whenever we need to. Good thing Greg is pretty fluent in Dutch too!

Please join us in welcoming Inge to the YLF team!

I’ve watched many, many runway shows over the last three weeks and I’m energized and excited! The Fashion Weeks for Spring 2012 in New York, London and Milan did not disappoint (Paris is still underway). I watched some of the shows live, others on the huge television screens in the tents of Lincoln Centre at New York Fashion Week, and the rest online. I have a pretty good sense of the wearable trends that we can expect to see in stores for Spring and Summer 2012. This is merely my interpretation, and we’ll only know what’s really brewing as the new season unfolds. 

I’ve separated the trends into 5 big ones and the rest.  

The Big Five

• Midi Skirts and Dresses: Longer hemlines are at the top of the list. 
• Patterns: Patterns on everything, especially geometric, conversational, and abstract prints. It’s not going to be a solid season.
• Soft Dressing: Lots of emphasis on soft fabrications from head to toe, whereas last year, soft fabrications were more mixed with rigid ones because it was a season of contrasts.
• Refined Footwear: Heels are less clumpy, chunky and platformed. Definitely more lady-like, and heels are lower too. 
• Orange: All shades of it. From tomato reds and coral, to Dutch orange, burnt orange, butternut, peach, apricot and tangerine.

General Trends

• Brights: Along with shades of orange, there is red, yellow, emerald, purple, bright pink and turquoise. Citron is used more as an accent colour.
• Midtones: Not quite pastel or bright but somewhere in between the two. I’m liking the French and denim blues that are making a comeback. 
• Neutrals: White is tops, followed by silver grey and black. Beige, nude and blush are all still there, but take a back seat.  
• Tribal prints and urban jungle: Not just by way of patterns but through safari chic clothing silhouettes and wooden jewelry. 
• Asymmetry: Especially on the hemlines of tops and dresses. 
• Pattern Mixing: This trend gets more traction each year. It’s going to be a hectically patterned season, so prepare yourselves for lots of loud clashing prints that hopefully find outfit harmony.  
• Colour blocked garments: Last season we blocked with individual outfit pieces. Next season, an item itself is colour blocked. 
• Soft, slouchy tapered trousers: It looks like this silhouette will finally go mainstream, and it’s about time! Flared and wide-legged trousers are still there.
• Daytime Sparkle: My magpie gene loves this look. Think lurex thread and sparkly daytime tops, jackets and dresses. 
• Black & white and blue & brown: We see strong black and white combinations each year, but blue with brown will look refreshingly retro. 
• Flat loafers and oxfords: Many shows showcased this style of shoe. I bat for Team Flats so my heart went aflutter. 
• Hard edge: It’s not all soft and flowing so don’t despair. Rigid fabrications will continue to make their mark. 

There were many, many shows to love, but if I had to list my favourites, this is how it would look: Carolina Herrera, Carlos Miele, Burberry Prorsum, Paul Smith, Diane Von Furstenberg, Mary Katranzou, Marni, Jason Wu, Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Mulberry, Gorgio Armani and Tory Burch. Prada was the most disappointing show, and I am still waiting to see Stella McCartney, Chloe and my beloved Chanel. 

Over to you ladies. How do next Spring’s trends grab you?

Dresslover wants to draw your attention to the Pantone Fashion Colour Report for Spring 2012. Click on the colour swatches for inspiration and ideas on wearing each color. Guess which colour is tops for Spring. 

Petite Lisa is really enjoying the style of Cori from la vie petite, an almost 4ft 11 lass who is a Mum of three. I love how she works those ballet flats. 

Carole enjoyed these tips on how to wear colour prints. 

MaryK, who bats for Team Maximal, likes the way Sal tied two scarves in this outfit. 

Maria’s insider information on Colour Trend Forecasting caught the eye of Laurinda, who also likes the way Maria spells “Colour”. Obviously, I do too! 

Celia finds this outfit from Street Style Aesthetic super sweet because of the lovely colour and unexpected mix of sandals. 

Nicoleb recommends watching this video by Chriselle Lim because of the beautiful wardrobe pieces that she wears in the shots.  

Inge learned about a blog called Sentimental Value through an interview with Emily Spivack. The blog searches eBay for clothing and accessories with an interesting story. 

RoseandJoan, who is a very visually orientated person, was surprised how much she enjoyed Natalie Joos’s writing style at Tales of Endearment.

Goldenpig found Redbook’s article on wardrobe remixing very helpful when thinking about how to revamp a new wardrobe on a budget.

Joy learned how fashion buyers are inspired by runway looks, only to revamp them to create an “exclusive” item for their retailer and target market. This really takes me back to my buying days. 

Anna had heard of luxury brands doing the majority of construction in China and doing finishing work in Europe, then stamping the items “Made in Europe”. But she didn’t know about Prada “Made in India”. 

Charmian, who is in the beginning stages of her style journey, was reminded that she doesn’t have to own beautiful pieces to be inspired by them.

Tall Kyle recommends Tall Swag, a blog for tall girls. 

Puffenstuff loves Chasing Cait’s post on gradually introducing colour blocking into your wardrobe.

Refugee believes that this coffee stained designer T-shirt created for Starbucks is a giant failure.

The faux fur vest is one of my favourite transitional pieces this season because it changes up the vibe of existing wardrobe items. So much of my old stuff suddenly feels new when I add my faux fur vest to my ensemble. It has proven to be versatile and warm enough to wear right now, before we move onto heavier jackets, trenches and wool coat ensembles for winter. 

Here are five easy ways to incorporate a faux fur vest into an outfit: 

1. Over a tee or knitted top: Wear jeans, casual trousers, or a casual skirt on the bottom, add in appropriate footwear, and you’re done. It’s that simple. Remember how well client and friend Phoebe wore this look a few months ago (picture #1).
2. Over a blouse or shirt: This is how to dress up the look, and the way I wear my faux vest the most frequently. Simple soft silky blouses, both solid and patterned are no brainers, like the combination I wore on my last day of Fashion Week. I prefer solid button down shirts or denim shirts under faux vests, but there are no rules. Here, either keep the look smart casual with jeans, or substitute dressier skirts and trousers (picture #2).
3. Over a sweater: A slim-fitting turtle neck, crew, or scoop neck pullover is an easy and warmer under layer option. For the bottom, think casual jeans and skirts, or dressier trousers and skirts (picture #3). 
4. Over a dress: This is my favourite way to my sport a faux fur vest, which you saw at Fashion Week. I like to wear it over slim fitting dresses more than fit-and-flare frock styles because the modern yet retro integrity is more my style. But I love faux fur vests over flared ’70s inspired dresses and hope that you give the look a bash (picture #4). 
5. Over a jacket: It sounds weird but the combination works well with a cropped fur vest and denim jacket, and layering the vest over the jacket. A cropped fur vest also looks quite sweet over on longer blazer, but you’ve got to bat for Team Maximal for that one.

Some of my clients like to belt longer fur vests, which effectively streamlines the silhouette. Instead, I chose to keep mine cropped and tailored so that it won’t overwhelm my frame or outfit.