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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Latest inspiration and current HEWI (with help from NYTimes)

viva

Veteran

I LOVED this recent article and imagery from the NYTimes. Please forgive me if someone has posted it already - I have not kept up on all postings lately.

Slideshow here:

http://www.nytimes.com/slidesh.....SHION-slid

Article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03.....&cont

The fashions, to me, are AMAZING and inspiring -- so energetic, so colorful. There is a speed and a volume and a sense of culture and history and play to them. Really, if I had a million I would buy every single piece. (And I would invite the model and the photographer out to dinner.)

What do you think? Are you inspired by this array? Are you ever inspired by staged things like this?

Also, I am now on the hunt for a sleeveless geometric somewhat mod short dress to wear over cropped pants (flared and skinny) and, I hope, over a voluminous white skirt too. Have you seen anything like this Rag & Bone one? It's the only thing I am seriously lusting for right now. Zara was a bust.

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23 replies

Latest reply was from Suz

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

The photo shoot is energetic and vibrant. The model has verve and attitude. She dances with grace and panache too. Killer all round. Thanks for sharing, Viv.

Do I want to wear any of the pieces? No. Am I inspired by the spirit of the visuals? Of course!

catgirl

Veteran

I really like it! It reminds me of the current style in India for tunic tops worn with palazzo pants or wide leg bottoms:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/262616221998841308/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/136022851219269960/

viva

Veteran

Okay, so I was probably being a little melodramatic in saying I would purchase or wear all of them.

That said, there are specific looks that I would wear.

Photo 1: Embroidered silk bomber and sandals
Photo 2: Long pencil skirt with tassels
Photo 3: Geometric shift

So glad the energy worked for you too, Angie.

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Janet

(website)

Veteran

I like it! I love that tasseled skirt in your second photo, Vivian.

Brooklyn

Veteran

I like it too. Especially the shift dress. Have you tried ASOS? (Zara would have been my first pick.)

Staysfit

Veteran

My DD would say this is a bit like playing dress up when you were young. Wear what makes you happy, wear what you like, and try on different combinations until you find something that feels great. I hope you find your Rag and Bone dress. It takes a lot of confidence and/or a willingness to go against convention to dress like this. It's dressing purely to please yourself. (I happen to love these looks, and I raised an artist, so you know I would only encourage you to follow your heart)

Anonymous

Wow - nice pieces. That Rag & Bone dress/tunic thing with white jeans? Love. The mid-blue wrap sleeveless shirt (now I can't go back to remember the label or I'll lose what I've typed here) also caught my eye. I love these colours - this to me is modern summer dressing. Interesting , Staysfit, that you see this is going against convention to dress like this. I see these looks as standard big-city urban fashion forward dressing - and I too would be all over it if I had an unlimited budget.

Funny, today I had a chance to go through some stores for the first time in about 3 weeks, and I found NOTHING of interest clothing wise. Nada, zip. Aritzia had some interesting new pieces in an odd 2-dimensional almost quilted linen fabric, but Club Monaco was a total mystery, BR was it's usual weirdness (although there was a really nice black fringy tweed jacket that came home with me....we'll see though) and there was just nothing else of interest .

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Your quest for a geometric mod dress made me think of this dress I was eyeing for a while, which may not have worked on me anyway. I love it and wish I'd at least tried it, but now it's sold out. It might not be quite your cup of tea, but it kind of fits the description. I haven't bothered looking beyond Nordstrom for it, but I thought I'd share it in case you like it and want to research it further. It would probably look way better on you than on me anyway!

BCBGMAXAZRIA 'Chantal' Colorblock Swing Dress

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0

catgirl

Veteran

Viva, look at these dresses which seem like the right shape for this look:

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/ni.....3?origin=k

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/el.....origin=key

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/1-.....arch-perso

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/pr.....onalizedso

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/ch.....t&fas

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

Got a red and black mod-ish print dress similar to this shape (not sleeveless like your inspo) last year. https://m.whitehouseblackmarke.....earch=true

Staysfit

Veteran

Ha ha Lisa! I live in a very small, fairly conservative city. It's most definitely a place where eyes would pop and roll if someone were dressed in a city chic fashion forward manner.

Anonymous

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Spring fever expressed through fashion! Thanks for posting!

Anonymous

I would get the mod rag and bone dress...I think it's perfect. I would skip the white skirt and do it over white flares (save some money there).

I do enjoy all the colours and fun of these outfits, and find them incredibly inspiring. I couldn't wear these specific items, but would try and recreate the spirit of them in a toned down version.

LaPed

Veteran

These are incredibly dynamic looks. The mod dress and the fringed skirt in the first slide are my favorite pieces. I could see wearing both of those.

approprio

(website)

Veteran

The video is brilliant. It made me want to spring the spring wardrobe more than ever. Then I read the text and this jumped right out at me:

"women with magpie tendencies and an eye for pleasing dissonance"

I'm squirming. I was that soldier and I've crawled out those trenches yearning for consistency in my presentation. Honestly, it doesn't take much ill-considered shopping, thrifting and sewing to end up with a closet full of cray-cray mismatched things with no staying power. I am so done with playing dress-up. I want to get a look going and have a wardrobe that supports it so I know how to develop it further. Doesn't need to be minimalist or normcore or anything like that. Just sane, basically.

I'm intrigued by what lisap has to say about the shops being boring when this is what we're seeing on the catwalks. Seems like I'm not the only one confused here.

I should shut up. The mod dress is very nice.

viva

Veteran

I hear you, approprio (Liz???). BUT .... spring for me is all about busting out, color, and energy. And I think that can be done with sanity. What I loved about this video and article is that it WOKE ME UP. I am so tired of the same old thing. Even the tweed everywhere -- I mean, that is hardly new, is it? Frankly, in order to participate in this "trend," I am pulling out a 5-year-old JCrew Factory jacket. Yawn.

Ultimately, I am on the hunt for a dress like the Rag & Bone. (I can't bear the cost or the midsection cutouts -- but I need to find one that is of a stretchy fabric like theirs.)

Until then, in keeping with the spirit of this video, I am looking for an optic white bag. I want energy in my wardrobe. I want the FEELING that this video gives me. I don't want the cray-cray mis-matched magpie, but please, some LIFE.

rabbit

Veteran

I love the energy, colors, and modernism (geometry, space age fabrics and pleats) of the presentation. I also like that there are so many ideas in each outfit, and any one of them (fringe, shift dress over long skirt, bomber over pleated dress, bright geometry with white) could be inspiration for another interpretation.

I've been thinking a little about maximalism lately and wondering about starting a thread on it. I've read some of the 'minimalism is dead, maximalism is where it's at' articles lately and like approprio have mixed feelings. Part of me feels like it's a pendulum, and I swing back in forth in my own style -- hectic pattern mixing, versus column of color, and I'm not necessarily in sync with the larger trends as to when I lean one way or the other.

Part of me thinks that maximalism requires great skill in balancing (it's rococo versus modern interiors), and in some ways there are more pitfalls and the details of design and pattern and color and accessory balance have to be almost held to more rigorous standards than minimalism, since it's easier to juggle two balls than five. It needs to 'look' joyfully mismatched and thrown together, but not actually 'be' that way. Or maybe I just need to loosen up my thinking a little.

catgirl

Veteran

Yes, the minimal/maximal struggle - I'm a New Englander, but I'm from India. I love stark edge, but I also love colorful bling. It's quite the constant battle.

What Rabbit says makes a lot of sense to me. I would happily wear two hectically mismatched statement pieces, or something like the Indian outfit I posted, but I'm not able to put together the kind of "lots of different items" maximal that MsMary wears with ease.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

These were fun to see, Viva, and I get what you are saying. I have been inspired to get more color into my life this Spring. I'm probably not going too far into the hectic looks featured here, but I do want to soak up some of that energy and express a bit of it in my dressing, too.

LaPed

Veteran

Oh, geez, approprio, I know exactly where you're coming from:

""women with magpie tendencies and an eye for pleasing dissonance"

I'm squirming. I was that soldier and I've crawled out those trenches yearning for consistency in my presentation. Honestly, it doesn't take much ill-considered shopping, thrifting and sewing to end up with a closet full of cray-cray mismatched things with no staying power. I am so done with playing dress-up. I want to get a look going and have a wardrobe that supports it so I know how to develop it further. Doesn't need to be minimalist or normcore or anything like that. Just sane, basically."

I've been that cray-cray magpie with thrifted everythings and utter disregard for convention, proportion, blah blah blah. And I think the mainstreaming of a more minimalist/normcore aesthetic has really undone some of my desire to layer on the wacko the way I used to. I've seen it in my peer group too -- a sort of stripping down, a reemphasis on chic that we just didn't bow to at all 5 or 10 years ago. I chalked this up to aging out of my 20-something self and into my 30s, plus shifting environment -- geographically and socially. But it seems like maybe this is a cross-generational shift, something we're all dealing with.

It all comes back to balance, right? Like, there has to be a way to *play* even within a very put-together, consistent style. That idea of bringing in some energy that Viva touches on. So maybe one person chooses a very focused monochromatic palette that enables them to play with different silhouettes and textures. Maybe someone else is a total uniform jeans-and-tees dresser but revels in having the coolest, most out-there graphic tees and cutting-edge denim. I think, bottom line, each of us has to figure out what we need to keep consistent and what we can afford to tweak and experiment with. And I guess the true type-A's probably need *all* the elements nailed down to feel at home in their wardrobe, but those people probably never found themselves in magpie territory to begin with.

"Minimalist Magpie" is just begging to be someone's style moniker...

catgirl

Veteran

If it wouldn't confuse me even more, I'd add Minimalist Magpie to my style descriptors in a heartbeat! See my Finds below for examples. Steamlined yet OTT... *head spins*

MIX IT UP Flat Shoes

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4

MZ Wallace 'Chelsea' Nylon Tote

$315.00 $188.98

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3

Versace Collection Graffiti Print Knit Top

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2

Erdem 'Emma' Floral Print Crepe Shift Minidress

$910.00 $363.98

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2

Bergdorf Goodman

Nicholas Kirkwood Metallic Point-Toe Loafer, Green

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2

MILLY 'Tropical Orchid' Clutch

$195.00 $136.49

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7

Topshop Floral Print Cigarette Trousers

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4

Suz

(website)

Veteran

"Minimalist Magpie" IS someone's style moniker, or one of them. Vix!!

Vivian, the model is absolutely brilliant. That gamine grace and wit. No wonder you fell in love!! Some of these clothes would look smashing on you. The echoes of 60s MOD are there to see.

I'm not sure I want to wear these clothes. I just basically want to be that girl.