Lace

I have mentioned my fondness for lace on many-an-occasion. I love the delicacy and fragility of lace, which nowadays is toughened up with the items it is worn with. I have collected quite a few lace garments over the last couple of years but there's always room for more. Here are some items I've recently been eyeing up:

My appreciation of lace however, also stems from the booming industry my home town was famous for. For such a small town, Darvel established a large lace-making reputation throughout Scotland and our lace was exported all over the world from the handful of factories. Unfortunately, over the last couple of decades, cheaper foreign production has wiped out the industry and only one of the factories stands intact with its looms but completely dorment.

Ashley Olsen on Marie Claire

A portrait of Ashley Olsen dons the cover of the new American Marie Claire. The article discusses her new career path as a fashion designer (shop her collection 'The Row') and features some beautiful photographs of her looking timeless and natural.Here she is wearing the Givenchy lace dress with blue shoulder pads that I previously commented on when discussing Fall '09 textile trends. I absolutely love that dress with its zips up the sleeves.  

Footwear Fall '09 continued.

"Sandals? In Fall?" I hear you say. But yes, your eyes are not deceiving you so don't pack away your summer ones just yet. Designers have this season taken into consideration that some climates don't require boots. (And yes, that is a sock underneath those sandals so we can no longer cringe at our fathers.)As stated previously, the runway saw lots of new forms and interesting shapes. The "basic" pump was not excluded from this emphasis place on the heels. Shooties are not quite ankle boots and play a strong role in the transition from Spring/Summer to Fall. 

As expected, the ankle boot made its return. Notice the use of cut-out sections and straps which add a bit of sex appeal. As well as this, lace-ups are having their moment again with slight variances in the placement of the laces. I liked the subtle neon pink lace used in the top left example from Paul Smith - a more managable approach to neon brights for Fall.

Textile Trends for Fall '09

(More trends from Stylesight.)

It is no surprise that knitwear was strongly featured in the Fall '09 collections. Knitwear has really come unto its own over the past couple of years with new techniques and forms being adopted. The knit evolution sees the upcoming season mainly featuring extremely shaggy knits in heavy layers and earth tones. 

I'm happy lace reared its head again. Traditional techniques have been used but with playful detailing like the blue shoulder pads showing through in this Givenchy dress and the black piping at Louis Vuitton.

Taking inspiration from underwear and lingerie, sheer layering can be seen in cotton, silk and polyester chiffon. 

Tapestry and upholstery brought a touch of luxury to the catwalk. A rich, textural quality is added using traditional techniques like embossing and flocking. 

Leather! Leather, leather, leather. Moving on from the heavy presence of tight, leather trousers/leggings and biker jackets, leather comes onto its own next season taking the form of seperates and dresses. In each case, the leather was clearly soft and supple to the point where it could be used as an alternative to wool in garments.   

The fur debate. I have never agreed with the use of furs in fashion, but that's a whole other blog post. Fur could be seen in the majority of Fall '09 runway collections whether it was used as a slight detailing like at Dior; with other furs at Lanvin & Fendi, or colour treated which was massive at Michael Kors and Gucci. 

Artificial furs were also present and are likely to be huge on the high street come September so if, like me, you don't want to wear the real deal, don't worry there will be plenty of faux alternatives.