February Fashion Focus

“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.” Pablo Neruda

It seems that as soon as one gets excited about Spring arriving, the weather changes from bright, crisp and sunny, to cold, wet and miserable. Nevertheless, as Neruda wisely says, you cannot keep Spring from coming, and more to the point, you cannot stop the arrival of spring fashion. 

There are a few trends I'm absolutely loving at the moment. The first is a modern twist on florals that has been seen on the catwalks in the Spring/Summer '14 shows. As much as I love Cath Kidston prints and adore anything vintage and floral, it is hard to wear flowers without looking either like a child or a china doll. However, things seem to be different this season... 

Hermès

Dries van Noten

Oscar de la Renta 

Emporio Armani

As much as I love these designers, I simply cannot afford them at the moment. Luckily the high street are doing some similar designs and I picked up this gorgeous dress from Primark. I've been pairing it with simple gold jewellery and my beloved red Michael Kors tote bag. When the weather gets brighter, it would go well with pastel pink or powder blue accessories. 

I've always been a massive fan of trainers/sneakers/creps - whatever you call them, there is no doubt that these shoes are becoming progressively more popular in the fashion world. I also love eye catching sweatshirts, which have also been popping up everywhere. I guess its because alternative/street style is ever more popularised through the different media platforms that we have today - Facebook, Twitter, and especially Instagram. The catwalks it seems are taking note of this: 

Alexander Wang

DKNY

Kenzo

Marc by Marc Jacobs

Again, I cannot really afford these catwalk styles, but in my opinion, the best trainers are made not by designers, but by the one and only Nike. Here are the current pairs I'm wearing with everything: 

Nike Air Force 1 

Nike Air Max One

Something else I really like is the satirical take on designer brands that can be seen on clothing at the moment. From Celfie/Feline instead of Celine, to Ballin Paris rather than Balmain, the slogans are really fun. 

My personal favourite is Homies rather than Hermès, and so I had to have it. You can give the look a bit more edge by adding some contrasting jewellery, like I did with this necklace from Forever 21. 

It is often the case that designer labels set the trends and gradually they will filter down towards the high street, at affordable shops. One of my favourite movie scenes is from The Devil Wears Prada, when Andy the self-proclaimed unstylish PA is told by Amanda Priestly (loosely based on Anna Wintour)that the Cerulean blue colour of her bargain basement sweater was chosen for her by the fashion editors standing in that room. Meryl Streep delivers the speech fantastically. That being said, it seems that these days there is an increasingly mutual relationship and appreciation between designer and high street fashion, with both influencing each other. 

And that can only be a good thing for every shopaholic's bank account. 

Yaasica Lucia XXX