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picture from www.simoneshailes.com

If this summer is anything to go by we could well be in for a cold autumn. In fact I think autumn has started already. Yesterday, the hubby even put the heating on because it was so cold. This prompted me to think about what I would be needing in the way of knitwear this autumn/ winter to keep me really toasty warm. When it comes to knitwear for Autumn Winter 08, I just couldn’t post without mentioning Simone Shailes.

Simone shot into the limelight following her Autumn Winter 08 knitwear graduation collection. Simone graduated form Central St Martins College in February 2008 with a distiction for her MA in Fashion (knitwear). Whilst completing her MA she 2007 Chloé Scholarship and more recently the L’Oreal Professionnel Fashion Design award at the London Fashion Week show. Simones knits are huge and chunky with lots of loped pieces of knit. The texture that she has managed to create with the knits are both interesting and stylish.

 Unfortunately, My budget won’t stretch to one of Simone’s lovely cardis but I can afford this lovely warm maxi cardi.

This season one of the many styles of trousers that is popping up all over the place is  the Harem style. This is the sort of trousers that are loose and and tigher round the ankle. The thing about these trousers that seems to scare everyone off is the dropped crotch. But actually they are amazingly flattering, if something of an aquired taste. Yes they are some what reminiscent of MC Hammer but then whats so wrong with Hammer?

I think Harem pants are going to just be one of those things that you either love or you hate. I have loved them for the summer with sandals and they are great holiday wear but I am sort of struggling to think whether will move into my Autumn and Winter wardrobe with ease.

If you love harem pants, then this bright and colourful pair by Hussein Chalayan will be perfect.

I’m loving Roksanda Illinic’s Autumn / Winter 08 collection. According to Vogue, Roksanda gained inspiration for this collection from a trip to Brazil. She was inspired by the modernist architecture of Oscar Niemeyer and the colour scheme of the collection is taken form the pallette of pinks and grrens seen in the lush vegetation and tropical flowers of Brazil.

I love the huge puffed sleeves on this outfit with the stiff material giving an almost paper like effect.

This dress again has an amazing silhoutte with square angular corners this defintely look a bit architectural.

The green in this dress looks amazing  with the black under dress and pink shoes. The dress has a softer silhoutte much more botanical.

This is dress is completely original with an over skirt that could easily have been designer by a  structural engineer. I love the shape, I love the colour, I love the sheen of the material.

This skirt is my   favourite shade of pink and is half architectural and half tropical flower.

pictures from elleuk.com

This is a great dress in the colours of Brazilian tropical flowers.

I have posted about grunge and how it takes me back to my youth, well Autumn and Winter is all about reminiscing for me as there is another trend which takes me even further back in my youth and that is the goth trend. Of course it is not just a copy of the classic goth look that has been around for ages, it has  a different feel about it, softer and more delicate with lots of chiffon and lace. It is also more glamorous than we have known it before with and glossy accessories.

At Rodate, it was a kind of Fairy goth mother look with dainty details and a short floaty skirt.

At Yves St Laurent- It was a power Goth look with strong tailored lines and a blunt bob haircut.

At Luella the look was defintely a witch goth with crimped hair and thick ribbons.

At Alexander McQueen - it was a historical goth look with an embroidered Elizabethan inspired dress.

pictures from www.style.com

For a  great casual goth look, I love this A line skirt in organic wool.

Being petite, anything with the word voluminous in it will make me run a mile.  A little trick that I learnt from my mother, keep your clothes fitted and you don’t look so short. I have learnt to live with the fact that, I will never really look great in anything that makes me look as wide as I am tall.

For those that are a bit taller than me (and my mum), you can probably wear the voluminous coat and look great in it. You will however still need to apply the rules of balance. A voluminous coat should be teamed with a non voluminous lower half, I’m talking skinny or fitted trousers or jeans or tights (obviously with some sort of dress or skirt that can almost be hidden or completely hidden by your voluminous coat).

I not sure I like this Marc Jacobs coat much and I don’t think I know many who could pull this off without looking like a sack of potatoes. 

This gorgous purple coat at Burberry Prorsum is easily the most wearable of the voluminous coats that I have seen.

At Louis Vuitton, it is clear that voluminous does not have to mean shapeless.

I don’t really know if this would be classed as a coat or a jacket but Marios Schwab has created a perfect example of how a voluminous top half should be balanced with a fitted lower half.

pictures from www.style.com

This Faux Shearling Coat is a great way to wear this winters trend for voluminous coats.

I think we have reached the final little bit of summer. I know it is still possible we could have an Indian summer but with the meteorlogical track record so far this year it is looking highly unlikely. So it is time to through caution to the wind (well there’s plenty of wind around) and give those summer clothes a little chance to see a bit of daylight this year. Summer has been a bit  of a disappointment but I am determined to get that last bit of wear out of my  floaty floral summer dresses even if that means wear them witha thermal vest and pair of leggings underneath.

Actually I am quite starting to like the trousers under a dress look. It gives you the whole practicality of wearing trousers with whimsical element of a summer dress. perfect for our rubbish climate and for squeezing that extra bit of wear out of summer clothes as  you can then wear them well into Autumn.

I love these  Pamela Mann Footless leggings. There are so many different colours including my favourites Flo pink, candy pink and light grey. Perfect for wearing with my severley underworn summer dresses.

 picture from www.myvillagecarnival.ning.com

With August being the month of the Notting Hill Carnival, I thought that today I would write a post on the carnival. Notting Hill Carnival has been going since 1966 on the August bank holiday weekend, it is now a huge Carribean carnival with floats, lots  of music and amazing costumes. The costumes are planned and worked on for months in advance by groups who design, make patterns, sew, glue and paint. Some of these groups will be professional costume makers, others community projects with little or no experience but plenty of enthusiasm.

 I love the vibrancy and colour of the Notting Hill Carnival and so have decided to look for some bright clothes to really cheer up my day. Here is a carnival inspired collection of the clothes that I have found.

I love this bright pink Sarong/ scarf, perfect for the beach to wear with a carnival bright bikini.

This bright and cheery Orange handbag is a  great way to liven up a plian outfit.

These Daisy Flip flops will be great when we get a bit of summery August weather.

With all the talk of black, including black lace, gothic, romantic black and minimalistic black in previous posts, I thought it was about time that I remembered, there are other colours apart from black. How about white? I know, neither black or white are technically colours but I am not sure what I should technically call them. 

White can be a really great colour for winter, you can blend into the snow if we have any and you can feel as snug as a polar bear. I’m not sure I am ready to think that far ahead to winter yet but I think white is also a great colour for Autumn. It is especially good for showing off those last remnants of a summer sun tan.

At Giambattista Valli, the volumous shapes and sharp textures of the white outfits could well have been inspired by wintery snowflakes.

At Dior a polar bear like coat looked amazingly cosy and elegant at the same time.

Salvatore Ferragamo proves with this outfit than you can do minimalist in white and look stunning.

pictures from style.com

For a truly white winter (and Autumn) I love this Fat Face Hamabe Tunic.

I found this Youtube video for the Hannah Marshall Autumn Winter 08 collection. I love the show the music is great, thepowerful silhouettes are great and most of all I love the bird perched on the models head. Looks . This is a great look, sleek and minimalistic but interesting with contrasting textures and luxurious fabrics. There is also lots of black which is every where this season as I mentioned in my last post.

Hannah got a first class degree at Colchester School of Art and design before gaining a wealth of experience with some top designers. She has now proved that she can go it alone and is actually a very sucessful designer and entrepeneur in her own right. She has now produced three collections for her own label and they are proving to be a big hit with mentions in British Vogue and American Elle amongst other publications. All of her designs incorporate a trademark braille message which was developedd due to a curosity of a devlopmental fusion of clothing and communication. At just 25 Hannah has achieved a huge amount including  recognition by New Generation sponsored by Top Shop at London Fashion Week.

If you like the sleek and powerful silhouettes in Hannah’s collection you will love this Boudoir by Disaya Black Dress.

Every year we hear someone say black is back but personally, I think that black has never really gone away. It features in so many designer collections for a reason, everyone (or almost everyone) likes wearing black because it is slimming and goes with everything.

This year is no exception when it comes to black on the catwalk. Black lace, black gothic, black minimalist and black romantic were all there, not to mention the little black dress, a timeless classic.

Derek Lam showed that black doesn’t need to be boring by combining lots of different textures for interest and of course he included the must have accessory for Autumn Winter 08, the patterned/ textured tights.

Viktor & Rolf again added interest to this black outfit with sparkle and texture. The look definitely ahs a touch of  this seasons goth about it with the models pale face and dark eye makeup.

Viktor & Rolf

Sophia Kokosalaki has got the dark romantic look off to a T with the most amazing dress. I think this dress is my favourite piece from Sophia’s colelection and possibly my favourite evening dress for the whole season.

At Chanel again there was lots of interesting textures including this seasons key material lace. 

 pictures from www.style.com

When it comes to getting dressed up you can’t really go wrong with a stunning black dress. I love this Amanda Wakeley Dress.