Pants take the fashion lead this fall
According to Express, the skinny pant is the pant to have, offered this fall in three styles: the belted hipster, cut to sit at the top of the hip, it has a wide, attached belt. The boot-cut hugs the leg to the ankle, where it gets a slight flare. The extended tab slip pant has a waistband on the hip and looks great with an Eisenhower jacket for a redefined pantsuit.
“The pantsuit is also a very good look this fall,” says Kathy Peck, who sells Doncaster fashions from her Lancaster home.
Thigh-length jackets and boot-cut pants also serve up a revamped version of the pantsuit.
She says the shirt jacket has been made popular due to the trend toward a more casual look in fashion.
“Casual doesn’t mean grunge and it doesn’t mean less expensive,” she says. Peck says women want fine fabrics, like Italian wool, that can ride the season. “Women don’t want to have three sets of wardrobes, one for dress, one for work and one for weekends.”
Instead their looking for items that coordinate to take them wherever they’re going.
“The turtleneck is the shirt of the season,” she says. And the classic scoop neck is a heavy favorite. Both are smooth and simple and require little fuss. The monochromatic look is big. And it helps pull off the long and lean silhouette.
“It starts with the turtleneck and does down to the opaque stockings,” says Peck.
Color notes include the pair camel, all shades of brown and peacock blue, says Peck.
Benson says there’s “a lot of black and a lot of brown.”
Shimmery colors reflect the ’70s. Other important looks include military-inspired jackets and pants and tweed.
She says you’ll be well-heeled in shoes in wild colors like blue, copper, pewter and candy apple red.
And color is showing up in make-up and nail polish.
“Nail polish is really hot right now,” says Benson. “Neon green, blue, light blue. We sell a lot of the nail polishes.
According to an article in the September issue of Glamour magazine, wearing bold nail colors make you instantly up in style with little investment.
The article says the colors apply to lips just as easily. Powder blue, pale green, purple and silver are some of the newest shades of lipstick. The article suggests applying lightly or over a neutral nude shade.
Silk shantung and velvet fabrics are hot for evening and dressy wear.
Other evening looks include anything luxurious. Lace, brocade and metallics get a thumb’s up. Suede, leather and velvet touches, once reserved for evening affairs, get approval for day wear.
“Velvet trim used to be considered for dressy or evening,” says Peck. She says it’s touching up day wear on collars and pockets. Benson says many dresses have a touch of animal print. And animal print accessories are important.
“Luxury fabrics are back,” says Peck. She suggests trying to camel’s hair, silk, cashmere and lambskin.
Another major player is knit. Ribbed, popcorn stitched or cabled, the sweater is hot. Peck says head to toe knit dress gets the green light. It can be casual or dressy, depending on how you put things together.
She takes a red knit sweater jacket. “Here it is with a turtleneck and knit pants,” she says. “Then you can take this knit jacket and put it on a knit dress and have a totally different look.