Fashion Forward

Michael and Christopher have weighed in on their picks for the Fall Fashion forecast. See this is how the world of fashion works, it's January and just as your about to get excited to wear your Spring and Summer clothes, you must shift your focus to the Fall runway shows.

I've lived long enough to know that there are some things I am never going to do no matter how trendy they get. Camouflage Cargo shorts. Okay, technically I held out for over three years. Then I just started to look ridiculous in my khaki capris. Plaid shorts - I did these once in the 80's and they are no one's friend... oops, I held out for two years then broke down and now have three pairs. Well, then let me state that at the moment, I will never wear enormous bell bottoms, pleated dress pants, eyeliner or a thong swimsuit (again).

All that out of the way let's just ask "what relevance do the Fall Fashion shows have to my everyday life?"

For me, it's a chance to view all upcoming trends and pick which ones will best suit me, my current evolving wardrobe and how can I best adapt them to my budget.

Last year I watched the trends and they gave me:
Silver! Oh my god, Dolce & Gabbana went crazy for metallics and so did I. The trick to my obsession was I found a pair of Kenneth Cole boots in a silver gun metal finish on sale in January of 2007 (marked down from $180 to $48 because who in their right mind was looking for silver) and am now completely current with what is arriving in stores. The other trick is I only bought the one silver item. Otherwise Lyle will call me "Tin Man" all day. (shut up, I know I also have a silver puffy coat for winter. But to be fair, I bought that before the trend was happening. I am omniscient)

Shorts go shorter for Spring. I bought a pair of Izod tennis shorts at Marshal's last year. I sill need to hem them up about 2 inches. (note the metallic bag and shoes - see, trend)

Dsquared designers Dan & Dean showed me that I can wear a nice pressed shirt with jeans and make a mash-up of formal and casual.

I've started wearing ties with jeans. I call it Catholic School boy (girl) chic. Preppy has returned, but I can't go all 80's with it. I'm doing preppy in a more throwback style. Luckily it continues.

Now that we've established that last years shows did actually teach me something, here's what I am seeing for Fall 2008:
I've already got these pants (bought them last year at Diesel in Vienna when the airline lost my luggage) so now I need to tuck them into my boots. Do I? Perhaps I'll just wear them a few more times before I commit to that.

The hot nerd look continues. I've been wearing my black square frame glasses a lot more in the last few months and calling it "hot nerd", now they go and give you a whole army of them on the runway. Oh, and though I won't be getting a plaid blazer, I have been bringing plaid in for accessories like ties, socks, etc...

I'm not a fan of this look but there are a couple of elements I will take away from it. Grey flannel will be big for me this Fall. And I will continue to pursue my quest for animal textures. Seeing this jacket with a crocodile finish reminds me that I was right to purchase that black croc stamp belt at Banana Republic for $15 last weekend. God, how I love a sale!

Here's Dan & Dean from Dsquared again, I will definitely be finding a group of well dressed handsome men to hoist me wherever I go next Fall.

Some trends I will NOT be following for Fall:
Armani: Seriously? Quilted blousey pants tucked into boots? Then topped off with the Von Trapp family hat? Pass.

The conehead toque? No merci.

Prada: What were you thinking with this little ballerina ruffle? Absolutely no.

Oh, I see, it goes with the halter top. Double yuck. Thank god the Prada collection was so hideous. Now I don't feel bad that I can't make it to Florence and shop the outlet mall this year. Oh wait, I didn't feel bad about that last year either.

Then along comes Gucci which seems to be seriously lost in the woods somewhere. It's supposed to be a Bohemian Gypsy Russian look, but I find it to be a more of a sad early 70's vibe. Too much embellishment.


And just to prove my point that it is total 70's they've gone and styled this one poor chap as Brett Somers from Match Game.