Trending In October
Photo: Maud Chalard for The Kooples @ thekooples.com
Oh the fluffy sweaters, the new boot collections, the hot cocoa to warm up our cold hands!
Days shorten, the air gets crisper. It may seem like the end of something but the Fall is when something else starts anew.
All around us has an air of softness and tranquility. There is no better time to find new music, open a book to the first chapter, cozy up the home and upgrade the wardrobe (yay!).
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
FASHION
Red Is NOT Dead
The most daring trees shed their green to adorn themselves in deep red. And so does fashion this year, display its most flamboyant hues of carmines and burgundies.
Red is in, and frankly we’re not sorry about it. It is the perfect remedy to the seasonal affective disorder looming (it's a thing, people), for those of us already plunged in automnal darkness. Resist! And celebrate the fireworks of Fall colors by wearing as much red as possible. Monochromatic encouraged.
Top to bottom, left to right: Adam and Karolina in total Burgundy look for The Kooples; Caitlin ankle boots by ba&sh; Boheme chic x urban rock by IKKS; Victoire dress by Sézane.
Not Your Mama's Pearls
Every woman in my family owns pearls. Little pearl earrings and rows of pearls strewn around the neck, offered as a rite of passage into womanhood, motherhood, or in celebration of another trip around the sun. Pearls were for a long time the lot of petites bourgeoises and grandmas, what they donned to be at their most elegant.
But now they’re everywhere and the industry seems to have gone glue-gun crazy. Proof is in the Zara store displays: you will find them sown to jeans, scarfs, sweaters and hats. We are still deciding on this brand new trend.
Left to right: Isabel Marant Etoile jeans for Madame Figaro magazine; Pearly beret by Zara; Textured neckerchief with ribbon and faux pearls by Zara.
The LLS (Little Leather Skirt)
How I love that these are back! I acquired my first LLS at fifteen (it was scalloped and vintage, 70's style), then again at twenty five, and again at thirty two. I can predict there will be many more LLSs in my lifetime.
Best worn with the softest sweater of them all and opaque pantyhose.
Left: Camille Rowe in Bronx skirt by Sézane; right: Hely skirt by Vanessa Bruno.
Good Girls in Thigh-High Boots
Also known as "cuissardes", they had a mighty bad rep for a loooong time. They were the epitome of vulgarity and the bad girl’s attire by excellence. Didn’t Julia Roberts, who played a prostitute in Pretty Woman, wear a black vinyl pair after all?
Good girl, bad girl, good girl with a bad girl attitude, brace yourselves because thigh-high boots are all the rage this Fall.
The French crew and I debated. We may still be fearful of the potential vulgarity, but we love the idea and found ways to take the edge off:
Buy them flat and wear them with a short skirt; or
Wear them heeled and atop tight pants
Counterbalance the whole thing with a fluffy sweater. It's all about contrast, after all.
Left: Chanel thigh-highs for Madame Figaro magazine; middle and right: Alexandre Vauthier for Madame Figaro magazine. Photos Imaxtree.
British Invasion
Prince of Wales and Tartans - the British-est of fabrics - are hot hot hot. We say yes to sporting outfits that look like school uniforms straight out of the finest private schools in Britain.
Remember, everything in moderation: pair with jeans; wear black or neutrals at the top if you PoW'ed or tartan'ed your bottom, and don't forget your very best British accent. Cheerio!
Left to right: Lisa Germaneau in the Emily jacket by The Kooples; Prince of Wales tweed coat by Comptoir des Cotonniers; Prince of Wales skirt by Maje.
MUSIC
Our little boy is all grown up. Twelve years after his critically acclaimed album Caravane (which I strongly suggest you acquire asap), Raphael offers the world another masterpiece: Anticyclone. Albeit a different kind of masterpiece. A more mature, deeply seated one.
If there was ever a French artist who could continue Serge Gainsbourg’s legendary legacy, it would be this man with a devastating boyish charm. Listen to the duo with his wife Mélanie Thierry, La question est why, to see what I mean.
Words: Cécile Charlot.