Hair Trends

Ive been looking into hair trends on Pinterest, and found that colour will be big for S/S/ 13. Creamy pastels, mainly pink and lilac are becoming stylish.

I really love this trend. I think that coloured hair was heavily associated with punk and an urban look. But the pastel colours are more mainstream and girly- much more accessible for people that aren't as daring- you can even get clip in colour!!!

Blogging tips from london fashion weekend

Emily Johnston from fashion foie gras (middle) and Caroline Green from Shopstyle (far right) where interviewed after the fashion show, and I took a few notes!

Emily started blogging while working, but realised that she really enjoyed blogging and wanted to dedicate all of her time to it! She used to blog for 6 hours a day and said that she didn't get much sleep, and took her 3 years to get established in the blogging network.
She said she blogs as if she is talking to a girlfriend about the products she loves.

Things to look at-
Popsugar
Susie Lough
Red Carpet fashion awards
Style note blog
The vine app
Lkbennet collection helped by a blogger
Shopsence

Vodafone London Fashion Weekend

Yesterday Me and my Mum went to the London Fashion Weekend! Which was held at Summerset House. (I will apologise about the quality of my pictures right now)

There where a lot of great 'pop up shops' but most of those where designer (different from the Clothes show that I saw a few years back) but it was nice to browse even if you cant afford anything! also a lot of freebiees!!!

I went to see the Trend Catwalk show which featured 4 trends coming into spring/summer 13. Which was styled by the LEGEND that is Hilary Alexander :)

The first trend was Graphic Art- which featured monochrome dresses with hints of neon accessories such as bags and lip colour. Think crisp new shapes for spring, from the mini shift to the maxi dress to shorts that feature black and white, stripes, checks and spots! Then introducing hints of red, yellow and beige that is mixed with the black and white (Marc Jacobs started this off in his New York show)
The graphic feel introduces swirls and bolts of colour- mainly cobalt, emerald and chrome yellow... think NEON!

I thought this trend was really good for dressing up your work clothes- because the dresses where quite fitted and smart, but you can add style/ follow this trend by adding a neon bag or shoe. You can tailor this trend to you, adding as much or as little neon as you like. Even if you don't like neon at all, you can go for a black and white outfit and add a hit of bold colour e.g. red or bright blue.

The second trend was Urban Lifestyle. This trend features sports luxe- that featured last season- but more 'grown up'. Featuring pencil skirts, collared blouses and fitted day dresses, with a hint of 'sporty wear' mixed in. Colour palette- Beige, navy, grey and white. With red and cobalt lipsticks. (again, another approach to workwear)

Yes... there was a Borris bike on the runway!

Personally, I preferred this trend to last seasons 'sport luxe' because its a bit more sophisticated than tracksuits and bomber jackets. But your still able to incorporate some urban street style by adding a trainer, high top or the odd bomber jacket if you can pull it off ;)

The Third trend was Eastern Promise. (the name says it all) A lot of designers looked East for S/S 13 inspiration (Such as Prada, Pucci and John Galliano) bringing colour, prints and an all over oriental feel to the catwalk (My pictures where clearer for this one :) )

I love this trend, although I think that its quite hard to apply to everyday life (you cant really go to the supermarket in a kimono...) but he headpieces where absolutely beautiful, and the tribal necklaces where amazing. So I think you could take parts of this trend- a headband, or in the form of jewellery or a tribal print and apply it to your closet!

Last but not least, the final trend was Dolls House. This trends brings back girliness with EGDE. A modern take on prettyness thats been inspired by Gareth Pugh, Givenchy, Balenciaga and Gucci.

This was my favourite trend of the day. As feminine, floral patterns and headpieces have been mixed rubber fabrics and harsh colours is a real mix! Its like a fairytale thats been updated (cinderella with edge- portrayed quite well in the last picture). I think this is a very wearable trend, being able to wear floral prints, pinks and beiges with spikes and a more grungy look. Mix it up!

So to sum up... I had a great day! And learnt a lot about whats in store for the new season. so watch out for these trends!

Finale Photos :)

Oscars Shoe trends!

While watching Lorraine on Monday 18/02 there was a piece on top shoe trends for the Oscars, and I thought I would share them with you :)

From Megan Cleary- red carpet show expert

3 Footwear trends this season

Height!- "the higher the better"

Sparkle- "Like a little jewel box for your foot"

Nude- "well known celebrity footwear secret.nude platforms and stilettos elongate the silhouette.

Most important thing to remember "know how to walk in those heels" ;)

Styling Forecasting

In last thursdays lesson we looked into how trends are forecasted- who stars them and how they are filtered into the high street. Here is the information :)

Diffusion of Innovation

The “Innovators are the individuals who are responsible for the development of an innovation or the introduction of a new idea.  The Innovators may not have created the original idea but they are the people who articulate it in a way that makes sense to other members of their tribe or group.

The” Early Adapters” are connected to the Innovators, either close friends or colleagues and are happy to be exposed to new ideas as they trust and respect the Innovators.  The early Adapters usually have a high degree of interconnections or involvement with other groups and are essential for spreading the trends.  Forecasters use the term “critical mass” to describe the point at which a trend becomes infectious few people can resist it.  This is also known as the “tipping point”, or the point at which a trend tips over from being a minority concern to a majority one that is highly visible and influential.

The “Early Majority” respects the Early Adapters and therefore take on the trends.  These are usually highly sociable people, usually active on-line.  Making up a large percentage of the public they are followers but will follow opinions of those they trust.  These people will stay with a trend for quite some time which will filter through to the “Late Majority”.

The” Late Majority” are conservative by nature and require high levels of reassurance and explanation about how a new idea will work and how they can benefit from it before they buy into it.  They are a large percentage of the population.  Quite often the trend would have been adopted by this crowd in a watered down format.  This crowd are easier to target and their tastes easier to define therefore many companies concentrate their efforts servicing this group because it is easier to imitate than it is to innovate

“Laggards” are the slowest to adopt new ideas.  They are usually conservative and traditionalists, and would need a lot of reassurance to try something new.  When a trend has been adopted by the Laggards trend forecasters refer to it as being “flat-lined”, the end of a trend being useful to a forecaster.

Diffusion of Innovations – Everett M. Rogers”

Definition of a Trend Forecaster

Trend forecasters are lifestyle detectives: men and women who spend their time detecting patterns or shifts in attitudes, mindsets, or lifestyle options, that run against current thinking or how people normally behave, live, dress, communicate, and trade.

Definition of a Trend

A trend can be emotional, intellectual, and even spiritual.  A trend can be defined as a direction which something tends to move and which has consequential impact on the culture, society, or business sector through which it moves.

The words “style” or “movement” are sometimes used to describe the changes taking place over a period of time.   Style is a distinctive manner, aesthetic, method, or way of expressing something “new”, while a trend is the “direction” in which something new or different moves.  So a style is about difference, while a trend is about difference and the direction along which that difference travels.

                 

Martin Raymond – The Trend Forecasters Handbook

This is some guidance for our trip in 3 weeks, where we will look at street style in 3 different locations in london.

Street Style

Many forecasters use street style to inform their opinions of trends.  The key to carrying out street style observations comes through 3 processes:

Observations

Intuition

Interrogation

First chose an appropriate place to carry out the street watching.  Look at the streets façade (the retail business & leisure space it contains) look at the people walking by (their style & ethnicity) and define the streets purpose (for recreational use, retail, leisure, business).  If a street is located in a popular “Innovator zone” then note the technology people are using.

Always take a notebook to record your findings, intuitions about the scene & people & record any questions & answers when approaching public.  Take a camera to capture imagery of both the street scene and the people.

Be prepared with a list of questions you may ask the public.  Do not ask too many questions but be direct with relevant questions.

Ask to take their photo and advise them how you will use image – i.e in your own private work, on a blog, pinterest etc

Look at how to set out your findings.  Is this written up in the style of WGSN street style report, or a magazine article etc.

Street Style research

Ive had a look on Pinterest and found a few looks that I really like!

http://pinterest.com/pin/570972058977594996/

I love this casual outfit, perfect from a day shopping.
Its quite a grungy look-
with the use of dark tone such as black and dark grey,
but is brightened up by the cute fuchsia flats.










http://pinterest.com/pin/570972058977594998/

This look is more elegant,

perfect for going out to dinner or a date.

Still using a lot of black, this look is slimming.

With the introduction of a tan jumper,

which sets off the piping detail on the jacket.

The black tights and black boot heels elongate the leg

and make her legs look thinner and longer 

(a look we all would like to achieve)

.http://pinterest.com/pin/570972058977595003/

This look is bang on trend-

Wet look leggings are really popular right now, and they are slightly more on stylish than a normal legging and crate a totally different outfit- more of a classic rock look, especially with the addition of the bowler hat.

The beige coat gives the look a more classical and elegant feel, and the two mix really well.

Lesson 3 (Planning for London trip)

Planning for London trip 7th March-
3 locations- Portobello Road, Chelsea, Brick Lane
Theses locations will give me a broad demographic for Street Style.
- Take a note book and camera to record what people are wearing, current trends and new ones.

Questions I could ask-
What style would you call your look?
Where are you statement pieces from?
Are there any celebrities' style that you like in particular? Follow any of them?
Where did you get your inspiration for this look?

Remember-
Tell the person where I will be putting there photo (here or Pinterest) ask if thats ok!
Ask politely if I can take a photo- if not jot down what they are wearing

Thursdays lesson

This was the brainstorm from thursdays lesson, showing how to identify new trends

Technology research

Ive decided to have a look at the current trends in technology, mainly phones and computers. Currently, Apple is the leader in technology but with Blackberry bringing out their version on a smartphone (that looks very similar to the iPhone)

They may start being a contender to apple. As blackberry's where very popular amongst business users.
Also Windows have released their new laptop/ tablet that is a competitor for the iPad

We could see Windows becomming more popular, as some people dont like the apple brands (more common amongst artistic people). With these products coming out onto the market Apple may have to step up their game if they want to stay leading the market!

Lesson 2

In this lesson we have identified how to stop new trends, the media in which we can use.
- Film- historical, fashion films, feature films (Twilight), up and coming films (50 shades)
- Blogs
- Celebrities- magazines, music videos
- News, Current and historical- Britain, Olympics, Gay Marriage, EU talks
- Websites
   - WGSN
   - Prezi
   - Artsthread
   - Trendhunter.com
   - Trendstop.com
   - Style.com
   - Newdesigners.com
   - Polyvore
   - Fashionmonitor
   - Drapers record
   - Fashioninformation.com
   - Stylesignal.com
   - Thefuturelabratory.com
   - thetrendbotique.co.uk
   - LOLC.org.uk
- T.V- strictly come dancing (dance trend)
- Highstreet fashion- people spotting & street style
- Magazines
   - Vogue
   - Elle
   - Harpers Bazar
   - Tatler
   - Lulu
   - ID 
   - Music Magazines- NME, Rolling Stones
- Catwalk
- Eco friendly trend
- Books- 50 shades of grey
- Prediction books
   - Textile view
   - A&A predictions (LFC library has those)
   - Promstyl
   - Mode information- Pantone colour palettes 
- Technology
   -smart phones
   - Blogging
- Manufacturing in Britain

I will use this information to predict future trends

Trend Research

So I had another look on WGSN to see if I could get some more colour palettes for S/S and A/W 14 and have found a few interesting bits!

This trend focuses on "romance" by using soft colour palettes, dream like prints and photography. Creating a dreamlike state by using soft lighting and using the idea of a fairytale.