Shine on!

A/W 17 Trend Review Part 3: Prepare to dazzle

Brexit, backroom power-sharing deals, terrorist threats, terrorist realities, combustible cladding, homeless tower-block-dwellers, concert bombings and terminally-ill baby battles… and that’s just on our shores.

Farther afield we’ve got Euro-Brexiteers, nuke-tastic North Korean dictators, a flaccid pound and that’s without even mentioning the Twitter-led Trump administration.

"In difficult times, fashion is always outrageous." —Elsa Schiaparelli

I’m an avid Channel 4 News watcher, but at times like these, I find myself turning it off – it simply causes me anxiety and sorrow. Instead, I find the distraction of fashion soothes my soul, although this does mean living in a level of denial and ignorance... I have always found joy, solace and creative fulfillment in fashion. Nothing else gives me that shot in the arm when I’m feeling down quite like the feeling of slipping my feet into fabulously impractical shoes, or a ridiculously bright coat, paired with equally bright dress, heels, jewellery… I enjoy the zing of colours as they clash, complement or caress against each other.

And it’s not just colour – it’s piles of jewellery, sequins at the office and mixed metallics on a random Monday. Welcome to the world of the overdresser!

Good news for me, and all you fellow overdressers out there, as the season ahead promises a return to maximalism in all its sparkling, shocking beauty. Dressing outrageously is very much back on the fashion map!

Runway Rundown

From the disco-dazzle of Saint Laurent’s boots to the shimmering metallic dresses at Dolce & Gabbana, Paco Rabanne and Balmain, we’ll be enticed to ditch our box sets and reconnect with our inner dancing queen this winter. A welcome change indeed!

One of the easiest ways to adopt the trend is in footwear, jewellery and accessories. Silver and gold are go-with-everything staples, so they can be considered a long-term investment.

As much as fashion is a wheel that spins in slow revolutions, referencing the past, so too does it turn the other way, casting its collective eye forward to the future.

This A/W is no exception with space age-, alien- and NASA-chic all making an appearance.

Gucci’s sparkling crystal body-suits were certainly other-worldly. I can’t help but wonder, how planet high street will interpret that particular look! Meanwhile, Chanel’s rocket women were treated to astronaut prints, metallic quilting and a rocket-ship handbag, just to reinforce the theme, in case anyone missed it.

As veteran fashion maven, Iris Arpel says, “More is more and less is a bore!” Go forth and mesmerize!