FASHION AND BEAUTY: Observations on Fashion Month Street Style

Friday, 7 November 2014

Observations on Fashion Month Street Style

I so enjoy watching the evolution of street style. As someone who used to go to endless fashion shows and get my photo taken as I was entering and exiting, I know what it feels like to be under that microscope and to feel that you want to be spot-on with what you say about yourself through the clothes you are wearing. We all know the benefits that have been reaped by standing out and making a strong statement - personalities like Anna Della Russo and Giovanna Battaglia have built entire careers from being candidly (or maybe not so candidly) snapped during the show season. But then many people, especially industry insiders, reacted to that by wanting to notstand out and attract all that attention. Fashion month is exhausting enough without feeling like you have to wear Met Ball-worthy outfits to work for a month straight, especially while traveling (imagine schlepping the luggage!!). So last season I commented on how fresh all the understated, more classic looks came across through the lens of street style photographers such as Tommy Ton and Phil Oh. And now I've started to notice unique trends that emerge not on the runway but on the street outside of the runway. Designers offer up so much in terms of new ideas and ways to wear things, but I find it compelling to see what translates, not so much to real life - because let's not kid ourselves, street style stars are not living "real life" - but to the lives of the fashion elite, so to speak. These people consume more fashion than anyone, and most of them have an informed and well-developed point of view when it comes to choosing what to buy, shoot, style, and more personally, what to put on their own bodies. Here's what I noticed this go 'round:

THE ELEVATION OF PREPPY

bold stripes in primary colors.....