Cut the crop

                                         Proenza Schouler


The days when 'crop top' brought to mind 90s high-school films and undignified nights out on girly summer escapades are long gone. I wouldn't have seen it coming, but it appears that crop tops can actually be done with stylish flair. It's something about the way they end so abruptly that looks so 'cool': as if you couldn't be bothered to wait for the finished product, pulling it over your head fresh from the sewing machine. 

                                           Reed Krakoff

But crop tops done properly also have that sleek, contemporary refinement about them. In fact, if your wardrobe were a living room, the crop top would be the modern, low-lying Scandinavian-inspired coffee table at the centre of it: modest and unassuming, but controls all the proportions of the grander scheme. Their minimal stitching, marginal detailing, and negligibly tailored shape give them that edge of understatement that rules the world of 21st Century unisex fashion. In one word, crop tops at their best embody minimalism - quite literally. And there is only one rule for translating it from chic catwalk androgyny into office appropriate wear: meet the midriff with a high waist.

Becoming "Conscious"

In 2007 I read an article in my monthly issue of Marie Claire that changed how I viewed the fashion industry forever. "Prada Vs Primark" was a duel between Katie Spicer, the average highstreet shopper who pairs the occasional designer item with an abundance of low-cost trends, and Tamsin Blanchard, an ethical fashion journalist who takes the time to question the values and practices of any given brand. For the first time, I was forced to ask myself whether my pennyworth on that exquisite £10 top would support something good and how I could make my decision count. Tamsin's side of the story captivated me: she was a shopper with a conscience, something we could all use a bit more of when building on our personal wardrobes.

So how do you know whether you're buying from a brand with a conscience? Sometimes, it's not so clear to you where they source their textiles from, or how they've come to arrive at an Oxford street window. Sometimes, it's crushingly obvious that a "bargain" to you is making a fool out of some poor soul lost, in the global bulldozer of a supply chain. And sometimes, just sometimes, they tell you. 

H&M Conscious is the brand's ethical commitment to "bring you more fashion choices that are good for people, the planet and your wallet". This season, the collection is a blend of Flamenco frippery and royally angular cuts, in the ever-classic palette of black and white. I love the mediterranean embroidery, and I have my eyes on this gorgeous black long-jacquered weave dress. 

It may not be the case of the usual wander-in-and-out of the high-street shop, picking up a few fanciable items along the way. The truth is that these garments are quite a bit pricier than the average H&M number. But being organic, recycled and created from cellulose fabrics you are guaranteed that guilt-free feeling when lugging your shopping home after spending a little more than you should. After all, as Amber Valetta views it, "looking good should do good too".

Il est midi

On most days, a well-fitted pencil skirt will do. I’ll wriggle into it and suck my tummy in, as I stuff the dangling remains of whatever blouse I pick that morning in to my neatly drawn waist. Et voila! – a fantastical hourglass silhouette emerges, no matter what body shape you in actual fact are, and no matter what naughtiness you gorged on the night before. And the best part is, that when your flaring curves are out and paired with an elegant pair of heels, your legs actually look quite long and chiseled!

But sometimes, …sometimes I just don’t feel like being ‘leggy’. Sometimes, the thought of framing my womanly hips as I strut towards the coffee machine, or of wiggling my skirt-hugging bum in peoples faces as I ascend the escalators of the London underground just does not appeal to me. And this occasion calls for a ‘midi’.

A midi?! A skirt that chops your shins in half and has men questioning your newly assumed librarian attire? In truth, on arriving in to work in my swaddling black midi, my gay male friend wittily reminded me that it wasn’t Sunday yet and that I might want to reserve my outfit for mass. But whilst I am sticking to my guns about my favourite new work garment, this season’s trend couldn’t lie further from the stereotype. This Fendi number for instance screams youthful excitement, whilst channeling that floating elegance that a lengthy skirt will bring.

And that’s the thing about a midi – you don’t need to pack away your femininity when ditching sexy. Some of my favourite midis this year are all about the touch. A delicate fabric, or a soft pleat can instantly transform a traditionally frigid-looking skirt in to a whimsical fantasy. And such is the case for Christopher Kane’s take that combines virtually shapeless pieces in to a gentle and elusively appealing guise.

And finally, would it be anything more than a flash-in-the-pan trend without the Burberry seal of approval? I am utterly enamored with the idea of floating fabrics below the knee as Autumn calls and the cold starts to creep in. From Burberry English lace, to Derek Lam American leather, the possibilities for the turning of the seasons are endless…

Corporate Culottes

When culottes first made their comeback on the catwalks, I imagined a short-lived celebration in the world of androgynous, futuristic fashion. They do have that trendy 'recycled' vibe - like you've just chopped off your grandfather's old summer bests just above your ankles, and drowned yourself in them, your torso just about peeking over above the waist. But this year's collections, both SS and AW, have proved just how diverse and truly wearable these knee-breachers can be, and most importantly that they can be worn at the office for an effortlessly brushed-up appeal. I am completely sold on Proenza Schouler's chic transformation of the genderless cut, as well as Alexander Wang's slightly more tailored interpretation. Wangling them in to my mid-season work wardrobe may just be the easiest thing in the world. 

Trapezing in to Spring

Today is a beautiful sunny day in London. For weeks, the skies have alternated between between buckets of icey rain and depressing drizzles that have kept my wardrobe in tones of Winter blues. But today's yolky sun, tearing apart the brilliant blue sky calls for a reawakening of the palette. What better celebration of the turning of the seasons than Céline's strikingly elegant Trapeze handbag in its Summer 2014 colours? Cobalt blue and sunflower yellow - I can almost see the South of France...

Leather Goods @LFW

Leather will always cast an effortless ruggedness. But we tend to forget that it's viciously versatile too. It is both lust and luxury, erotica and elegance, naughty and natural...

                                  FELDER FELDER                                                Daks

                       Haizhen Wang                                           Amanda Wakeley

                                    Tom Ford                                                       Mulberry

Melted Metal @LFW

There's something deeply toxic about an unrefined metal shine. It has an alluring futuristic luster, cast in the looming mould of the industrial revolution. In one word, it's avant-garde.

        

                         SIMONGAO                                                 Matthew Williamson

                    Huishan Zhang                                       Jean-Pierre Braganza

                         Mary Katrantzou                                               Topshop Unique                                               

A Ruby in the Rubble - London Fashion Week AW14

London Fashion Week is like a ruby in the rubble. Just when the saturation of the Winter sales sinks in, when all the frustrations of your favourite shoes you never bought now available only in size 3 or 14, when the Spring/Summer collections tease you through the icey windows in all their impossibly sunny colours, and when you've been wearing the same boot and coat combination for a week out of sheer lack of inspiration… That's when Fashion Week comes about. 

Following Fashion Week is like being granted a golden ticket to the Chief Charm Factory, where colours you had forgotten existed come flooding out in a catwalk concoction; fabrics, both old and new, float by around the ankles of a power strut; and new forms are born: shapes to adorn the human body - some re-awoken, others pioneered.

And patterns are formed: patterns to tell the story to come. And AW14 is born...

Isle of Wine

Think Radiant Orchid after a long summer's sun. The aubergines come out to play, Port grapes are collected and oak leaves turn maroon. A rich and complex foliage for a classic Autumn trend.

                                     Hunter                                                 Emilio de la Morena

                            Lucas Nascimento                                       Roksanda Illicic

                     Mulberry                                                   Burberry Prorsum

Re-Smoking

French Le Smoking? The Brits are Re-Smoking it. Nothing clouds the air with timeless androgyny like peak lapels, cummerbunds and a sleek, midnight palette. General revivals of the tux are to be expected…with a feminine twist.

                        Joseph                                                    Richard Nicoll

               Temperley London                                              Mary Katrantzou

                        GILES                                                        OSMAN

Whack & Blite

It's no secret that Black and White are the perfect harmony. But when played about with in a craze of dizzying patterns, they can be as exciting as colour itself. Meet Whack and Blite…or Blite and Whack? Either way, their intermeshing is extraordinary.

                       Orla Kiely                                                Margaret Howell

         Vivienne Westwood Red Label                                    Antonio Berardo

                                      Issa                                                          David Koma

 *Images borrowed from London Fashion Week.