By Lauren Zazzara
Features Assignment Editor
Americans may never know how the French maintain their “je ne sais quoi,” but maybe they can get a hint by studying how they dress.
At Paris Fashion Week, which lasted from March 3 through 11, designers set the trends that consumers will see in autumn and winter 2015.
Patterned jackets popped up on several runways, including Chanel and Miu Miu. At the Chanel show, many of the jackets had a plaid or checkered print in deep red and blue. Others had a black and white hounds-tooth print. To give off more edge, some of the jacket materials had quilting, but the squares on the quilting had spikes. Meanwhile, the Miu Miu jackets featured patterns such as plaid and cheetah print in colors like teal, violet and red. At knee length, they were perfect for keeping warm in the colder months.
Black-and-white ensembles also dominated the Paris shows. At the St. Laurent show, models wore suit-inspired outfits, tutus, jumpsuits, chunky boots, fur jackets and leather jackets in a black, white and gray color scheme. Dramatic makeup with intensely dark eye makeup and bright red lips offset the monochrome clothes and gave an almost vampire effect. Similarly, at Comme des Garçons, besides a few outfits with deep blues or reds, the clothes were black and white in an almost Gothic style. For example, black lace dresses, knee-length sheer black skirts, and black dresses over white collared shirts with black piping on the collars complemented black shaggy hair and pale, makeup-less faces. The Viktor & Rolf runway was also mainly black, gray and white with dramatically shaped dresses and jumpsuits with cascading ruffles and tunics with half of the bottom part cut out.
The Givenchy show was one of the most dramatic of Paris Fashion Week. The models’ hair was slicked back with gel, taking the baby hairs around the hairline and gelling them together to form a swirl that was plastered to their foreheads. Fairly large jewels were attached to their faces, as well as what looked like mustaches, the ends of which were attached to the sides of the models’ noses.
Equally dramatic, the clothes gave off a medieval vibe with dresses in navy, deep red and dark floral velvet and black brocade. Exaggerated ruffles added a romantic feel.
Students can easily bring some of these trends into their existing wardrobes. Go for an outfit in all black, or, if you are feeling daring, all white. Or put both together. Monochrome looks sleek and clean.
Or, invest in a patterned jacket, which will bring life to a basic jeans-and-T-shirt outfit. A velvet skirt would make a denim shirt or jacket more formal.
Or, to dabble in the trend, buy some shoes or boots in velvet. Jeweled mustaches might not be so easy to pull off for class, but if you are feeling your upper lip getting cold, go for it.
Whereas several of the runways in New York, London and Milan had a ‘70s with fringe and suede and florals galore, the Paris designers drew from a darker and edgier well of inspiration. The variety will allow for students to channel all of the different parts of their personalities while getting dressed this autumn and winter.
