Fall 2014 - After this winter warm clothes are on my mind!

It has been too cold this winter! For the past few winters the weather had gotten chilly, but most of my wool clothes have stayed in the mothball bag.  This years' chill has been deep and long and I've gotten those boiled wool sweaters and jackets out.   Some of my warmest clothes date back to the late 1990s, early 2000s. This year with the chill I'm wishing I'd replaced them. The pleated pants and jackets still fit, but they look dated and are hard to wear with other more current elements in my wardrobe.

February isn't the time to replace your winter wardrobe, so I've been looking at the New York shows thinking about next fall, when I may be adding a few warmer items. With this in mind I went looking at photos from Fall Fashion week in New York.

Left to Right - Thom Brown, Proenza Schouler,
Diane von Furstenberg (middle), Derek Lam

Jackets with arched shoulders are a specialty of Proenza Schouler;  the silhouette appears in other collections as well. Some tops have bigger sleeves than others, I'm trending towards the narrower sleeve, shown in the right by Derek Lam.  To the left is Thom Brown, in brown - although it's too exaggerated for me it has the look. In the middle top/bottom is Proenza Schouler with Diane von Furstenberg in the middle.

Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein did not show the big shoulder/sleeve, instead his collection was wooly earthy  knits. I like the colors and the fasteners which appear to be a large pin with a bead.  This strikes me as an interesting accessory that I could construct from my supplies of beads and jewelry. I'll be on the lookout for a Kilt pin so I can personalize this myself.

Who knows, maybe the buttons didn't arrive in time for the show.

a clear bead and
a colored bead

In addition to warm looks, appealing after this winter, there were plenty of pretty and flattering looks that I'm sure will make it onto buyers orders for places where fall/winter isn't a polar vortex. Narciso Rodriguez had a string of looks that were lovely and figure flattering. It's hard to go wrong with a dress with vertical stripes, shown at left.  If it were sold with a jacket/sweater I imagine it would walk out of stores.

The blouse in the middle caught my eye, not because I think I'll buy a blouse with two different sleeves, but because I suspect that buyers will be offered the choice of sleeveless and short sleeved.  I find it hard to believe that women in Wichita or Phoenix are going to spend big bucks on a lopsided blouse, and think buyers probably are ordering the blouse, which looks very versatile as a  shirt to wear without a jacket, probably layered over something light in warm climates with both sleeves the same.  What's shown on the runway isn't always what ships to stores.

The sparkly party dress is figure friendly and if your life includes parties where you wear these things it'd be easy to wear.

In the meantime I've ordered a pair of wool long underwear from L.L. Bean to wear under my current pants and they're helping me brave the cold.  I'm going to remember to hit the shops next August when Fall styles start showing up and add a warm outfit to my wardrobe.  

Somewhere someone at a thrift will be happy with the lined pleated pants and blazers that will be coming their way.