Topshop A/W 2011

I am always keen to see the new season lookbooks for Topshop. Topshop somehow manages to be the only high street store that can embrace every key catwalk trend without looking tacky, cheap or contrived.  Topshop S/S 2011 appealed to me, showcasing dip dyed hair, denim dungarees, chunky shoes, and tie -dye galore...

To me, the stunning Meadham Kirchhoff collection for Topshop S/S 11 was the perfect expression of modern grunge. Haphazard styling at first glance, the models look like wannabee bag ladies. On closer inspection, the clothing is layered delicately with luxe fabrics and intricate detailing. It reminded me of the infamous Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis '93 grunge collection, in which cheap grunge apparel was given an expensive makeover with polyester flannel swapped for washed silk plaid layers.

The thing that makes Topshop so accessible is the abiltiy of the brand to appeal to many different people all with very different ideas of what constitutes great style. The grunge look has always been very close to my heart, so I was interested in seeing how Topshop could incorporate this trend into A/W. I was delighted to see that although the collection was far more polished, and by no means a grunge collection, it still retained a very distinctive grunge shape.

Every lookbook report I have read on this collection talks about the 40's and 70's influences, which are especially evident in the colours and print. As usual though, all I can see is how I could wear these pieces in a way that suits my personal (usually very 90's influenced) style. 
The maroon fake fur coat would be perfect with a knee length kilt, scruffy hair and a fresh face. The long crushed velvet skirts remind me of something a more grown up Angela Chase would choose to wear, with logger boots and a baggy fine knit jumper. The standout piece from the collection so far for me has to be these chunky velvet boots. So perfect. Which colour to purchase is currently destroying me.
 Another thing I am obsessing over is the bad taste fake fur that seems to be all over the place right now. I remember bad fake fur from my childhood, those huge shaggy white dalmatian print Cruella de Vil style coats, and those terrible knee high monster boots, and nostalgia is making me yearn for something ridiculous. The bad thing about Topshop, is that they have this uncanny ability to make these things actually look good. That pink coat is a dream, and that orange scarf monster calls out to me, I think because it reminds me of those huge fluffy animal puppets I used to collect as a kid <3

WANT WANT WANT! :)

Or, it has just occurred to me, maybe I am just still obsessed with Bubble from Ab Fab...........



August Style Icon: Tai Frasier

Ms. Stoeger: "Tai, you don't have time to change, but you can hit a few balls in those clothes..."

Amber: "She could be a farmer in those clothes"... 

Seeing as this blog is named after Amber's contemptuous remark about Tai from hit teen movie Clueless (1995), it only seems appropriate that my first edition of Style Icons should feature Tai Frasier. Clueless director Amy Heckerling credits the films costume designer Mona May for catapulting the 'Cher' look into mainstream fashion culture and popularising it amonsgt young girls of the 90's worldwide, and it is the character of Tai in particular that underlines the evolution of mainstream style in the mid-90's. She ditches her grunge aesthetic; heavy with plaid and denim (and amazing Troll t-shirt) in favour of the 'babydoll' look sported by the characters Cher and Dionne. 

What is so appealing about Tai for me is her awkwardness and her vulnerability. To make her one of the most popular girls in school, Cher gives Tai a 'betty' makeover, a Buns of Steel workout and fancy new vocabulary. The insecurities Tai has about the way she looks reveal themselves in the way she continues to dress and significantly, in her reluctance to ditch the grunge. She clings to her plaid flannel shirt is like a security blanket; she even wears it tied around her waist during her workout to Buns of Steel. She doesn't know how to work her new look, she ties her baggy shirt in every which way around herself when she's in public...

 And I have long since wondered if the enduring appeal of Travis Birkenstock, the ultimate 'grunge baldwin' wasn't more about her mourning for the loss of her awesome slacker wardrobe than anything else...and if it was...who can blame her...?