Decembrrrrr. It's a chilly one out there guys. There's mitten's in the air, t-bar flat adorning schoolgirls treading on black ice with too heavy a foot, gingerbread houses being flaunted on every gram of social networking and 20-year-old bloggers having to sport 4 pairs of 80 dernier tights to even attempt at touching the sides of slighty thawed (ahem). A/W is like the Jane Lane to my Daria Morgendorffer, the Antoni to my Alison or the pesto to my everything (current food crush agiven). I wouldn't say I have a love hate relationship with A/W's slighty more tanned fluro cousin S/S but I would say that I treat A/W like it's my dirty little secret. Ever since my loving mother dressed me like Vivienne Westwood & Johnny Rotton's sordid love child as a nipper each chilly year and convinced me that cider & blackcurrant was a goth drink, A/W each season has taken my childlike hands and led me up an adorable path of Burberry trenches, tweed capes, aubergine hues and Kate Moss smoking on the catwalk (she's Kate Moss!). Years of being such an advocate of A/W collections i'm practically Santa Clause & having many a uncontrollable swoon during fashion weeks around the globe in March, particularly the ice maidens Karl Lagerfeld usually turns out in PFW, this winter has taken a perculiar & unexpected twist ladies & gentleman. I've done something which could only be described as "minxish" & started to feel more of a excited flutter for the "the light side".
I've heard rumours of this so-called "summerism" amongst other bloggers and for many a moon have prayed it wouldn't spread to me. I wasn't ready to give up my excessive layering & pinafore dresses just yet! Some blame it on the continuation of the damp experiences Great Britain has seemed to be throwing up of late, craving spring print cigarette trousers or whimsical head garments to pull them out of the drippy Monday mornings. Some blame it on how trends are expanding or how moved they were by recent shows & collections for S/S 2013. Some don't have a reasoning at all, (why me!) My reasonings have been a little harder to stomach. Everyone goes through rough times, which I seem to be in the midst of recently, which is never easy, granted. But when said rough times occur during the time of year you've been fantacising over before it was even appropriate to take off last year's bavarian tuba player inspired fur hat, it's not just the weather that turns you numb and a silly shade of cobalt. After keenly spying on fashion week proceedings in September and my current uncontrollable need to focus on & analyse the future, my usual adoration for basking in a yeti state & challenging my christmas tree to a twinkle-off has dwindled before I even got a chance to grasp it! Although my living room currently smells of rich pine, mulled wine has been instantly more accessible in bars and the chances of getting, as my gran would call it, "a smooch" with the tonnes of mistletoe lingering around as ceiling decor has increased too-many-to-mention-a-fold, it would seem not even a pair of Van Der Ham's could lull me out of this icy funk (if Santa is reading that's such a lie, Van Der Ham's, yes please). So whilst every other blogger will have been penning winter wishlists for months, putting pictures of their dogs dressed as elves on instagram or snuggling up in cable knit jumpers with antler based animals on I have been waiting for my favourite time of year to melt away like the ice on my path outside. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying being able to wear my cosy miltary biker coat to the pub and something eerie inside me loves wearing multiple pairs of tights, but for the first time in my life, my fashion focus is purely on how decadent, floaty and happy i'm going to make my S/S 2013.
So with such in mind and my noggin firmly wired into the early 2013 matrix, looking back at some of the stand out shows from S/S 2013 is keeping me from going into complete fashion hibernation. Hey, maybe a more forward thinking Melissa will become a positive. Working a full-time job in media press analysis and being around publications tends to feed the monster in my stomach who's forever hungry for blog cooing and pawing over fashion publications, for a short period of time at least. But when show season commenced in September, especially around LFW, it became a cat and mouse debarcle of how many live shows can I fit around my work without being caught. From FROW to FNO to catwalk to timetables, squeezing every bit of detail possible into my show notes whilst still having the mundane task of working out how to brand fartless underwear at work was daunting but successful in the end.
I've always been a firm believer in fashion influencing how you feel as an individual and also knowing that how you feel will also affect how you want to dress and when I think about how I want to eventually feel once spring starts to rear it's fresh head, I couldn't pinpoint a more enchanting or spine tingling show than when watching the Bora Aksu S/S 13 show at LFW (See above Youtube attachment). The turkish designer has become a regular face at London Fashion Week of late, flaunting his contrasting nature of romance but with a deeper & darker twist which has always caught my cooing eye. He has always kept a semblence of regality in his collections, parading grey & rose tones at A/A 2012. Being a sucker for a structured collar and elaborate patterns (HELLO KATRANTZOU) being partaken with the pieces in the collection wasn't difficult. Seriously didn't see it being possible to expand each season but by gum, they've done it. A miriad of regal jewel tone knitted crowns, whimsical fly-away braided beehives and floaty pastels fluttered down the catwalk like elegant wood nymphs and fairy queens alike. "Youth" by Daughter used as show music was a perfect and pure choice, an emotional favourite of mine that I drank in like hot musical miso. Lyrics like "We are the reckless, We are the wild youth, Chasing visions of our futures, One day we'll reveal the truth" silkily enhanced the mood of the show and the inspirational warmth of carefree femininity displayed.
Previously, Aksu has gone into detail about where his inspiration has evolved. From the regality that shines through and links his collections together tells a story of how he came to be. Inspired by Queen Marie of Romania (and who wouldn't want to look like a Romanian queen!) and in particular this season by her botanical gardens, was quoted as saying of her "The way she embraced traditional Romanian culture without losing her Englishness led to a lot of beautiful references"
After my over the top swoon session at Carven's SS 12, use of bold primary colours, the palate used bowled me over, with draped honey yellows, oceanic blue pastels & deep silky reds. The botanical element was paramount with sheer tights resembling roots & weeds gathering pace up the legs towards the sunlight and neo-preen organic blue capes adding more movement when sacheting, floating like dainty winged insects. The contrasting elements of silk and organza clean lines mixed with sheer jewelled coloured draping created a natural yet wearable illusion of unconcious delicacy.
With minimal accessories used, emphasis was well and truly focussed on the dreamy dresses and statement head wear. With underskirts resembling the glisten in water and deeper blues appearing like damp water lillies layered on top, joined with the strong collars and structured shoulder is what I find most alluring. In much Shakespeare tales, the fairy-like characters have an innocent yet seductive nature which I have linked to the kind of lady likely to indulge in these delicious dresses and the kind of lady I would like to portray in S/S 13. I always think you can tell that a collection is going to make you fuzzy inside when you are able to visualise a moodboard during show and I got adorable imagery of pressed pastel flowers & petals.
Some may say im jumping too quick of a warmer weather gun but looking forward is the only way I can live at this moment in time. In 2013 I want to be able to learn how to relax, feel passionate and be able to fall in love again. Bora Aksu SS 13 made me instantly feel at ease & i'm able to visualise the feeling of relaxation, like floating in water with pastel draping and flowers, through this collection. In search of delicate fashion for a delicate head.
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