Current Fashion Trends

"How to Select the Best Fashion Trends for Your Personal Style"

It's important to look at the current fashion trends with a critical eye, because one trend might look better on another person than on you. It all depends on your personal style and how well a trend helps accentuate that.

Cute and stylish woman

Read along and discover the differences between fashion and style, and how to select the right trends and details to help you look your best!

Does it Look Good on You?

So you select trendy clothes that "looks good" and that are "so in right now".

"Looks good"...? On, who? The airbrushed (all-illusion) model you saw in a fashion magazine or yourself?

"It's the hottest thing right now"...? Again, for exactly who? Do YOU look hot in this trend?

Chic Fashion

This site focuses on chic fashion, which represents the classy side of fashion - the basics and essentials that build the foundation of your closet and style. Read more on what chic style is.

Current Fashion Trends:
There's No One Style Fits All

As much as we hate admitting it, just because a trend is super-hot and 'everyone's' wearing it, it won't always work that well on you.

Example no. 1

Compared to petites, taller silhouettes look better in a pair of super-wide leg jeans:

Katie Holmes and Jessica Alba look better with wide leg jeans than Mary Kate Olsen and Cheryl Cole

Wide leg pants on average-to-tall Jessica Alba and Katie Holmes vs petite Cheryl Cole and Mary Kate Olsen
I'm not saying Petites can't wear wide leg jeans or some trends - they just have to be careful with how they style them and select the styles that complement their body scale. For example, a petite should choose a pair of wide leg pants that sits snugly around the hips. Also, flare legs that are snug around the thighs are ideal on a petite.

Example no. 2

A woman with golden complexion will shine in gold compared to silver that enhances the luminosity of a fair-skinned person with pink undertone:

Light gray makes Jessica Alba look ashy. Gold overpowers Naomi Watts

Wrong colors for Jessica Alba and Naomi Watts.
Jessica Alba looks slightly washed out in light gray but the black saved her. Naomi Watts on the other hand looks good (but not amazing) in gold simply because she made sure to add bronzer to her cheeks as well as tanning her skin. This helps the gold adjust better on her coloring.

You know the drill. We're all different. But's it's possible to take bits and pieces from a trend - and adjust it to what suits us!

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So Before Adding
the Current Fashion Trends to Your Closet..

... Ask yourself these questions:

Does the silhouette on the clothing flatter your body figure?
Does the color(-s) complement your skin tone?
Does the clothing style reflect your clothing personality? - Classy? Trendy? Sporty? Dramatic? Romantic? Urban? Eclectic? Bohemian?
How many outfits can you create with the garment? 5 is usually the magic number. Is the garment flexible to be multiplied into several outfits?
How long will this trend last? Is it worth investing in? Can you wear it next season?

These questions can help you save time and money, by helping you select fashion trends that look good on you and are easy to make it work for you.

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Current Fashion Trends:
Style and Fashion Are NOT the Same Thing

Fashion is about the clothes and what's hot in any given season. Style on the other hand is so much more than that!

Having a great sense of style is about reuniting fashion with your height, shape, skin, eye and hair color, personality and age.

Think of it as an art form. You prune through all the colors, shapes, textures, etc., to find the best details to enhance and complement the beauty of a painting, a jewelry, clothing, an outfit, a room..

The same thing applies to your appearance. You pick the right colors to bring out the natural, healthy glow in your skin tone, hair and eyes.

You choose the best cut and prints to balance out your body frame - bringing out the best in your body and disguising the parts that are drags down your self-esteem.

You compose an outfit that you feel reflects the person you are. I mean, who wants to wear something that is an expression of someone else's taste and style? Or worse, wear something that doesn't harmonize with your personality?

It's O-K to copy a fashion look, but not from head-to-toe!

Do Not Mimick; Feel It, Own It

That's why it's important to select details from the current fashion trends that accentuate your personal style and turn them into something unique, and completely you.

Who says we can't tweak? Avoid copying - instead, focus on interpreting the trends with your mood, feelings, aspirations, etc.

For example, wear the current colors in a way that resonates with and looks good on you. A classy gal would most likely buy a turquoise bag in a structured style. While a Trendy fashionista will be on the look-out for platform sandals in turquoise.

What To Do If You Live in a Warmer Climate?

It's usually the northern hemisphere - US, Europe - who take the lead in the current fashion trends. So if you live in the southern hemisphere, like Australia or South-East Asia, put your attention on your local fashion stores or websites. They'll be doing all the catwalk interpreting - adjusting the clothes to your climate.

Designers such as Alana Hill, Carla Zampatti, George Gross and Lisa Ho take the latest runway trends and interpret them to be relevant for the southern hemisphere season.

It's your art; prune through the options - pick the best details and clothes that will enhance your personal style and throw away those that will only emphasize what you dislike and that clashes with your personality.

How You Interpret the Current Fashion Trends

1. Take a picture of a fashion look you're drawn to.

2. Write down the details that you love and appeals to you, such as:

Specific garments
Clothing combination (eg. shirt with skirt, etc.)
Colors
Prints and textures

Now you know what to look for when going shopping!

3. Next, ask yourself: "Is this look wearable for me?". If yes, see if you already have anything similar to the details and fill in the rest by going shopping. If not, buy a couple of the details and mix with your basics!

Make sure that you can combine them into at least 3 (that's 5 with me!) different outfits, with what's already in your closet.

This is my interpretation of the Dolce & Gabbana 2010 S/S catwalk look:

My interpretation of the SS D&G catwalk catwalk

I loved how the model wore a romantic, flouncy skirt with a casual denim shirt. I already have a denim shirt which I can wear with a brown pleat skirt. To make it more me I've added a red clutch vintagey purse, a classy pearl necklace and beige ankle sandals.

Check out the Latest Fashion Trends at the TCF blog:
(or dig into the trend-archives)