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Fall officially hits the Northern hemisphere on the 22nd of September – which, horrifyingly, only gives us a little over a month to bask in our last days of summer.  Quick! Break out the sun-dresses & gladiator sandals because it won’t be long until it’s too chilly to wear them!

The good news is that fall (& by extension, winter) is a true sartorialist’s wonderland.  While summer is all about wearing as little as possible & allowing our skin to breathe, fall is about covering it up a bit – & doing so with exceptional style & grace.  It’s our opportunity to show what our wardrobes are really made of,  so embrace it!

Of course, we can only work within the parameters we’ve been given…so here’s a summary of what you’re likely to see in the shops & on the street.  Remember that combining 5 trends at once is a sure route to fashion failure, so be selective & combine new elements with your old tried & true aesthetic for best results!

Neo-goth, which is really just a fancy way of saying goth-gone-glamorous, & something I have been writing about since the start of 2008, (www.galadarling.com) is finally becoming more mainstream. Which, of course means it’s easier to shop the look.  You can see the neo-goth influences everywhere,  from skinny black zippered jeans to pyramid studded EVERYTHING & lace stockings making their presence felt.

There is so much black this season, which makes a nice counterbalance to this spring/summer with its emphasis on color, floral prints & vibrant, madcap patterns.  So many of the dresses I saw (& wore!) this summer were almost verging on psychedelic, while the motifs for fall & winter are much more subdued.  You’re more likely to snap up a great polka-dot skirt or striped sweater than an entire dress teeming with a violent print.  Now, this is not to say that there are no patterns to be had – there certainly are, but they seem to have been relegated to the realms of legwear (stockings, leggings, tights) & accessories (clutches, scarves).  All of which is a fantastic way to break up a whole lot of black.

The recent resurgence of public interest in the life of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel has meant that Chanel – inspired looks are also in the cards.  A proliferation of chain-strap bags – in homage to the infamous Chanel 2.55 handbag – have been seen on the shoulders of everyone from ladies who lunch to the enfants terrible of New York’s lower east side. (The inspiration for the chain-strap was, according to legend, the orphanage in which Coco grew up, where the caretakers hung keys from chains on their belts.)  Chanel-inspired quilted detailing & other aspects of Parisienne chic (scarves, consistent color palettes, & avoiding looking too “perfect”) will have high visibility as the weather cools.

When I say Parisienne chic, I like to picture a girl embodying the just-rolled-out-of-bed look with a mussed up sex-kitten do, wearing her boyfriend’s oversized cardigan over a pair of shorts with torn black opaques underneath, unlaced boots & a wristful of bangles.  You catch a glimpse of her dark smudged eye make-up as she slides her sunglasses onto the crown of her head & orders coffee, then prances out into the street with a newspaper tucked under one arm.  Idealistic, moi?  Mais bien sur!

What else will you see? Leather, fur (real & faux), gloves – especially fingerless gloves & sweet little wristlets, zipper detailing, long oversized cardigans, asymmetrical cuts, see-through clothing (great for layering), bows, sequins & ribbons, studs, lace, printed – & cut out – leggings, harem pants in all kinds of colors & fabrics. Check out this fabulous sequinned pair, leg-warmers, high-heeled booties of all shapes & sizes, over-the-knee boots (which will be huge, but take guts!), enormous oversized scarves & knitted neck-warmers, fascinators, false eyelashes, dramatic eye make-up, tuxedo cuts, military – influenced style (was already on the way up but with Michael Jackson’s passing will be blown up to epic proportions), platforms, ripped/torn/shredded anything, capes & one-shouldered dresses! Sounds promising, huh?

What will you be wearing when the seasons change, & what are you looking forward to donning most?

Words by Gala Darling

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