Fashion is Back to Black

{Image source Style.com. Click on an image to visit the collection.}

I'm always looking for fashion inspiration from the runways. From Spring to Fall this year, I noticed black was a strong and steady presence in a lot of collections. Daring silhouettes, contrasting textures, and luscious materials were what made them special for me.

Get the look...

Cameron Diaz always manages to look cute, effortless, and above all else, comfy (can I get a "hallelujah" my friends?) I've admired her street style for years. In this particular photo, Cameron was making her way through an airport.

Mary Katrantzou SS12

These are some of my favorite picks from Mary Katrantzou's SS12 collection. For me, there is nothing quite like a Mary Katrantzou piece. They're always an amazing execution of print mixing that I long to be able to recreate.

With that said, it's confession time everyone. I have a problem and I've struggled with it my whole life. I'm addicted to clean, classic and chic designs. I adored the style of Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy. It took a lot of experimentation before I figured out my body type was more suited to the styles of Mae West or Marilyn Monroe. My mother often told me I dressed way too old for my age or that I was born in the wrong decade because of how often I emulated the 20's, 40's and 60's styles. If I ever tried to go beyond my comfort zone with patterns, things tend to go horribly wrong. Pattern mixing, in a way that's reminiscent of Mary Katrantzou's designs just seems beyond my grasp and yet, I still strive to achieve it. Have you ever shopped for a Mary Katrantzou design? Brace yourselves:

My Version Of...

Remember those picks from the Paul Smith collection that we talked about a few days ago?*  I love fashion shows because they can be so inspirational. What I love in particular, is the use of dark colors with the brighter happier colors. It seems like a perfect transitional look from warmer to cooler temperatures or vice versa. I loved the color pairing so much from the Paul Smith collection, that I got curious about how hard it would be to find things and create it as a fall look for now.

With that in mind, I decided to do a little mining on the internet and these are what I came up with:

H&M shirt: £34.99, Top Shop Leather front Tee: Price: £50.00, Dorothy Perkins Wool roll neck top: £15.00, Dorothy Perkins Short sleeve top: £15.00

Top Shop Velvet Trim Boucle Jacket: £65.00, Dorothy Perkins Cobalt Blue Jacket: £49.00

Torquoise Belted Trousers: £17.00, Aqua Peg Trousers: £10.00

Teal and brown platform loafers: £42.00, Teal T-bar bow pumps: £23.00

There were tons of stores that had lots of stuff in these colors, but Dorothy Perkins had the most options by far when we're talking one stop shopping convenience and affordability. From £97 and up, you could completely pull off the look and there wasn't a single item priced high enough to make me want to wretch, (although the leather front tee from Top Shop did come close. What can I say? I'm cheap :D).

What do you think? Would any of these pieces work for you to recreate Paul Smith's look? Do you ever try to recreate a look you see on the runways for less?

Ciao,

xoxo

*Paul Smith image from Style.com