The newest sweaters for resort are pieced and patched. The patched effect can be as simple as color-blocked intarsias or as complex as a collage of mixed stitchery. Space-dyed or marled yarns add more dimension, as do fringed edges. The technique works for flat knits and ribs as well as chunky cables, and a stretch lace version shows that these can be interpreted in cut-and-sew as well. Patchworked leather bags and sandals complete the look.
Any garment — sweatshirt, dress, tee or skirt — can become a canvas for eye-catching prints for next fall. Digital printing techniques encourage giant allover motifs rather than traditional placed designs or small repeats. Imagery comes from past and present fine art, snapshots, nature photos, vintage illustrations or tropical scenics. Black grounds add more drama for an ironic “painting on velvet” feel.
Purple, with its symbolism of mysticism and utopian ideals, has long been a favorite of hippies. This season that bohemian spirit is still there, but it is refined with flower-petal shades, fluid fabrics and shapes that are soft yet precise. The hue looks particularly fresh worn head-to-toe in jumpsuits or frocks, or used as a surprise color pop — as in a diaphanous dotted swiss maxi-skirt styled with a simple white tee and easy trench.
As fashion goes, sometimes something is “so bad it’s good”. Acid-washed denim is one of those things. The runways abound with 80s-flavored treatments, whether acid-washed, bleached-out, sand-blasted or stone-tumbled. Many of the shapes are reminiscent of the Run DMC era as well, with rounded legs, pegged ankles, reinforced knees and myriad patch pockets. Some of the newest looks use panels of various washes, or lighter-and-darker mixes for gussets or trims.
While a prim, buttoned-up Amish aesthetic has been around for a few seasons, the look is evolving with more color, more detail, and the emergence of folkloric print motifs that echo the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of “hex” signs. These decorations often include stars, stylized birds, hearts, tulips and tree forms. For fashion it means shirts buttoned up to the collar, high ruffled necklines, layered apron looks and hooks rather than buttons.
The latest denim items draw from the 1980s for silhouettes as well as finishes. Pegged legs, culotte shorts and acid wash never looked so good.