Spring 2012 - Channel Your Inner Fashionista

For any of you seeking a career in fashion merchandising, having   your eye on the latest trends is essential. Last week, we shared with you some of the exciting up and coming trends for Spring 2012. Stunning vintage pieces like cloche hats, classic pearls and fascinators, along with bold, tropical prints, boxy silhouettes and earthen toned accessories. As we inch closer to the transition from thicker winter fabrics and into breezy Spring prints, we start to get a more realistic idea of trends that actually have a fighting chance of making it from the high flying catwalks of London and New York, to the mean streets Los Angeles, Chicago or Toronto.

All About the Midriff! Dolce & Gabbana, Anthony Vaccerello and Emilo Pucci are all about abs, abs ABS! Long flowy skirts, and undersized embellished bandeaus strutted their way down the runway. So you might want to grab yourself a copy of insanity ladies and start working on those six packs ladies. Or you can flip off this trend, happily sip away at your full fat Americano and stop freaking about losing a million pounds before the summer. This look isn't for everyone, myself included! Keep the long flowy skirt, and pair it with a pastel tank or fitted corset.

How about a trend all of us shapely gals that doesn't require us to skip lunch everyday! Thank goodness for the mavens of the roaring twenties! Flapper frocks are all the rage this Spring season and guess what, you don't have to be a triple zero like the waifs pictured above, to look look the part! The subtle, yet sensual boxy, low waisted silhouette is wearable by all! Let Alberta Ferretti, Roberto Cavalli and Gucci be your muses this season. Sequins, sateens, even jersey, the fabric matters not, it's all how you accessorize it.

Is there anything sexier than a woman in a suit? Yes, a woman rocking her confidence in a short-suit! This is a favourite trend of mine that, thankfully, designers keep reinventing. A girl can never have too many suits, and in every colour. Linens are always a favourite for spring and transition beautifully into sultry summer eves. 

We're seeing stripes! A splash of colour and dash of chevron and you've got a recipe for show-stopping look. Classic design houses like Dior and Burberry draw from the Art Deco movement of the 1930's and translate the geometric shapes of the era onto frocks, crop sweaters, capes and blouses.