HOME AGAIN

I've just got back from two months of travelling within India. It was an incredible experience, and I'm still adjusting to the UK. The one thing I really missed whilst away was British fashion, music and art. It made me appreciate how much amazing stuff the UK produces for such a tiny place. That's not to say there's not some amazing style in India, ofcourse; beautiful Hindu women wearing saris and bindis, with long coconut smelling hair and tons of embellishments...anklets, bangles, earrings, nose piercings. The men wearing a suit, shirt and tie on the beach in a 34 degree climate, incredible. 

On my return, I bought Vogue. I don't actually like Vogue, it's a bit of a snotty dictator, but I wanted to know what was going on in fashion quickly, without much effort and 'Elle' had David Beckham on the cover...bleughh. To my dismay the summer trends were uninspiring to put it lightly. In a nutshell...floral, nautical, brights (aka colour blocking), BORING, give it a rest already!? Ofcourse these are just the trends that Vogue chooses to focus on, but really.

But it's not all doom and gloom..Despite this dissapointment, there were a few trends that stood out, and that I'm now reasonably obsessed by:

1) SWAN PRINT

I'm going to ignore the fact that this is obviously a nod to the jubilee, and instead bask in it's prim and proper British-ness. Swans are hilarious too, I was watching a group of them the other day and they looked like they were having an assembley. 

Swan Print Wedges - Topshop

Swan Print Tea Dress - Topshop

 2) TRANSPARENT

The transparent trend was born in the 60's and has been visited again and again. This time it exists alongside classic shapes such as a stiletto or a tote bag. My favourite is the transparent trend circa. 1990's (do you remember blow up plastic rucksacks!?). H&M have some nice little sandals at the moment with small black wedge soles and clear transparent plastic uppers and straps, they're cheap and really cute. 

Chanel Platform Wedges (sold by Aldercy at Ebay: www.ebay.com)

Fluro Transparent Bag by JellyJelly at Asos Marketplace)

3) CHINA
The trend for distsy prints inspired by British china is really sweet and makes for some pretty dresses/shirts/blouses etc, I especially love the sky blue pastel toned prints.

Oasis China Placement Print Dress www.oasis-stores.com)

4) PYJAMA PRINT
This shouldn't work, but does. Pyjama print is all over Stella McCartney's S/S12 collection on mini dresses, jumpsuits and shirts. This trend is eccentrically English; the inspiration being old man jammys from the 70's/80's in deep Burgundy, Green and Navy paisley prints.

Details from Stella McCartney's S/S12 collection (www.stellamccartney.co.uk)