Sick of Color? Try Leather and Lace….
Image Courtesy of Splash News.
Everyone knows this season’s hottest trend is pastels. They’re the most fun way to ring in the warm weather, but looking like a human crayola box is only fun for so long. Eventually, the novelty of wearing colors wears off, and you want to go back to black.
Leather quietly emerged as part of this season’s wardrobe. Designer Derek Lam released a leather skirt earlier this season for Saks and Neiman Marcus, and Altuzzara released a white leather dress with a flower panel.
Despite being a part of the high fashion spring/summer line, the leather trend went to the wayside because it couldn’t be easily adopted by lower end stores. Brightly colored materials are easily integrated into more affordable stores like H&M and Forever 21, but they couldn’t produce a quality leather product comparable to the high fashion leather.
Check out the local consignment stores, like Second Time Around on 17th and Chestnut streets, for inexpensive leather goods. Pair your favorite leather piece with a hot lace for a night on the town.
Fur Returns as Top Winter Trend
Remember that scene in the SATC Movie? The one in which a woman threw a cup of blood on Samantha Jones’ beautiful white fur coat and screamed “FUR IS MURDER! MURDER!” Yeah, that one. While some PETA kids cheered and toasted with organic, vegan wine, I on the other hand, died a little inside.
Before anyone jumps down my throat, let me say this: I’m not trying to use this post as a platform for political discussion. The use of animals for fur is, while controversial, not exactly the point here. I don’t personally wear real fur (be it because of economic woes or otherwise), but I can’t consciously shove my beliefs down another fashionista/fashionisto’s throat.
I digress. Fur is in this winter. Really, really in. But, in a society like ours, you don’t need a million bucks to look like it. Fake fur has come a long way in the past few years, often times looking (and feeling) close to real. So whether you’re wearing a coat made of a once-barking seal or just made of some synthetic fibers, scroll down for some various ways to wear it on a Fishtown or Grad Hospital budget:
H&M fur vest, $69.95
Modcloth, $249.99
Christian Louboutin “Toundra;” Neiman Marcus, $942
For street style ideas, visit College Fashionista; fur is on their hot list right now!