By Michelle Joline
Contributing Writer
The University campus may be filled with people wishing for warm weather and flip flops to finally be in season again, but New York City has been buzzing for the past few weeks in anticipation of trendy fall prints and chunky knitwear. New York’s 2011 Fashion Week commenced Feb. 10 and has everyone in the fashion industry wishing for a crisp fall day to test out the new trends from the top designers who have showcased their autumn looks.
The new styles of autumn are incorporating some of the great elements from last season—long, over-sized cardigans and knits—but this season does it with a pop of color, seen at Cynthia Rowley. We are seeing accent color this spring, and it seems that the trend is going to continue into the fall.
One of the major must-haves featured at fashion week is the “cute coat,” whether it be the ponchos featured by Alexander Wang, Wu’s stylized pea coats, or Steffe’s capes. These influences were seen throughout all the tents and have brought the 1970s to 2011; these looks are to die for … again. House of Harlow captured 1960s and 1970s influences in its designs, adding a mod chic element to the looks. Along with House of Harlow, Alice Ritter incorporated this hip element into her usually overly-feminine style with her chic but comfort-friendly coatigans. The heavy 1970s style wedge, made popular again this spring, is again current with Might and Magic VI for autumn, with high leather wedged boots and clogs, much to the dismay of girls fearing sprained ankles and embarrassing falls.
Many of us have been holding our breaths, praying that our paychecks haven’t gone to waste on the fake furs we bought this past season. It appears that we can breathe easy, since the fur accent was popular on the runways at The Row and Mandy Coon, adding an edgy but fun element to their looks. These weren’t the only designers who had a glamorous element to their designs: Alice + Olivia consistently have been dishing out the perfect cocktail dress for the past few years and again didn’t disappoint.
The inspiration was endless at this year’s New York Fashion Week, making everyone rethink their spring looks and wish they were one of the lucky ones to be sitting front row. We can still get the next best thing by visiting fashion blogs, many of the popular fashion magazine websites or even video from the runway shows. The University does have its own fashion blog through the Be Fashion Magazine website, where there are updates on new contemporary style.
It is obviously difficult to rock these looks on campus given the steep hills and unappealing 8 a.m. classes, but it will be a worthwhile sacrifice for fashion this coming fall.
