The White Fashion Trend for 2008
From Great White Shirts & Fendi Baguette Bags to Sailor White Denim
Stay cool with ice-white this summer with white-hot bags, shoes, shirts, jeans and eveningwear. This season white is the new black - the ultimate neutral.
White owes much of its success to its versatility this season, matching any complexion and the abilty to be teamed with any color to give it a crisp, fresh feel.
Having seen the emergence of the “winter-white” bag for Winter 2007/2008, now it’s time to mix cool white with nautical navy and white sailor denim jeans for summer 2008. Currently major jean brands such as 7 for All Mankind and Levi’s offer a number of white variations on the classics, proving that winter white can be worn all year long.
The Great White Shirt Trend
This year’s equivalent of the little black dress is the great white shirt. The GWD has been given a trendy feel with edgy cuts, a new twist on collars, volumnous sleeves, frills, ruffles, ribbons and bows.
Think white shirts and think Carolina Herrera, the darling of the socialites, with her crisp white cottons. According to Lamont Jones of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of May 21 2007, Venezuelan born New York fashion designer, Hererra, “has done for the white shirt what Burbery did for trench coats.” Along with the Brazilian-French designer Anne Fontaine, whose French fashion label is based around this classic, these ladies have lifted the humble white shirt from the realms of casual and business to glamorous eveningwear and a red carpet look.
We are now in an age where it is acceptable to wear your white shirt with a flowing ball skirt, as Sharon Stone proved when making Oscar history at the 70th Academy Awards. Ms Stone teamed her an oversized men’s shirt with her floor-length skirt by Vera Wang, for a Cinderella moment. Consequently, the white shirt has gone from Hollywood to high-street, with major UK retail cahins such as House of Fraser, Dorothy Perkins and Top Shop, and online retailers Asos.com and Boohoo.com, jumping onboard.
White Works for All Occasions
We are also seeing a trend for special occasion white evening dresses. Celebrity Kathryn Heigl broke the fashion rules recently when she wore a Zac Posen, white, mermaid-tailed, denim gown to the 2007 Emmy Awards, sending the fashion world into a twitter.
White Accessories – Bags and Shoes
Statement shoes for summer have also been given the white treatment. A new summer look to the ankleboot with Gucci’s patent leather open toe bootie, (a mere snip at $840) or an seasonal update on embellishments and decorated heels with Sergio Rossi’s patent leather crystal wedges.
For those with a passion for purses, there has never been a better time to invest in Fendi. Fendi’s Baguette bag is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary and has been given a summer feel with special anniversary editions, like the white 10+ Fendi Mini Baguette clutch, on sale at around $920.
Think accessories and think white oversized sunglasses, hats, brooches and watches, a fashion must-have for Summer 2008, if you want to be right on-trend. According to Style.com’s Candy Pratts, “her favorite accessories (from hats to jewelry and boots to coats) come in crisp, clean shades of white.”
White is fast becoming a truly seasonless color, through winter and summer, the ultimate neutral – chic, cool, classy and clean.
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