Spring fashion trends- 2006
Spring fashion trends to update your wardrobe... Dress tips for what you'll really want to wear into summer

Update your wardrobe with spring fashion trends spring dress tips for what you'll really want to wear into summer

Dear Sharon: I spent the last rainy weekend weeding out all the clothes from my closet that I will never wear again. Now, I’m left with well-fitting great basics, but I’m not a basic kind of girl.

I love fashion forward styles, but don’t want to invest in something that looks tired next year. Help me fill the fashion holes in my wardrobe without breaking the bank and still look totally in style. –Looking for a Spring Fashion Fling (Tampa, FL)


Dear Fashion Fling: Yup, it’s a fling you need, not a long term relationship! Luckily, you’re savvy enough to know that the core of a great wardrobe is well-fitting basics. But a life full of basics can get pretty, darn dull. Spring into summer fashion is getting inspiration from the Roaring Twenties flappers (short-term style) to the Fifties flirty vixens (a longer shot), but we don’t want you to turn your closet into a fashion museum worthy costume collection, simply a wardrobe of fresh, wearable, and exciting silhouettes that gets you excited to get dressed again.

There are certainly enough changes going on in style right now to get you to focus on some different proportions from last year. Gone, are the crack-bearing jeans and in its replacement are more demure, sultry fluffy skirts. The flood of flip flops flopped and cute Prada inspired moccasins and ballet flats look awfully cute. Forget about dragging the hem of your jeans down the street behind you and roll up to a straight leg, Capri jean.

Invest in styles and shapes that readjust your eye, they’ll be around for a bit. But, the super trend pieces are best bought on the cheap and thought of as disposable chic. As long as your essential pieces are well-made the fast fashion will fill in the blanks just fine. Luckily, from stores like H&M and Zara to top designer fashion houses, there are enough fresh styles to get you excited to try something new this season.

What you’ll want to think about modernizing your wardrobe with….

A fuller, longer skirt- There’s no doubt that fashion is heading in the direction of knee-length skirts that a have a little fullness or hemline action to them- think trumpet skirt, box pleats, asymmetrical hemline, bias-cut flounce, Fifties inspired circle skirt, and even tiered ruffles.

A well-cut skirt that moves around the knee adds just the right amount of sass to a presumed conservative hemline. The longer, fuller silhouette may take a bit of time to filter into mainstream fashion, but it’s going strong into next fall, and may well be around for a few more years to come. A good investment.

Capri pants- Wasn’t it only just a few seasons ago that cropped pants were the big thing? Yup. And, that’s exactly why they are a classic. Capri’s work so well when worn with other modern big looks like that trench, some ballet flats. It’s a little Fifties, a little Audrey, a lot of timeless style. Don’t feel like hitting the stores? Just cuff straight leg jeans to midcalf- there ya go.

Funky message tee- Tongue-in-cheek, a wallop of irony, sometimes the truth hurts, any saying that make you smile and not take yourself too seriously. A frisky message on a fitted t-shirt (yo, dudettes, that’s not a baggy men’s tee!) is super cool. The more weathered the shirt, the better. Be more than sure that a freebie, giveaway T-shirt which promotes your local insurance company, is most definitely not it.

Trench coat- The big fashion push for spring is trench coats. Those ultimate classic trenches with contrast piping at Chanel made everyone wish for overcast skies. Forget about takeaway bag tan unless you’re the kind of girl who literally looks terrific in a paper bag, and think vivid colors or crisp neutrals.

Tweedy, lady jacket- They are available at every price point and in every conceivable tweaking imaginable to distinguish themselves. If not worn with the right amount of spirit, this jacket or coat can make the very young look very old. Since pastels were never really our thing, we think the ladies who lunch jackets look best when irrelevantly worn with cuffed jeans, a funky t-shirt, to-die-for sandals, and undone hair.

A zipper utility jacket- You have plenty of jean jackets, get a little rocker thing going with a blousy, yet slim jacket that has tons of heavy-duty zips to stash everything you need. Add some grommet or studding and you’re off to a club- cool, edgy, modern.

Cute flats- There is something so adorable about ballet slippers, particularly when they wink to the Fifties when worn with full skirts or Capri pants. Then there are those Prada moccasins that can be interpreted with some cute Minnetonkas. Let’s not forget a neon flat slide either. An itsy-bitsy kitten heel keeps the flat shoe feeling, but give some extra lift to your step.

Big splash of color accents- Take all the colors in a Pucci print and blow them out- we are in a season of high-impact color. Go psychedelic, go neon, go bright, get some green.

Prints- After years of solids, just about any print soars, particularly, the bold and beautiful! From florals, stripes, big to small, don’t be afraid to combine patterns either. The more going on, the merrier- as long as the colors connect and the mixture compliments each other. There is nothing prettier or more versatile than a print summer dress that falls in a nice shape around your knees.

Enough silver, try gold- The Midas touch creates newness to your existing wardrobe of silver, white metals, and platinum. Gold touches abound. A big gold bag for day is totally right-on! Plus, the days of choosing either silver or gold jewelry are over.

It’s more than ok to wear both silver and gold at once, but be sure that the metals are not at odds with each other. The secret is to combine multi chains and pieces in a variety of complimenting lengths so the look is stylishly intentional.s

Western touches- We love a good Army fatigue, but don’t you have enough? Yippee kay ay, yippie kay oh, come and get some Dale Evans inspiration- a snap-front shirt, funky western boot, slim fit cowgirl jeans, rodeo buckle belt. When you are not on a horse, tweak pieces of home on the range style with big city sportswear for just the right amount of edge.

Messy, big hair or rocking layers- Push the flat iron to the back of the drawer. What makes these fashion looks fresh is big hair with movement that’s purposely messy- nothing stiff, nothing boring, nothing contrived, nothing too done. Run-your-fingers-through-it sexy hair is the best investment you can make.

--April 16, 2004