LADYLIKE LOOKS FASHION TREND ©

  
by Polly Guerin
RWA/New York Fashion Historian

Bring on those Ladylike looks in fashion in your stories. Turn your heroine into a femme fatale that smolders passion underneath boucle suits, bouffant hairdos and baked Alaskas for dinner. The trend, which reigns supreme for fall right into spring 2012 revisits the 1950s and 1960s and also takes inspiration from the popular 60s fashions graced by the “First Ladies of the Air.”


GRACE KELLY RECALL

Remember those dolman-sleeved coats and suit jackets that so personified the Grace Kelly look. Well those shoulders were featured on the runways of Balenciaga, Donna Karan and even Marc Jacobs, and many others. Don’t forget the Kelly handbag or its hybrids as well as those pearls are demure ways to revive the Kelly look with a modern twist. Dressing-up also heralds the return of the 1950s black cocktail dress worn with a frivolity of the era, the cocktail hat.



DIOR REVISITED

A well groomed very feminine woman can be an object on display but she can be a smoldering seductress underneath it all. Remember the 1947 ‘New Look’ introduced as the world recovered from World War II. Paying homage to the past the nipped in waist in jackets and dresses returned at Christian Dior. His ladies were prim and proper in pretty print dresses, some with portrait collars. The head scarf makes a comeback and with it teasing brushes to create raised-hive hairdos. The classic pump is a most accessory and includes the black and cream tuxedo pump with vamp bow and a modest slim heel for ladylike chic.

FLY THE FRIENDLY SKIES

The hit TV show, which gives viewers a blast from the past with popular 60s fashions brings back crisp white blouses with shapely powder blue suits and oversized leather handbags. The proper suit with nipped in waist is a ‘must’ in a heroine’s wardrobe. For a modern twist on these iconic styles, visit OneStopPlus.com, Dots.com, the fast fashion retailer and eDressMe.com the contemporary fashion boutique, where you can find similar styles.


WALK SOFTLY LIKE A LADY

It’s time to lift up our feminine heads and walk the walk like a Lady. Your heroine gets interested in dresses in skirts for the first time in decades. Feminine details like gloves, particular white or pastel shortie styles that end at the wrist and “garden party” cosmetics, pink and lavender nail polish create pert looks that call for cat-eye sunglasses and puckered pink lips.

HERE’S TO THE RETURN OF THE PRIM AND PROPER WOMAN!!! SHE’S LONG OVERDUE IN FASHION!!! ♥

Polly Guerin, fashion guru and former professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology writes about fashion presentations in her book, “Creative Fashion Presentations,” Fairchild Books. Visit her at http://www.pollytalk.com/ where you will find a link to her Blogs. Polly is currently soliciting for a publisher for her book, “A Tale of Two Sisters,” the founders of the Cooper Hewitt Museum.