London Fashion |
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| Written by Jane Stabler | |
London. It conjures up images of high fashion, street cred and Kate Moss. Fashionista extroadinaire Jane crosses the high seas to bring us her take on ye olde London town to see if the transatlantic translates.
For those of us Ask Bronny types who have made the trek to London in search of wardrobe wonders, we understand that often it also means fairly horrific high street fashion which does not necessarily translate once you cross any of the seas surrounding the green and pleasant land. Remember how that actually became a British fashion? That should give some indication of how fashion in the UK can go a little haywire. Don’t get me wrong, you can certainly head to London and spend all your time in the fashion havens of Knightsbridge, Bond Street and Oxford Street. But for those who can’t afford to spend all their days browsing Burberry or perusing Harrods, the more affordable high street fashion may come as a bit of a shock. Remember Ginger Spice’s Union Jack dress? Facing the visual assault of garish prints, bright turquoise and yellows that require sunglasses to be comfortably viewed, shopping can become either hilarious, or utterly depressing. Granted, winter fashion in the UK is pretty good. For a country that is inundated with rain and sleet, they certainly know how to combat the cold in style. But when it comes to summer, they Brits seem to struggle. It’s almost as if the English try to make up for their lack of sunshine and summer through their iridescent clothing. Fluorescent pink pointed shoes are not acceptable, ever, but this fact seems to have escaped the British. With Kate Moss endorsing a signature line for TopShop, it is easy to be fooled into thinking shopping on the high streets will result in you strutting around as the epitome of fashion, but spending in the UK requires savvy overseas shoppers to keep their head. When you are confronted with a seemingly never ending array of gaudy ensembles, it is easy to think that you will be able to wear these types of styles back in your homeland. So when you start to think that the bright yellow slouch top you are holding is pretty cute, get your ass back to Bond Street or Harvey Nichols quickly for a reality check. Yes, the 80s made a comeback, but not that much of a comeback. Also making a comeback is the Maxi dress of the 70s. It’s been hinted at in the Aussie fashion mags too, but the fact it’s currently winter in the southern hemisphere means that it’s been a little slow on the uptake. The UK however have embraced this hippie fashion with all its might, and despite intending to purchase one when I first headed north over all that sea, I found myself sick of the sight of them by the time I left, and thus without one. Whilst this dress looks great in magazines and on catwalks, the high street fashion of the UK has again caused havoc and the garishly printed maxi dresses available are, for the most part, torture on the eyes. Despite their prevalence in shop windows, not a maxi dress was in sight on the average punter (unlike the fluoro pink shoes!) But when the height of summer is only throwing 17 degrees and rain at you, it’s likely to be more a case of inappropriate weather than lack of style keeping this trend off the streets. If you happen to be shopping in the UK during their summer, stick to standard fashion rules – go for classics, and for black. You can still find great outfits and one off pieces if you are prepared to put in the hard shopping yards and seek out the classic European styling that Britain is famous for. And if after days of being confronted by them, the bold colours prove too difficult to resist, try to stick to accessories rather than the fluorescent orange and green floral dress you had your eye on in Jane Norman. Or at least go for an inexpensive option from one of the enormous and heavily stocked H&Ms that are dotted throughout Europe. That way you can hide it in the back of your cupboard after a fortnight without too much post-purchase guilt. Your friends back home will thank you for it. They may even still be prepared to be seen with you in public. |
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