New Fall Fashion

I've done my usual study of it all and I found some trends.
One that is big is menswear looks for women. Even the less expensive lines are showing pants, vests and blouses for fall.
The vest is key. It is big and wearing it over even T-shirts is happening. The vest is worn over blouses, dresses, even sweaters! There are ties for women, and even Gap, (who has a new designer,) will be carrying these "looks."
Checked skirts and pants are everywhere.

There is a boom to wear less expensive clothing. Because of gas prices and food prices, many woman cannot see themselves buying that hugely expensive bag, or coat. Designers are designing inexpensive lines for inexpensive stores because no one will pay the big bucks like they used to for their higher lines.
Fashion reflects life and now will be a time when young people will dress like street kids in the twenties and even the forties. There are scraves that will remind you of that period and fingerless gloves of dull colors will be popular.
Blouses will have bows to tie at the neck or other decor at the neck to make them more conservative. Fashion is showing the war, and the cost of living.
Pea coats, short sleeved sweaters over blouses, and hair that is not so "done," are ways to update your look. Or, get a tie, take one from your husband or brother, and wear it with your shirt and slacks and you'll be happening!

Dancer,

It all looks a lot like the poor in the movie "My Fair Lady," and the dressy things do too!

Speaking of cheap -- one of the new trends in jewelry is to use plastic with everything. Diamonds with plastic beads. I think I'll skip that trend entirely.

I've seen almost everything you're talking about at the local mall. Saw the ties too. What a hoot. Not so sure I'll be doing that.

What about color? I shop for color and I walked through our Gap on the weekend and didn't touch a single piece of cloting for my daughter or myself because the colors were all so dull. I walked in the side door and out the front. It was disappointing.

Meredith, anything new for the holidays yet?

The only time I would wear a man's tie would be to hang myself...I do like vests. Always have.

Back in 1995, my husband worked a six-month contract job in Bermuda. Vests made out of men's ties were all the rage there. The front of the vests were made up entirely of men's ties, but arranged in different designs and colour schemes - no two were alike. Most of the backs were made out of plain silk with a specific design, such as a star or lighthouse or animal (I saw parrots, butterflies, dragonflies, dragons and more) - even a quilted landscape, all made out of pieces of ties in the same colour scheme as the front. They were very eye-catching, very popular and very expensive! I couldn't afford one at the time, but to this day still wish I had bought one. They were quite elegant and distinctive.

Vests made out of men's ties? I don't think I have ever heard or seen that before, Eagle. What a good idea. I have all my Dad's neck ties. I couldn't bare to part with them when he died. When I look at those ties, I can still picture him wearing each one. I wonder if I could do that with my dad's ties?

After my Dad died, we had a hard time throwing away all of his ties too. I saved enough to make small cushion covers out of them (using Dad's shirts as the backings), one for everyone in the family. But we ended up taking most of his ties and suits to Cuba to give away to some of our friends there - most of whom would never be able to afford to buy suits and ties. What really delights me is that those Cuban friends remember, and often wear the ties while we're there - they know the ties belonged to my Dad and they wear them as a caring gesture to his memory.

But sometimes I still wish I had made at least one pillow cover for myself...that's another idea, Cookie. Then when you miss your Dad you can cradle and hug the pillow close to yourself.

Cookie, Make roses out of them into a bouquet. If you know how to make ribbon roses, you can make tie roses. OR lay them out if you have enough, side to side to make a circle - you can fold the tops under to make it whatever size you want to frame. If you don't have enough, just skip one place one, skip one place one etc. Use a nice piece of silk underneath for a background. Put your Dad's picture in the middle and you have a beautiful keepsake.

Eagle and Chick, thank you both for your wonderful ideas!! You all are so creative!

Chick what a neat idea.
EH, good work, as usual.

Eagle Heart,
Those vests sound like a real treat and I wish I had one! How excellent is that?
It sounds like a good project for someone who can sew or has a seamstress!

Color this year is POW, loud, crayon colors but I think it will get to places like the midwest late in the season if not next season.

New lines showed bright colors of all hues and encouraged things like bright lime, pinks with blue in them and other unique colors, aside from the crayon colours.

I'm not really going to go for the colors myself, I wear mostly black anyway and if I add a dash of color it might be an accessory.

I'm planning a new Louis Vuitton purse this season and I just bought a black dress with wood details. It is short, to the knee, which is my best length.

It's good to go to a place where you can get to know a salesperson or two that know your body and your size so they can work with you on new merchandise and help you weed through all the offerings.

Best,
Dancer

I saw a fashion show tonight for older women say 40 to 80 and the fashions were lovely, the colors bright, and the fabrics, soft and silky. None of the MA KETTLE look. Women aren't standing for the dowdy look anymore. We want color and style no matter what our ages are, wouldn't you agree?

chatty, there's a lot being written about clothing for boomer women. Seems we don't want to wear the same clothing as our daughters or granddaughters, nor do we want to dress like Mom. I think the fashion industry is trying to figure us out. Glad to hear you saw some appropriate clothes that were fashionable.

Speaking of this - here's a site for you:

www.notyourdaughtersjeans.com

This company was launched a couple years ago by a family (siblings) and they're doing very well. They're even being sold at Nordstrom's. Check it out.

I did see some of the same styles at the fashion show. I was very impressed with what the designers are showing for older women, the clothes have style, color and the prices are affordable as well. FINALLY!!!!!