SS20 Trends (Victoria Beckham, D&G, Burberry, The Row, Celine and Marc Jacobs) Images from Vogue Runway
With the start of the New Year, there always comes a flurry of new trends on the high street to buy into. SS20 is no different and there are some exciting new trends alongside some more familiar ones. The high street stores take a lot of their inspiration from the Catwalk shows which happened back in September 2019 in New York, London, Paris and Milan. That's the great thing about fashion, it's a trickle effect from high end designers to high street, which makes fashion accessible to everyone, no matter your budget. The negative side to this is that you can often end up buying into trends and items that you don't really need, and that don't suit your style or body shape. It's even easier now to be influenced into making the wrong decisions, with the rise of social media.
With this in mind, instead of listing all of the key trends for the season (which you can find in many key publications such as Vogue), I wanted to focus on the most wearable trends which should have longevity in your wardrobe. My Top 6 trends for SS20 are:
1. The 70's Back again for another season, reimagined for SS20 in a more refined and elegant way, which is good news for longevity in your wardrobe, as these pieces will last for years to come. The blazer stood out for me in this trend as a key item, this can be found in many great high street retailers such as Topshop. The blazer is very versatile and can be worn smart for work or dressed down at the weekend with jeans or a dress and trainers. There were also some gorgeous statement bold colours which are great for adding some colour to your wardrobe.
2. Craftsmanship Think anything crafted such as embroidery, raffia, lace, macrame and fringing. These are never the most inexpensive of trends to buy into but they are cyclical and worth investing in, to have something special in your wardrobe. Key inspiration came from the likes of Oscar de la Renta, Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana.
3. Return of the Mac Trench coats and Macs have always been a wardrobe staple, just look at the popularity of the Burberry trench, and how many versions there have been out there. This season the catwalk was flooded with mac inspiration from pastel colours and metallics (which are not an investment piece) to classic neutral tones with some updated details such as contrast panels and piping. But the cult classics still stood the test of time at Burberry, Lemaire and Celine to name but a few.
4. Button Down The humble shirt doesn't seem like the most obvious trend piece, it's something that is surely a staple in every woman's wardrobe? This season it definitely got a huge feature on the catwalk of some of the top brands such as The Row, Chanel and Celine. The stripe shirt is a classic that works as well for work as it does for the weekend with some blue ripped jeans. The shirt dress also features within this trend and is such a versatile shape for so many body shapes and sizes.
5. In the Blue Denim always features as a key trend in some form or another and this season it's all about Double Denim, also known as the Canadian Tuxedo, which is a much more wearable trend than you might think. A Denim shirt is a great piece to invest in, I own 4 in my wardrobe all with different washes and detailing and they all get a lot of wear. This trend can be worn in a casual way with white trainers or dressed up with heels and a statement belt.
6. Polka Dots
For me this is another timeless print and something I’ll always have in my wardrobe, but it featured across the catwalk shows at the likes of Marc Jacobs and Dries Van Noten. Monochrome is the easiest way to wear this print but it also comes in so many other colour options if you’re a fan of a bright shade. H&M already have a story full of polka dots just launched in store, and it looks amazing. I bought a beautiful mesh dress from The Dressing Room in St Albans pre-Christmas.
The Dressing Room Polka Dot Dress AW19
H&M Polka Dots SS20
If you do want to buy into some of the more niche trends such as Neon, Waistcoats and Coloured Leather, my advice would be to hunt these pieces down second hand or pre loved. This could be from Ebay, Depop, or from your local charity shop. I really believe in making more conscious fashion decisions in order to be more sustainable and look after our planet. We could all go out and buy into these trends from the value retailers such as Primark, but if it's something you're likely to get rid of within a few months or after one season, this is just adding to the landfill of clothes.