This Fall, the handbag department is touting a lineup of rocker chic-inspired collections that feature oversized studs, gleaming silver and gold buttons, and chain handles galore. If you’ve always had a little bit of a rocker-girl style in you, this is the season to show it off! Some of the leading handbags of the season are designed with an edgy look with oversized hardware and darker colors for that tough-girl look you crave. From chain-handled shoulder bags to studded hobos, here are some of the leading looks in handbags for Fall:

1. Gunmetal hobos and satchels. While black is still a top pick for handbags this season, gunmetal silver and pewter shades reign the runways this year and are a great match for your rocker look. Look for charcoal, dark silver and pewter handbags and clutches that will accent any outfit with a fresh and sassy look.

2. Studs galore. From the miniature clutch to the oversized hobo , studs are cropping up on every piece of arm candy you can find. Look for matte silver and gleaming gold studs that look like they’ve been pulled right off a motorcycle jacket.

3. Chain handle shoulder bags. If you’re looking for a versatile bag to last you through the season, stick with the classic shoulder bag embellished with chain handle accents. Chain handles are a top trend in handbags this Fall, and your best bet is the oversized chain style that becomes the focal point of the bag. Not only are these handles super-sturdy (yes, you can tote your heels, wallet and a few books without worrying about breakage), but they will give you that edgy, rocker-inspired look you crave.

4. Coil accents. Coils, oversized metal hardware and rings are some of the embellishments you’ll find on the tough-girl bags this season. Look for crossbody bags and satchels accentuated with these details for a fresh and fun look.

5. Extra zippers. Zippers serve a dual purpose on hobos and satchels this season, and you’ll find a number of bags with lines of zippers as part of the design. They’re just another way to show off your rocker-chic look for the season.

One of the secrets of expanding a small wardrobe is to make sure that each piece you buy can be worn with something you already have. Let’s look at Zappos.com for three easy pieces, and then think about how you can wear each one with something already in your closet.

Everyone needs a good pair of trousers , and these “Jackie” wide leg pants from Liz Claiborne do the trick. They’re denim with a classic cut and style. The flat waistband sits at the natural waist, and the hems of those wide legs are cuffed. These are classic pants you can dress up or down, and wear with almost anything.

The second piece of this outfit is this stylish scoop-line top from MICHAEL at Michael Kors. It has a flowing design to make it comfortable, and that scoop neckline is dressed up with little round studs. Its vivid red coloring is the perfect complement to the dark pants.

Finally, layer the top with another Liz Claiborne piece; this stretch denim peacoat is all about style, with a double breasted three-button front, pointed collar, and welt pockets. The cuffs have a button accent, and the jacket has a back vent for ease of movement.

Put the pieces together, and you’ve got a great outfit. But look at them separately and see what else they can do. The pants can dress down with a colorful tee, or dress up a bit with a long-sleeved shirt (think Tommy Bahama or BCBGirls) left out or tucked in. You can top the shirt with a cardigan when cooler temperatures arrive.

The peacoat, in navy denim, is a neutral that can top almost anything in your closet. If you have a sheath dress (look at the ones from Hype for ideas), top it with the jacket before you put it away for fall, and keep wearing the summer dress through the next season. Finally, the Michael Kors top would be perfect over white pants or capris for a bright summer look.

Now you’ve got three easy pieces and four stylish looks. Does life get any better?

Ancient Egyptian and Greek scriptures have depicted women in water scenes wearing short cotton skirts that were waisted below the bust and held up by two straps that mark the earliest versions of the modern monokini. However, European designer, Rudi Gernreich, holds the title for designing the first monokini in 1964. A cross between a one-piece swimsuit and a two-piece, the design consisted of a bikini bottom with straps that ran over the shoulders. He also is responsible for naming the garment and was recorded in the English language that same year. The term monokini, refers to a bikini bottom held in place by two straps which, at least partially, cover the breasts. His vision to create a garment with minimal construction and detailing to maintain focus on the body itself received mixed reviews during the conservative times. In the face of the critics, the monokini was a highly purchased item for shoppers that summer, selling over $3,000 in the suits. Although not very successful in the US, it was a great hit in Europe by the early 1970’s.

After its first season, the monokini grew quickly out of style, nonetheless, the exposing suit began a new era in swimsuit design. Designers soon began experimenting with strategic cutouts and mesh coverage in swimwear design. For the Sports Illustrated cover in 2000, Laetitia Casta was photographed in a vintage 1967 Gernreich monokini, reviving interest in the swimsuit. Today, the monokini is the hottest summer trend in swimsuit since its debut. Popular designs are cut-out one-piece swimsuits with designers using fabric, mesh, chain, and straps to bond the top and bottom sections together, like Dolce & Gabbana’s Monokini with Metal Ring & Gold Lurex Piping. Celebrities including Paris Hilton and Eva Longoria Parker, have been photographed in stylish monokini designs, only growing the popularity of this up to the moment trend.

Thomas Burberry, founder and original designer for the British line, Burberry, can be credited for the development of the trench coat . He first designed the trench coat as a raincoat for an army officer during the United Kingdom War Office in 1901. It then became an optional coat to the heavy serge greatcoats worn by the British Army.The coat then had a basic uniform design. It was usually ten buttons long and double-breasted, typically in khaki or black. The coat was also developed with intricate details such as cuff straps, shoulder straps and most notable for its wrapped belt. Fabric used for the trench was ideal for protection from the cold, snow and rain.

Following World War II, the trench became a garment of business-like respectability and worn by popular fictional characters on the big screen such as Dick Tracy, Rick Blane from Casablanca, Audrey Hepburn for Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and most recently on Keanu Reeves in the box office hit, The Matrix.

Later in the 1960’s, the trench coat became the alternative to the fishtail parka or crombie, and was seen as a highly fashionable overcoat. The trench has also been portrayed as a provocative garment worn by women in an effort to conceal their bare bodies.

Since the days of war, the trench has become a staple piece of a fashionable wardrobe. It is especially a popular item during the winter for both men and women alike. Looks for the trench coat has transcended into short and long. Modern changes to the look also include pleated or voluminous skirts, short, wide sleeves, and a variation in fabrics. Its silhouette has also changed to be more tailored and fitted, and although styles and colors change each season, the look is a timeless classic.

The Caftan, or Kaftan, was originally a men’s garment originating in 14th century Persia. The caftan, which can be worn as a shirt or dress , but undoubted slipped over the head, is designed with elbow length or long sleeves, and is ankle length. Original forms of the caftan were made in simple designs and fabrics, such as silk or cotton, but were airy and lightweight. They were worn in numerous ways, but at the time, was usually adorned with a belt or sash around the waist in the Eastern Mediterranean.

During the Ottoman Empire, caftans were a popular piece of attire for Sultans that were then elaborated in design by adding embellished embroidery and prints. Often given as precious gifts to significant generals during religious festivals, the caftan was treated as a precious piece of clothing. The color, patterns, ribbons, and patterns on the caftan represented the rank of the person in hierarchical order.

As times changed, the caftan continued to vary. In the 14th century, designs were made using subdued colors and large patterns. By the second half of the 17th century, vertical stripes were introduced to the garment as well as various embroideries integrated into the precious fabrics used. By the end of the 1960’s, when the hippie era began to develop, caftans were fashionable for their flowing look and were printed with bright swirl patterns of peace signs and paisley prints. The caftan then became a popular unisex garment worn over bell bottom jeans and topped with a floppy felt hat.

Today, the caftan is predominantly worn by women in the US, usually unbelted and is offered in a variety of prints, dyes and detailed embellishments. Most caftans are made as one size fits all garments, and designed still in silk and in new variations of cottons and newer fabrics. Because of its lightweight feel yet elegant look, it is still worn today as a dress-style or as a swimsuit cover up offering the perfect versatility for leaving the beach and entering a night out in the city. Men today still wear kaftans as a traditional piece of clothing, while Men in India and Pakistan wear them over lounge pants and other variations can be found in Middle Eastern and African countries.

Sources: www.21stcenturyvillage.com, www.wisegeek.com

Capri pants are many things all at once: chic, sexy, fashionable and comfortable. The basic Capri style, attributed to Sonja de Lennart has not changed much, but how and where we wear our Capris has, thanks to Audrey Hepburn, Mary Tyler Moore, Stockard Channing and Uma Thurman.

European fashion designer Sonja de Lennart debuted her Capri Collection in 1945, and it included skirts, pants and blouses. Three years later she modified the Capri pants to make them tighter, and in turn sexier. She shortened the pants to the familiar three-quarter length, just below the knee that is common today. The original version even had the small slit up the outside of the material.

Fashion and film icon Audrey Hepburn breezed around in a pair of Capri pants with ballet flats in the 1954 movie Sabrina. More than five decades later, Capris paired with ballerina flats still work. The style was popular as resort wear in the 1950s, although the pants continued to evoke sex appeal on screen.

American women traded in their skirts for Capris in the mid-1960s thanks in no small part to Mary Tyler Moore. As Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Moore was given credit by Time Magazine for having made Capri pants “the biggest trend in U.S. casual attire,” while at the same time the sponsors of the TV show reported that American women were not thrilled by the site of Mary Tyler Moore in the skin-tight pants.

Capris were the pants of choice for top Pink Lady Rizzo in 1978’s Grease starring Olivia Newton John and John Travolta. Stockard Channing’s signature look included her Pink Ladies coat with black Capri pants.

The Capri pants also caused a sensation when Uma Thurman wore them in the dark Quentin Tarantino film, Pulp Fiction, in 1994.

Today’s Capri pants can be worn in the office, on holiday or for exercise . This style of pants is ideal for showing off the latest sandals, flats or wedged shoes of your collection.

Sources

Cotton, Inc., http://www.cottoninc.com
Sonja de Lennart, http://www.sonjadelennart.com/gallery.html
Laura Petrie’s Capri Pants, http://www.tvacres.com/clothing_pants_laurapetrie.htm

The pencil skirt first emerged as a style with a name after World War II. With the end of cloth rationing, clothes could once again be luxurious and used fabric in ways more inventive than utilitarian military styling. This led both to the full, crinoline skirts of the 1950s, but also to longer, sleek styles that echoed pre-World War I silhouettes with their full busts and corseted waists. These styles also emphasized hips and were made even more dramatic by a fishtail flare around the ankles.

By the end of WWII, a more casual world filled with more active women only supported the fishtail detail for evening or formal occasions, but the long narrow skirt, now dubbed a pencil skirt, was ready to make a comeback. These tight skirts in their most extreme form were essentially hobble skirts — difficult to walk in and almost impossible to sit down in. The look was emphasized by a corseted waist, emphasized by how this fashion of the times was photographed with the model standing with one foot behind the other and angling their hips forward to make the skirt look even narrower than it was.

As the sixties approached, skirts began to change again with hemlines going up and structure and tightness going down. These more freely moving skirts became the dominant fashion statement in the 1970s, but the pencil skirt was far from dead.

The pencil skirt reemerged as a fashion item in the 1980s as a curvier look became fashionable for women again, and highly structure clothes appealed as women became more focused on taking leadership positions in the workplace. The pencil skirt of the 1980s, though, was slightly more practical, often being styled with buttons or even a zipper up the back to allow the woman to adjust the skirt to make it easier to move in.

While the 1990s saw a retreat from structured clothing with retro-70s styles and the emergence of the grunge look, structured clothes returned with the turn of the millennium — a trend inspired both by an interest in the fashion of the first half of the 20th century and the fact that war-time fashions historically tend to be structured. Today’s pencil skirts , often paired with a “secretary blouse” (tight waist, short puffed sleeves and loose but suggestive bust line) are shorter than the hobbling pencil skirts of the 1950s, usually coming in at about knee length, but their strong silhouette continues to be appealing.

Whether you love it or loathe it, the bikini is a popular beach fashion staple. The basic body covering is apparent throughout history. A fourth century mosaic displayed at the Villa Romana del Casale in Sicily features women wearing simple two-piece outfits similar to today’s bikinis. However, modern bikinis did not hit the commercial fashion scene until 1946.

Interestingly, two French designers, Jacques Heim and Louis Reard both revealed the risqué swimsuit concept within months of one another. Jacques Heim unveiled his creation, dubbed the Atome, first, but the revealing garment failed to make a splash. Louis Reard’s version stole the spotlight thanks to his creativity and marketing shrewdness. Just days before the debut of his creation, the United States military tested an atomic device near the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Louis Reard used the newsworthy event to his advantage and called his two-piece swimsuit the bikini.

The midriff-baring, high cut bikini was so controversial that even professional models refused to don it on the runway. Reard resourcefully recruited an exotic dancer to model the bikini instead. His fashion forward swimsuit was scandalous in the United States, condemned by decency groups and banned on some beaches.

The bikini finally gained broader appeal and approval in France during the late 1950s. Photographs featured Brigitte Bardot wearing a bikini in the French Riviera on many occasions. Bardot also famously wore a bikini in the 1956 French film And God Created Woman.

The pop culture fashion trend gained momentum in America thanks to Brian Hyland‘s hit song “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini“ and the popular beach themed movies of the 1960s. Hollywood continued to bolster the bikini’s appeal with memorable scenes in movies like 1962’s Dr. No. In the film, actress Ursula Andress rises from the ocean wearing a white bikini with a wide belt securing a large knife at her waist. Halle Berry recreated the classic scene in the 2002 James Bond movie Die Another Day.

Designers continue to update the bikini with sexier styles and more conservative versions that provide additional coverage. With so many choices, the bikini is a great way to express a unique sense of style.