The trend for spring

Gingham

When I say gingham I bet your'e thinking Dorothy, Wizard of Oz, 

but no, its not like that. Gingham is becoming more and more sophisticated, in Oscar de la Renta's SS15 collection gingham skirts and kimono style jackets took center stage, in gorgeous baby pinks and blues, sometimes even appearing in black. Altuzarra's collection was dominated by it, Elle is calling gingham THE print of spring 2015. There is so much more to gingham then the Wizard of Oz!

Oscar de la Renta SS15

Works well in dresses and skirts, combined with other similar fabrics

but lace is an interesting idea too.

Wear with block colours like black or white that complement without

taking away from the checks.

The Shift Dress

The Shift dress was at its most popular in the 1960's and is slowly regaining popularity due to its relaxed style and the fact that it is easy to reproduce in a factory.

Hubert de Givenchy is often credited with inventing the shift dress but there is another story about a woman called Lily Pulitzer. Lily Pulitzer made and sold fruit juices to tourists at Palm beach.

She asked a dressmaker to make her some brightly coloured dresses to cover up the fruit stains, just a simple a-line, sleeveless thing nothing too fancy.

But Lily found that her customers wanted to buy her dresses as much as the juice, so she started making and selling shift dresses as well.

Then Jackie Kennedy wore one and the whole world went crazy for shift dresses!

In 1961 Lily closed her juice bar and started selling dresses full time.

 

Audrey Hepburn wore this style slightly cinched in...

...whilst Twiggy wore it Twiggy style, straight down and short!

Shift Dresses now come in lots of different colours and sizes

so it is not so difficult to find one to meet your needs. 

                           

   

Wear with ballet pumps and a long necklace for a girly style

or combine with boots and plain leggings to toughen up your look.

Alternatively you could go all out with a block neon colour!

- Wear with little or no accessories so as not to detract from the colour -.

Many high-street brands now stock shift dresses, so what are you waiting for,

go out and get yourselves one!

A brief history of Bellville Sassoon

Bellville Sassoon was and still is one of the biggest fashion houses of its era, designing for among others Princess Margaret, Duchess of York, Diana Princess of Wales, Jackie Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. The company only became known by name as Bellville Sassoon in 1958, 5 years after it was founded by Belinda Bellville, when it was joined by David Sassoon.
Bellville Sassoon became famous for its wedding dresses and fashionable evening wear making the company expand to let in a team of designers, including George Sharp, Shena Carslaw, Helen Storey and Romy Gelardin to help David Sassoon with his ideas. In 1987 Lorcan Mullany an Irish designer joined and the company became Bellville Sassoon Lorcan Mullany. Mullany added to the ready-to-wear collections meaning more people could afford to buy their clothes. The company is still run by Lorcan Mullany today and is situated at Culford Gardens, Chelsea.