Spring Fashion: Advice from Carson Kressley

Photo courtesy of
Save the Children
on Flickr

Not counting that snow incident last Wednesday, Spring weather seems to be here. & since it's spring, time of the old Spring Cleaning, I think it's time to think about my wardrobe again. Hopefully I can put away the sweaters, turtlenecks, toques & woolly scarves soon!

Thursday I got the chance to take part in an online Q & A session (Sponsored by Tide Pods) on fashion & fabric care with celebrity stylist Carson Kressley, who you might know of from Dancing with the Stars or Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Read more about what he predicts will be hot for Spring, plus what I've seen, after the jump...

Carson's take on Spring trends was that lots of colour will be the thing to wear. He had loads of great suggestions about how to work colour into your wardrobe while still keeping it flattering. An example: yellow is a hot colour this year, but not everybody looks good in it. How do you wear it without making your skin look ghastly? Try yellow pants or skirt--just by keeping the colour away from your face, you can pull off any colour that doesn't necessarily suit you. Though are you really ready to commit to buying yellow jeans? If not, maybe something like a bracelet, belt or shoe might be a little more doable.

Vintage Laura Ashley, courtesy of Kaptain Kobold, Flickr.

Another of Carson's picks for Spring was florals. I've seen this too in a lot of runway pics & I have mixed feelings on it. I never really got into the whole Laura Ashley thing the first time around & I don't think I'll be sporting a lot of flowers this time either. Large floral prints can be great for a lot of people though--it's a way to bring bright graphic patterns into a wardrobe for interest. This is particularly useful for the moms out there whose kids are constantly smearing them with various substances: colourful prints hide stains!

From some other research I've done, it also looks like texture will be big this Spring. I saw drapey folds on skirts & dresses plus chunky lace & sheer or mesh layers featured prominently on a lot of runways for this season's collections. Another thing that popped up a lot fits into the unwearable-for-anyone-over-30 category for me: belly-baring bra tops & cropped shirts. I'll wear a bikini at the beach or pool, but bare my midriff anywhere else? Um, no.

The problem I always have with the way the fashion industry works is the way it encourages consumption. There's pressure to buy new clothing every season & keep up with the trends, which creates huge, unmanageable wardrobes if you don't get rid of some of it. Even if you do pare down regularly, where does this stuff go? It's not just vanishing into the ether. I'm trying to be more mindful of this every time I buy something & think about how long I'm going to use it, then where it's going to go when I'm finished with it.

Keeping the classics in mind when shopping for new clothes really helps. Buying pieces that aren't overly trendy in style, colour & fit will make them last longer. Maybe it's a tired cliche, but certain things never go out of style & it's worth using those as a framework to construct your wardrobe around (basic white collared shirt, black trousers, pencil skirt, fitted blue jeans, for example). Hopefully I can keep these things in mind when shopping or sewing this Spring.

Have you got any plans to revamp your wardrobe this season? Do you plan it out or just see where the mall takes you? What's your favourite Spring trend or item?