Dolls' Eye View: New York F/W '17 Trends

This has been a most remarkable season. The girls arrived back in New York for the last series of collections. As with the other fashion capitals, there was plenty of big city high fashion to choose from!

In Stark Contrast

The stark graphics of black and white make a demonstrative statement in New York style. But not all contrasts are as simple as black and white. There is also the marriage of matte and shiny, of flat and fluffy, and even wide and thin silhouettes in the same look.


One-sided View

 A lot of one shouldered dresses hit the catwalks. But here again, everything is about the essence of this look. Of course, the girls love the one-shouldered tops and tunics that slide diagonally across the torso, but they also like the winterized, trump l'oeil version of a dress that completely covers the body but simply suggest this asymmetrical fashion through the use of color-blocking.

As warm and cuddly as teddy bear yet sexy all the same, Veronica selected this 3-pc ensemble consisting of a one-shouldered pullover sweater, ankle length sweater skirt and matching cardigan tied around her hips (made from a moth-eaten cashmere sweater of mine). This shows up the power of separates and how they can be styled into a variety of fashion forward looks.


Our Furry Friends
 The long and the short of it....for deep winter trends, we see car coats in shaggy furs worn over trousers and over-the-knee boats as well as bathrobe style short-hair coats dropping from the knee straight down to the ankle.

Our girl, Gail, selected a long haired car coat in cranberry to wear over a red, monochrome dress and stocking boots. Gail's coat was made from rabbit fur trim, cut into strips and sewn on a basic straight coat pattern. We teamed it up with thigh high stocking shoes...another season trend.

Jacobs Ladder

This is what the girls love about New York fashion. It's all about quiet elegance with an edge. All of the items here are simple with peak-a-boo cutouts filled in with a crisscross of spaghetti straps,

The Power of Pants

Thin and skinny worn above the ankles to super wide swishing over the feet...there's a wide variety of trousers to choose from and you should explore something other than skinny jeans. What's also important here is the color story.....cranberry, airline blue, charcoal and slate are winter tones to consider when fabric shopping for dolly!.

Shoulder to Shoulder

For the second year in a row, bare shoulders remains a major must-have in dolly's wardrobe. But what is interesting here is the wide variety of looks it entails. It's not just reserved for eveningwear...you'll also find them for late day pantsuits and coat dresses.

Prints Charming

This is a trend the girls have noted in every fashion capital....the appearance of florals worn both day and night. We like them particularly in the form of brocades, trimmed with a soft tone fur or worn over a complimenting print. When shopping for fabric, be sure to look at upholstery cottons or even vintage men's neckties!

Arsenic and New Lace

Where lace was once reserved for summer fashion, here in New York, it's drenched in deep tones or metallic then transformed into regal dresses. What the girls found really interesting is the amount of detail and texture in each dress.

Waris couldn't pass up this silver number. The original dress is very simple. The interest her lies in its texture of lace and fringe. I didn't want to be literal, but simply draw on the idea of a silver lace dress with some degree of texture. So I began with the basic knit dress sloper and added embellishment. From the waist up is an applique of silver lace which is also used for the sleeves. Rows of silver fringe were stitched below the waist and on each sleeve. Putting this together was like an exercise in decoupage. More is better!  Complimenting her look....stocking shoes made from silver lame.

Fluid

Satin will be big in New York next Fall. We loved the fluidity and the simplicity of shapes shown here. Silhouettes float over the body and are punctuated with asymmetrically detailing: handkerchief points, one shouldered tops. For the best results, consider splurging on silk satin or charmeuse!

Here's Meagan in her version of Dennis Basso's gown. The dress is in two pieces: a satin high waisted skirt with a slight A-line cut worn under a micro-pleated sheer waist length top with tea length sleeves.

Velvet Underground

The other major fabric we'll be seeing a lot of next Fall is velvet: rayon, cotton, and stretch. We saw this fabric used in the other three fashion capitals as well.  What's interesting here is how velvet is mixed with other fabrics like chiffon and taffeta.

Old School Couture

Quite naturally, this is a theme which had the attention of all the girls in the house! This is classic couture complete with dramatic draping, big bows, flounces dancing about the body and a sprinkling of sequins and feathers.

I was intrigued by what appeared to be a double layer of flounces cascading down the back of this satin. "Rita Hayworth" style evening gown. The jewel tone satin was another plus. I didn't have green, but did have turquoise silk satin which is divine against Akuri's skin tone.

Fall Winter '17 Summary
After little more than a month of looking at hundreds of fashions on two continents and four cities, what were the takeaways? What should you consider when putting together next season's wardrobe for your dolls?

1. Power shoulders (think Chloe). Shoulder lines are growing, particularly with outer: capes coats.
2. Bare shoulders are still with us. Necklines slide down to reveal both shoulder or just one for an asymmetrical effect.
2. Sleeves are getting fancy.
3. Silhouettes are looser, flowing over the body.
4. Pants come in a variety of widths with more focus on wide, loose trousers.
5. Over the knee boots and colored stockings are major!
6. Color: Red is regal especially in a monochromatic themes (think Givenchy). Otherwise, consider fabrics in  jewel tone brights, soft greyed tones, as well as sharp contrasts of black and white. Metallics continue. But use them in unexpected ways (think Balmain--gold lame teamed with suede or doeskin).
7. Prints offer a nice alternative to solids. Consider using floral prints, brocades or...a mixture of geometric prints (think Missoni).
8. Satin, velvet and lace are all the stars of the season.
9. All the colors of white....from cream and ecru to pure white remains a favorite!
9. When all else fails......black is always chic and forever in style!

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