Sunday, March 22, 2020

Dolls Eye View: London Fall/Winter 2020 Trends

Disclaimer--All of the information gathered for this report as well as those for Milan and Paris, took place prior to the call for social distancing due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. The girls were able to get through fashion month and head back home, safe and sound and virus free! Currently they are all self quarantined and enjoying their new wardrobes! 

With Brexit behind them, the British style machine is in full metamorphosis. Somewhere between the royal court and punk avant-garde, the British fashion capital has not yet found a way to redefine itself in this 20 year old millennium. The catwalk remains chaotic, vacillating between utilitarian frocks designers know will sell and grab-bag, gender-bender alternatives that feed the need to express their creative side. Many seemed to be dazed, crazed and utterly confused. Throughout all of this, my girls were able to uncover a few snippets of interesting looks--something that took me a little longer than usual, to translate into a few show-stopping looks.

Fashion Animal
We're always drawn to furry burly coats and jackets especially when there's an element of fun like the zebra on zebra total look of Martin Margiela's dress/coat ensemble or the chunky, clunky look of a sheepskin jacket over a sleek pair of slacks.
Making the fur jacket was pretty simple (front, back and sleeve). But to round out Kelly's look we decided to opt for an ankle length cashmere skirt instead of the trousers. And since we're talking about winter fashion, why not wrap the head in a scarf then toss a great big cashmere scarf over her shoulders.
Richard Quinn's ensemble is a bit curious. On the one hand, the polka dots suggest the perfect summer skirt. And yet...it's topped with a short, chubby fluffy, hooded jacket. In order for this to make sense to me and Veronica, we decided this should be translated into an evening look. So I cut a three-layered circle skirt (knee length instead of mid-calf). The skirt starts with a gathered tulle circle skirt, topped with a layer of sheer polka dots then ultimately topped with a circle of bejeweled tulle. The same bejeweled tulle was used to craft a matching pair of knee high boots. Instead of cutting a new jacket, we simply tossed a stole around her shoulders and topped her head with a bit of leftover faux fur.

A Leg-Up on Pants
Honestly, there isn't much which is new here. We really liked the chic, classic looks of each pant suit pictured here. What all of these looks have in common? Each one is nipped in at the waist in one fashion or another.
Ultimately Billie wanted something new. So she settled on a pantsuit with a curvy one-shouldered, princess line top over bell bottom pants. The panels of the top were stitched to the waist then allowed to flap free over the top of hips. The bell-bottoms are fitted to the knee then curve out into a full bell at the ankles.

Sweetheart Deal
This seems to be Richard Quinn's ode to the iconic French designer, Christian Lacroix. These are pretty little dresses with lots of volume and bounce in gathered skirts, lots of color, pattern and print. They are the kind ofgirly  dresses that look really good on any doll!

This could easily be something for late summer. Adriana's floral gathered skirt with its separate polka dotted blouse with a sweetheart neckline and circular bell sleeves still works well in cooler weather when accessorized with a fur toque and thigh high black leather boots.

Midday Stroll in Manchester
A return to insanely sane styles.... After the clownish looks, the mismatched, concept-based mayhem looks from past seasons, some designers have put the brakes on all the craziness by retreating to quiet, conservatism. A leather trench, a two-piece suit inspired by the early 1960's, everything is tame and quietly elegant, once again.
Initially, I thought this was a cape. It wasn't until I nearly finished it as a cape until I realized the original look by Erdem, is in reality....a dress. Still, Waris and I prefer it as a cape! What I like about this is how the designer took a fabric (pin striped lightweight wool) normally reserved for menswear and feminized it by adding very girly embellishments. Instead of crafting black roses, I simplified it by making bows out of black satin ribbon instead!. Instead of styling it as a dress, we thought the addition of tailored trousers resulted in a much more stunning look!

All Wrapped Up
There was something so interesting about each of these four looks. They are essentially suits with pants wide enough to give the impression of being a skirt. Also, each has some element of soft drapery that contrasts with the crispness of the rest of the structured garment. I also would like to point out my pleasure in seeing designers who, at last, have taken advantage of the rich tones of autumn!

I had planned to make the eggplant toned pantsuit, but did not have any fabric close to that color. And I ran out of time. So I sold Kym on the merits of this garment. At first I thought this was a gown. Only after I had completed a gown in oyster white faille, did I realize this garment was, indeed, pants! Draping the top is not as simple as it looks. By now you know that fabric almost never drapes over the doll the way it does on a human. So, I pleated by fabric and pressed down the pleats first...then draped it over the shoulders and tacked it down onto a simple top underneath.

We're not done just yet. Up ahead.....Milan. Given everything that is happening in Italy....both the human and economic toll... this may well be one of the last looks at Italian fashion for quite awhile.....


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11 comments:

  1. I love Kyms gown! Beautiful!

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    1. I just realized it's not a gown.

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    2. Ha ha ha!!! I had the same impression when I first saw that outfit. I even made a gown before I realized the model was wearing trousers. I may still take this apart and refashion it into the gown I originally thought it was!

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    1. Thank you Dlubaniny. Billie's outfit is one of my favorite ones as well. My Barbies have been reminding me that their modeling careers are not over and I should be including them in my fashion reports!

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  3. Moda potrafi (i chyba powinna) szokować i fascynować. Jest kilka modeli, których noszenie na pewno nie będzie wygodne, za to ogromnie przyciągające spojrzenia! Podoba mi się różnorodność stylów, zastosowanych tkanin i fasonów. Nawet barwy i tekstura materiałów jest urozmaicona.
    Twoje lalki prezentują stroje z wielką dumą i gracją a ich kreacje są naprawdę wyjątkowe! Gratuluję!

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    1. Olla wrote: Fashion can (and probably should) shock and fascinate. There are a few models that will certainly not be comfortable to wear, but they will attract a lot of attention! I like the variety of styles, fabrics and styles used. Even the colors and texture of the materials are varied.
      Your dolls present clothes with great pride and grace and their creations are really unique! Congratulations!

      Thank you Olla for your very lovely comments. Over the years, I've seen a lot of very interesting and beautiful fashions. In the past few years, many young designers have focused more on the shock and awe but less on the real "style" aspect of fashion. When it happens every now and again, it excites the eye. But when it happens too often and without a lot of thought... it comes across as costumes. After so many seasons of "crazy creative" it seems that trends are slowing down, catching its breath and cleansing the palette. For me, you can do something simple and wonderful just by exploring color (unusual combinations are found in nature), patterns and textures. As I am doing this on a 1/6 scale, I find joy in slipping into th shoes of the great designers and exploring the creative thought process they use to put together a collection. Thank you again, for your very kind words.

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  4. Loved your disclaimer at the beginning...grins! Again, I'm loving your transformations more than the originals. The last white outfit is stunning...and anyone would look fabulous in your version!!! Do you do full-size clothing? YOU SHOULD!

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    1. Sandi...ha ha ha.... well I KNEW you all would be really worried about my girls. What would I do if they had been stuck in Europe when stores AND the borders all closed! And heaven's forbid, I didn't want them infecting the other dolls! ;-D Thank you for your very kind words. When I was just starting out on my journey in fashion, I did make full-sized clothing. But now, I just want to sit back and have a little fun. (Besides it's so much easier to be able to pick up the doll by her knees and sew of fit something....can't do that with a real person!) LOL! Thank you for your very kind words and encouragement!

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  5. Thank you Linda. I sometimes get so carried away with a garment that I forget to go back and look at it several times while making the 1/6 scale version. In my mind, that was a cape...pretty easy to make... so when I took a final look at the original...imagine how surprised I was to see it was indeed a dress. As a dress, I think it is terribly awkward and those ugly stocking socks don't help. But as a cape that could go over a pair of trousers or a skirt..I thought it was sublime! As for the fur jacket... I had a small piece of lambskin on hand that I bought from the hardware store many years ago. It was just the right color and texture. The trousers were nice, but I thought an ankle length skirt might give the look just a little something special. Thank you again for your kind words.

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  6. I love Billie's outfit with bell-bottoms. She looks amazing.
    I really like the first dress from the Sweetheart Deal part - the black one with roses. Both pattern and print are gorgeous.
    But my number one is Kym's version of pants and draped top. You did an amazing job.

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