More bangs for your buck?

As a (faux) redheaded lady, I was pretty enamored with Mulberry's Spring-Summer catwalk show; all the models were in beautiful auburn wigs! Aside from the colour, the most noticeable thing about the styling was the blunt, heavy fringes.

Mulberry SS2011, photo from Elleuk.com

Very awesome, and keeps the forehead cozy in the winter months. What's not to like? I want one!

The only thing that's holding me back is the hat issue. I'm really taken with some of the turbans that Asos are flogging are at the moment; so glamorous, and way more fun than the usual knitted beanie. I just have trouble imagining them with a heavy fringe...

Bow head band turban, £8

Velvet turban, £8

Jewel and feather turban, £36

What's a gal to do? I want fashion hair, sure, but not at the expense of fashion head-gear.

If only every problem in my life was this ridiculously frivolous.

Oversized Knits

Another good option when it comes to styling a maxi dress, the oversized jumper is also deliciously season-appropriate. As retailers start prematurely piping irritating Christmas music into every shop in the land, invest in something that'll help you learn to really love the winter.

Labrynth knits jumper, French Connection, £85

Knitted chunky stripe jumper, Topshop, £40

Chunky knit jumper, Peacocks, £13 (was £18)

Pipin gold lurex jumper, Reiss, £110

These beauties would advance my grungey, Angela Chase-inflected winter look no end. In fact, I already own the Peacocks one, and it looks great worn with my hair piled high, a couple of longer-length necklaces, and my New Look work boots. It's almost enough to stop me thinking about next summer!

Future Perfect

I've spoken before about the strange temporality of fashion - the way that it seduces the consumer into perpetually living in a world of future possibilities. Before the clocks have even gone back, catwalk shows the world over have me pining for the summer solstice; I still haven't bought my winter coat, and I'm already dwelling on sunglasses and sandals. It's perverse!

To be fair, though, I'm not actually thinking about what to buy for SS 2011. Rather, I'm looking forward to being able to recycle. My PhD funding runs out next summer, and I'll be needing to save every penny, so I'm chuffed that New York Fashion Week happened to throw up with some trends that resonated with my existing wardrobe. Take 70s-style sunhats. Here they are at New York Fashion week:

Tracy Reese.

Badgley Mischka.

Marc Jacobs.

And here's the one I was wearing this summer:

Accessorize.

Winner! As you can see, I already have some great big retro Topshop shades, too. They'll remain safely tucked away in my dresser drawer for now, ready and waiting for 2011's call to arms. I'll have to figure out what else I have in my wardrobe that can be re-styled, but with the statement accessories sorted, I'm hopeful I'll be able to pass style muster, whatever my budget..

In the Hood

I've recently been trying to persuade my crafty hubby to knit me an enormous snood. Should my whining and nagging not prevail, however, I could certainly be tempted by this little beauty:

Hooded scarf, Cos, £35

This hooded scarf was featured on the Guardian's style pages yesterday, and I am really rather taken with it. It's two parts sportswear to one part sci-fi, and it'd help keep my ears out of the cold. What's not to love? Plus, I'm a little bit obsessed with grey wool at the moment, for some reason.

Cropped Knitwear

My obsession with summer's plainer, darker maxi dresses is bleeding nicely into the new season; they're grungy, flattering, and easy to wear - huzzah! The big question, though, is how to make them weather-appropriate now that the leaves are falling. My personal approach is to add woolen tights and worker boots down below, and - crucially - a cropped jumper up top. This handy little piece works for a number of reasons: it adds an element of comforting coziness; the knit creates textural interest when layered against the jersey; and the shorter shape lends a sense of playfulness to the proportions. Finish the look with a cropped denim jacket, some wrist-warmers, and a couple of pendants or longer-length necklaces.

Here are some of my favorite offerings from the British high street:

Cropped Boucle Jumper, New Look, £24.99

Knitted Pointelle Crop Jumper, Topshop, £35

Crop Ladder Jumper, New Look, £22.99

Rumos Drape Jumper, All Saints, £75

A Long Goth Summer

So Paris fashion week is in full swing, and I've been looking through some of the images from yesterday's Chanel ready to wear show. I would in no way claim to identify with the "Chanel Girl" - she typically seems too stiff, too luxe, and too elitist for my tastes - but I have to admit that I'm rather taken with some of the looks that came down the catwalk. It was the gothier offerings in particular that captured my imagination: 

Clodhopping shoe-boots, black feather polo necks, and dewy cobweb necklaces may not scream spring-summer, but there's something quite charming about these darker looks. I just love the idea of staging a disjunction between the season and one's clothes - of finding a way of channeling a certain gothic bleakness at the very moment that the weather becomes more cheerful. In fact, these get-ups offer some practical solutions for the warm-weather goth; stick with your signature colours of black and silver, but be willing to utilize lighter-weight fabrics. The lace here is as delicate and breathable as it is darkly romantic, and that gauzy grey skirt is a dream. You can be a goth without sacrificing season-appropriateness!

Would it lower the tone here to suggest that the whole thing reminds me of the resort wear challenge from this season's Project Runway? I mean, here's April's winning "holiday in a tropical insane asylum" look:

It's hardly Chanel, of course; the dress looks cheap, and the Gaga-esque big knicker-shorts are questionable. The concept is still comparable, though. I mean, it's all about edgy gothic weirdness in floaty summer fabrics, isn't it? April and Karl are pretty much the same, right? Right?! Oh, screw you.