Left - Pleated Peach Pink Party Dress
£120/€192 - Modern Romance SS12 Collection at Kaliko.
Texture and contrasting textures are a growing trend for 2012.
A whole generation of young women will be new to fine pleats.
Compared to the past, today's modern fabric finishes help to
create uncrushable materials designed to keep the wearer looking
reassuringly good all day. This is always desirable for day long
events such as weddings.
Many of these pieces are intended for
daywear and bring to fashionwear a delightful term - decorative
daywear.
Looking for some romance in fashion, then wear these pieces day or evening and just feel good
about yourself. Or, if you only dress up for events select them
for occasion party wear as a colourful change from that little black
dress.
Colour Blocked Pleats
Pleats come plain and colour blocked. Colour blocking takes
the form of neon brights, bold brights and pastel blocking.
Miss Selfridge Summer 2012 - Tangerine Orange,
Lemon & Pale Nude Pleated Dress.
Warm Colours For Pleats
These two colours are Pantones Spring Summer 2012 Cabaret -
Pantone 18-2140 (hot pink colour) and Pantone's Tangerine Tango
- Pantone 17-1463.
When white is added to these colours to make a tint a whole
range of coordinating soft pastels emerge.
Colours move through the spectrum from hot pink, burnt
orange, soft coral to the lightest peach and gold.
Fine pleats are a miracle of modern technology. Modern pleats
travel well and arrive uncrushed, making pleated dresses great
occasion wear for a social gathering that involves long distance
travel.
Left - A|Wear Orange & Bright Pink Colour Block Pleated Dress
£50/£45.
Colour Couture A|wear Stockist Number: 00 353 1 4724900.
Right - M&Co Boutique - Shocking Pink Fine Pleat Dress With Sash
£79.
Note the
higher necklines on dresses. Modesty has been combined with
allure in the yoked semi sheer upper bodice a style so
reminiscent of the fifties and sixties.
Sashes in satin or lustrous
silk organza add a flamboyant touch, with the effect of a
beautifully tied up box of chocolates or a prize chocolate
Easter Egg (with a waist of course). Think Mad Men and Betty
Draper.
These colour block pleated dresses in bold brights sorbet
pastels are all suitable for occasion wear, the races or
weddings.
Right - House of Fraser SS12 - Coral/White Silk Vest £79, Coral
Pleated Midi Skirt £99, Coral 'Palermo' Satchel £185, Natural 'Ateeka'
Court Shoes £150 all Pied a Terre At House of Fraser - Stockist
Number: 020 7003 4000.
Left -
M&Co Boutique Colour-Block Pleat Dress £79.
Left - No pleats on these dresses but notice the similarity of styling. A Salmon Pink SS12 Embellished Bodice Dress.
Dress By Warehouse £75 - Warehouse Stockist
Number: 0845 122 2251.
Texture and surface encrustation is the theme of decorative
daywear for 2012. The following textures are mixed together to
create gloriously rich garments that glow with laser cutwork,
pleats, lace, whitework, piped edges, applied fabrics and tucks. Shimmer, sparkle and iridescent sheen is provided by lustrous
silk organza.
Right - Plus Size Lace Dress - Evans.
Miss Selfridge SS12 - Pastel Pink Cutwork Dress - £55.
The pretty pleated waisted dresses like those
shown above and the Kaliko dress immediate left above, are all
ultra feminine and assume you have the ideal figure form. If you
love a dress like this one by Kaliko, but your arms have lost
their firmness, check out Kaliko or Phase Eight lacy cover-ups
and see how good you can look.
But, what if they don't suit your body shape. If
your waist is not your best figure feature you'll be thrilled to
find alternatives such as the retro body sixties skimming
slimming shift dress below or the generously cut plus size black/nude
lace dress above from Evans. Evans make plus size clothes and
proportions are adapted to the fuller figure.
This decorative daywear A-line shift can be worn as
a short
dress or as a tunic.
Nude Tones -
Pleats & Lace
Left & Centre - Miss Selfridge SS12 Ivory Corded Lace & Peach
Pleated Dress £45. Also shown in header.
Features of decorative daywear include girly white lace and
chic woman. This works well as "Woman in White" and invariably
the look is expensive.
Left - White Dress By John Lewis SS12.
Centre - Warehouse Lace Peplum Top £35, Cream Shorts £40
Warehouse Stockist Number: 0845 122 2251.
Left - Dorothy Perkins SS12 Pastel Pink Lace Peplum Dress £45.
The two lace items both have lace peplums.
Watch those peplums take hold in 2012.
Many fashion designers re-introduced peplums into their
ranges, but in 2012 the peplum frequently has a different look.
It comes in many variations and is often stepped. pleated or
half a peplum. So for this season call it a modern peplum since
fashion designers have given it a more architectural shape.
The modern peplum has greater volume, structure and padding
to keep that architectural shape alive. It echoes much of the
volume led fashions of the past decade.
Read and see more
about peplums here.
Left & Centre - Monsoon Lemon or Aquamarine Lauren Dress £100/€155.
Monsoon Stockist Number: 08448110068.
Kaliko Spring Summer 2012 - Stockist Number: 01582 399809.
Right - SS12 M&Co Lemon Accordion Fine Pleat Dress.
Coloured Lace Looks
Left - Apricot - White Lace Dress With Pastel Peppermint Green
Under-Layer.
Centre - Lemon Dress - Marks & Spencer SS12.
Right - Left -
Marks & Spencer Mint Lace Dress.
Right - Deep Pink Lace Dress - Wallis SS12 'W' Collection.
Right - Pink Lace & Pleat Layer Dress - Phase Eight.
Centre - Kaliko SS12 Blue Cotton Lace Dress £120/€192 Kaliko
Spring Summer 2012 Stockist Number: 01582 399809.
Centre - Erdem Catwalk Lace White Dress.
Right - Salmon Pink Boutique Lace Dress £79 M&Co Womenswear.
Lace Neutrals
Left - Phase Eight SS12 - Ecru Lace Straight Shift Dress.
Right - Black & Rose Lace Dress. VM by Vera Mont "Sevilla"
(Left) "San Salvador" (Right).
This princess-style dress with fitted bodice in Black Rose
simply oozes playful elegance! The combination of the
rosé-coloured underskirt with black bonded lace and the floral
pattern gives the dress a unique character. This sexy sequinned
dress is figure-hugging and sparkles in seductive black. A
nude-colour silk flower at the neckline is an eye-catching
feature on this evening outfit – ideal for parties. UK₤200, IRL€205.
Sequin Dress UK₤165, IRL€170 - Vera Mont Spring Summer 2012 -
Stockist Number: 020 7411 0322.
Copyright of images courtesy of Prshots.com, Swarovski,
Marks & Spencer, Monsoon, Warehouse, Farfetch.com, Wallis, M&Co, La Redoute,
Vera Mont, Phase Eight, Apricot, Kaliko, Lovarni, John Lewis,
Monsoon, Oasis, A|Wear, Evans, Littlewoods, House of Fraser.
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