Style resolutions and spring previews

The winter sales are drawing to a close and the first of the spring collections are starting to appear in stores and online. Over the past few months, I have stopped following fashion blogs, so I have no idea what the major trends are supposed to be this spring. I did a quick search online and found this collage.

(Source)

Does any of it speak to you? Hmm...

(For a cheekier take on spring 2013 trends, check out Tabitha's post on Bourbon & Pearls here.)

One of my style resolutions this year has been to stop subscribing to popular fashion blogs: Atlantic-Pacific, The Chloe Conspiracy, Wendy's Lookbook and 9to5Chic. After a while, I started to think that none of it was actually relevant to my own life. I also started to wonder whether it was genuine style or a clever marketing scheme, seeing as so much of the clothing and accessories were gifted to the blogger. More importantly, I realized that looking at these blogs was just unhealthy for my closet, my bank account and my sense of self. I have been busy selling off all the items that I purchased "under the blog influence".

Instead of looking at blogs which seem to be advertising in disguise, I am going to stick with looking at the source material - runway collections and company websites - and then go with my gut instinct. And, I am going to continuing finding inspiration from fellow bloggers like Dani of DaniBP Mop Philosopher, Tabitha of Bourbon & Pearls, and others I have "met" in my online travels.

Last week, J. Crew released part of their Collection line for pre-ordering and yesterday, J. Crew released the first of their regular spring collection. Here are my favourites.

White in contrasting textures

I don't know if it's the effect of the marketers but I always find that once January has begun, I am drawn to a pale palette, so light and refreshing after the dark colours of autumn.

Image from J. Crew 2013 Collection campaign, featuring
Guipure lace dress (only available in burgundy at the moment),
Nolita white denim jacket, Panama hat and Jack Purcell sneakers.

I love the idea of contrasting a delicate texture like lace against something harder, like denim or leather.  The way this is styled with the Panama hat and sneakers gives it a hint of Jazz Age, one of my favourite eras in fashion (see earlier styling projects here and here).

Digital prints

Digital printing techniques are a fairly recent development in fashion, championed by designers like Erdem and Mary Katrantzou. I am fascinated by the surreal quality of digital prints. J. Crew has come out with some spectacular prints in the past and this winter, they started doing digital prints, beginning with this stunning black & white photo floral print.

J. Crew Collection pencil skirt in photo floral print

 For spring, they have done another digital print on a shift dress.

J. Crew Collection silk shift dress in hummingbird floral (source)

They have entitled this print "hummingbird floral", although on closer inspection, I can only see parrots and butterflies in the foliage. Whatever, it is beautiful. I have nowhere to wear such a dress but it is nice to look at. Hopefully they will come out with a skirt or a blouse in the same pattern.

Something new, something blue

My last pick is actually a beauty trend. J. Crew is hugely influential not only with they way they style clothes but also when it comes to beauty. A few years ago, they introduced the look below, consisting of a seemingly bare face with only the lips filled in with shockingly bright orangey-red matte lipstick.

J. Crew September 2009 catalog cover

It was a huge success and much copied by other retailers (see earlier review of the Poppy King for J. Crew lipstick here). Last year during my fashion styling courses, J. Crew was cited repeatedly by the instructors as being an industry leader, the one to watch and follow (the instructors themselves are stylists for one of Canada's largest mail order catalogs, so they ought to know).

Over the past few seasons, J. Crew has attempted to evolve beyond the smash success of that look with pastel neon lipsticks from FACE Stockholm, but it never caught on - I suspect pastel neons are not so universally flattering as the original orangey-red colour.

Image from J. Crew spring 2012 ad campaign.

Anyway, what has caught my eye this time is the introduction of turquoise blue eyeliner, while the lips are downplayed with a natural soft pink.

Image from J. Crew spring 2013 ad campaign.

I love how the flash of turquoise blue on the eyelids draws focus to the eyes. I saw a version of this in real life on a sales associate at Sephora and was immediately taken with how the turquoise colour makes the rest of the face look paler and more translucent.

I was also reminded of the beauty trend report in the Sept. 2011 issue of U.S. Vogue which I wrote about here, but J. Crew's take looks less hard edged/punk rock and more like a modern version of the white eyeliner of the 1960s - startling but still very pretty, feminine and flattering. I would like to try out a more discreet version of this, perhaps with a gel eyeliner.

What are your picks from the spring collections that are being rolled out right now? And where do you look for your style inspiration?