High street fashion: Shape and Sheen

Sporty Tailoring
With a spirit of athleticism in the air, fashion is on a fitness streak. The new luxe sportswear fuses performance fabrics with feminine lines. Saunter up to the starting line in silky trousers and a (slightly loosely) tailored jacket such as here at La Redoute.

The clean monochrome palette adds and air of elegance to a punchy bright and the mix of fabrics keeps the look luxe. The bright top and jacket/dark trouser balances a bottom heavy figure – change-over the colour combination (light bottoms/darker tops) to flatter a top heavy figure. Team with heels for a modern approach. There you go – capture the Olympian spirit without even breaking a sweat!

Trend and shape your body: Floaty silky trousers will shrink bottoms and slim thighs. Team with heels and you’ll enhance this effect. 

Shiny Fabrics
This season it’s less about the glitz so trade razzle dazzle sparkle for a subtler radiance. Glistening silk organzas and hi-tech fabrics with a luminous ‘glow’ are the new way to shine. Silhouettes remain clean and classic while wet look sheen brings a modern glamour as seen here with this look from M&S which has a sporting sensibility.

The humble t-shirt is humble no more and has been sprinkled with some metallic fashion fairy dust to transform into one of the style essential for spring. This is good news from those fashion fairies as this is one easy-peasy way to give your jeans or favourite skirt or trousers a new lease of life.

Trend and shape your body: Consider shiny textures in the same category as light colours (will expand your figure) and matte the same as dark (will contain your figure) and use them to highlight appropriately. Here the line of blue colour will create an elongating, lengthening effect but the sheen top will draw focus upwards and add subtle volume to your upper half. 

Peplum
With fashion’s gaze firmly resting on the waist this season, there’s no better way to dress your midriff than with a peplum. It will enhance and minimise in all the right places and is a surprisingly versatile addition to your new season wardrobe, adding a new dimension to skirt suits and separates by day. Peplums on sharp tailoring can give a dash of femininity to classic workwear.
   
The trend gets oh so pretty yet sultry seductive with lace incarnations as seen here at Next. Lace is still going strong so what’s new for this season? Lace is found in pastel shades and darker drenched hues such as indigo and emerald.
   
Trend and shape your body: Figure flattery is also a balancing act. The length of your legs in relation to your torso matters to your overall appearance. Generally, to avoid cutting your body right through the middle horizontally, every outfit should be either “short-over-long” (or full) or “long-over-short” (or narrow). A longer top over a skirt a seen here will balance out a shorter waist and longer legs.

Shorts
These days shorts give legs an outing all year round but this summer sees their chic, elegant cousin: the culotte come for a vacation. The culotte is a great option for those who don’t want to go short short and they’ll deftly skim curvier areas and show off legs to flattering effect.

Give the culotte a spring spin and wear with print or pattern and heels as here at Hobbs.

Trend and shape your body: The most flattering hemline for most women is right at the knee, just below the crinkly bit. The wider hem opening of a culotte is also particularly flattering to legs as it makes the look slender in comparison.