Spring 2006, two trends will cover all

It's been almost four months since the spring 2006 ready-to-wear collections were shown. It's enough time for us to digest and memorize all the beautiful outfits, right? Before we receive the overwhelming trend information and get confused from the generous March magazines, let's look at the most important two trends for spring: the new proportion and the soft grey colors.

The new proportion

The new proportion is the best news to the girls (including me!) who are sick of the bohemian looks. In the coming season, the waistline is high from the true waist to the empire line. Even when you wear a pair of low-rise jeans, remember to pair with an empire waist long camisole to modify the proportion. Belts are heavily used in all the major runway shows, and we will definitely see them around in the coming seasons. The belts are wide and powerful. Think about Lanvin and YSL, a belt can change the entire look.

There are a couple of things I would like to purchase for the new proportion, and you might be interested as well:

* High-waisted pants and skirts
* Silk or silk blend blouses
* Wide and sleek belts, cummerbunds, or ribbons
* Fitted cardigans

I also found the following tips to avoid the bulky material around the belt.

* Wear thin and fitted cardigan
* Wear silk shirt instead of cotton shirt
* Keep the waist of the pants or skirts simple. No belt loops or oversized waist. I found a pair of Martin Margiela pants with the minimum design on the waist, and it looks great with the new proportion.

Soft grey colors

Words like flesh tones, pastel colors, and soft grey colors will be all over the places in fashion magazines this spring, but they all mean the same thing: less saturated yet sophisticated colors. A couple of pictures from the runway will give us a better idea than words.


I am sure there will be more trends in magazines, and the editors will all list "ten most important things" to buy. With the sky rocketing prices in the fashion world, who can afford all the trends? But calm down, and let's think it over. Most of items are related to the two major trends. That means we can buy less but the most efficient pieces to update our wardrobes. Things get easy this time, right?