Military Modern Meets 1920′s Attitude

Having almost given up on everything from my writing skills to fashion instinct by replacing it with my new job of being a mum, suddenly something happened. I was inspired. So inspired, that despite having numerous things to do that are entirely unrelated to fashion, work or personal styling and are actually only related to my baby daughter, I dropped everything and decided to write this.

It has been a while since I’ve found a designer so inspiring that it reminds me of how utterly beautiful fashion, clothes and style can be. I love clothes and style but normally I love them for solving the challenges they pose to us mortals aka ordinary people- those of us who want to look stylish and feel great but maybe don’t know how. I’m not talking about models or those lucky enough to be able to wear whatever and however they choose either because of an innate style sense, to die for body shape and/or limitless funds; I’m talking about everyone else. To me, the challenge of piecing together every individual’s personal style jigsaw so that it creates their perfect image by maximizing their assets, hiding their flaws (as well as knowing where to go to complete the above) is far more exciting than being first on the waiting list for the latest bag-de-jour. That’s why it’s rather exciting to be inspired by a designer’s work

Looking at The Dress and Co‘s Spring/ Summer 2011 collection makes me want to wear these clothes just for the sake of wearing them because of their beauty, edge, cleverness and attitude. So naturally I’m going to tell you why and for whom I think they’d be great on.

Coco Chanel, Paul Poiret, and Madeline Vionnet played a huge part in changing not only the silhouette but of the attitude to women’s fashion. As the Victorian era drew to a close, for the first time in history, women’s fashion started to emerge as something far more comfortable and practical than it had ever been, mirroring the strengthening of the position of women. Hideaki Sakaguchi’s collection, currently on sale at Koshka is a collection inspired by 1920′s Paris, a time when women started to dress with strength of mind and character. Clever and interesting fashion worn with confidence is sexy. Dressing with style is sexy and this is easy to do with Sakaguchi’s collection.

One of the recurring themes of the collection is stark contrasts and juxtapositions between styles and fabrics. Neat tailoring paired with drapey bohemian dresses; strong textures layered together wispy cottons with rich velvets. The resulting image conjures a display of both strength and glamour in looks that won’t date easily.

The first picture shows a combination that would look great on lean columns. The shirt top would be fantastic on pear shapes and could be worn with slim figure hugging trousers or a skirt.

The long, full dresses are fantastic for inverted triangle body shapes when worn with slim tailoring which frames broader shoulders.

The Dress and Co’s pieces will endure season after season, bringing style and resonance, edge and wearability to the wardrobe. These clothes are perfect for anyone wanting to invest in something original and unique for their wardrobe especially those of us with blessed with a wisdom and life experience that might sometimes leave us bewildered by shopping on the British high street- a high street so often marketed at the under 25s.

The collection is available from Koshka who will ship all over the world

All images are taken from The Dress and Co’s collection.

Tags: collection, Dress and Co, Fashion, Hideaki Sakaguchi, Japanese fashion, koshka, Shopping, Style