Oh I get it, they're all touting metallics now because we have to start thinking about Christmas parties, right? Well, no, not really. The fact is that metallics are no longer restricted to fine luxury fabrics and occasion wear. They aren't even restricted to the colours of metal. A rainbow burst of metals sashayed down the A/W catwalks making statements appealing to everyone from deposed oligarchs to the Brooklyn Massive.
Not only has the colour broadened, so has the treatment and story of heavy metal. Of course the opulence was there to behold too.Erdem sent out elegant little foals in the thickest golden damask of pure silk. Even at House of Holland, Henry took his street credentials to a higher plane with an acreage of silver taffeta. But leave it to Marc Jacobs to subvert the story with a reflection on 1990s culture, aching with high-tops and baseball.
So, you see, metal is weaving it's way through your daily knitwear, among other things. This pewter cable-knit dress, by Aftershock London from Arnotts, is an entry level commitment. Whereas the Elsie coat by Manley, from Costume, represents a more considered relationship. Despite it's full-on shiny fabulousness, this should not be hermetically sealed for occasion dressing. It would be the perfect foil to distressed jeans. By the same token, a silver maxi-skirt from Fran and Jane would work beautifully with an oversized sweater and brogues.
Trans-seasonal dressing – does it have anything to do with drag? Not unless you link it through the word panti – as in Panti Bliss, Queen of Ireland, one of the most stylish queens in the land – or pantihose (that's tights to you and I). Tights are the pivotal factor: the bridge between winter and spring, and summer and autumn.
Can you remember the first day you went tightless, in May? It’s a liberation that some women never rise to, heavy opaques are spotted every summer. But if you freed yourself, it’s now time to get back in your nylon and Lycra box. It’s loaded with meaning, revisiting tights: summer’s over, and I must contain myself.
A short kaftan by Electronic Sheep from Scout in Temple Bar, would work perfectly with the aforementioned silver maxi, and gives the necessary layer of wool the new season requires. Because, with trans-seasonal, it’s about being just warm enough. Gráinne Maher’s orange trilby, from The Design Centre, will keep your core temperature up. Another layer from KDK – this charcoal and cobalt cashmere scarf – gives lightness and warmth. Fee G’s jacquard dress, from Harvey Nichols, is a tights-on, tights-off dress, for when you’re really not sure what the day will bring. Like any good boy scout, always be prepared.
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