Deirdre McQuillan picks the catwalk sizzlers for a hot look next spring/summer.
'Clean, pretty and elegant." Three words used by a major US buyer this week summed up the look of the spring/summer 2005 ready-to-wear collections in Paris, and fashion's continuing fresh and feminine mood. As the last of the international catwalk shows drew to a close this week, Paris showed the way more clearly and more beautifully than London, Milan or New York with a series of impressive collections that put French chic right back centre stage. It was all about flighty fabrics and rigorous cuts, about romance and restraint, those twin essentials of French style and polish.
So what's on offer for spring and summer?
The fuller skirt
It takes time to acclimatise to a changing silhouette - and we've got six months - but the new emphasis on the waist, with more volume below and less above, means more generous skirts and dresses. Not so frightening when this means airy bell or tulip shapes (YSL and Lanvin), or flighty chiffons stitched severely into place on the hips or stiffened with tulle (Boyd) or black taffeta (John Rocha), embellished with beading or embroidery (Alice Temperley, Dior), in silk pleats (Chanel), frilled and ruffled (Chloe) or flamboyantly ethnic (Dries Van Noten). Take heart, wider hemlines can make legs look slimmer.
Jackets and waistcoats
There's an 18th-century look to many jackets, cut so bandbox tight they hardly close but which flare out flatteringly over wider skirts and dresses. Chloe did it well. At Issey Miyake, a tight pinstriped jacket was inset with silk, giving an old faithful a new allure, while at YSL jackets had chiffon peplums or neat rear bustles. Others curved like waistcoats or were variations on frock coats in softer textures. Waistcoats of every kind were everywhere, accentuating fuller, softer-sleeved blouses or worn, tomboy-style, over turn-up shorts.
Silver and shine
Sequins, metallic silks, steel lace and lurex brocades brought modern reflective fabrics into day and evening wear. It's a kind of Silvo season with mirror and button embroidery drawing inspiration from Indian dress. Easily copied were the silver sequinned waistcoats at Isabel Marant worn casually over bell-sleeved blouses and slouchy cargos. Hems and necklines trimmed with bands of silver were common details, while narrow silver sequin scarves and long black and white skirts flecked with silver made innumerable off-catwalk appearances. Gold in various textures also added notes of luxury, in glorious suits at Lanvin and in glittering tweeds at Chanel.
Trench coats
These remain popular but, like skirts, are fuller. Paul Smith had them in fresh colours such as eau de nil buttoned over ruffled skirts; inky blue-black versions at Issey Miyake had a dusty, powdery shoulders; at Chanel, oversize dogstooth checks stood out as did Dries Van Noten's bold red flower prints, though the most chic was Lanvin in a black number that swept proudly over a ballerina skirt. Carelessly tied belts kept everything in a relaxed mood.
Colour and print
London played to its strengths on this one with an impressive array of colourful animal, vegetable or mineral prints, some fun and frivolous - such as Antoni & Alison's lamb chop motifs - and others bolder, such as Giles Deacon's strange chimpanzee silhouette which has become a signature motif of this up-and-coming young designer. Python prints snaked into Italian collections (D & G) and in one or two Parisian shows. Colours such as brown, green and tomato, with a dash of lemon, added earthy, tangy shades for spring.
The wedge heel
The dreaded high wedge was everywhere and is already making an appearance in Parisian shoe boutiques along with the rounded toe and retro T-bars. So, next summer, it's out with points, up on to the platforms and espadrilles and in with a solid heel which is hard to wear and which trendy British stylists sport with socks. Blame it all on Terry de Havilland, whose famous 1970s glitter snakeskin wedges are making a comeback in "concept" stores such as Colette in Paris and the Dover Street market in London. Flatties are saner alternatives.
Accessories
Bags and jewellery are a huge centre of attention. Ornate jewelled belts worn with jackets (Isabel Marant), leather ropes of heavy African beads (Paco Rabanne) and diamond or silver chandelier earrings add to the general Hollywood sparkle. Bright green suede clutches at YSL, printed totes at Dries Van Noten and cute little glove bags at Chanel are easy targets for high-street rip-offs. Generally, bags tend to be more decorative and elaborate with greater emphasis on surface detail. But such is the blinding glare from crystals, rhinestones and diamanté that one item will become the season's imperative: a great pair of sunglasses, rose tinted at Dior.