Legwear Fashions
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An Article From Legwear Trends & Fashions

Refusing to play into societal depression, no matter how justified, is the keynote to the upcoming fashion scene.  What most people want now is a feeling of optimism, joy, and escapism.  Take this and feel better...wear this and be uplifted.  After a fall of heavy sobriety, design lightens up --- gone are heavy color palettes and silhouettes.

There's a severe contrast between the softer, feminine feel and the more industrial, street-sports feel.  There are two contrasting moods. In one, color is softer and lighter, with soothing neutrals.  The feeling is serene, meditative and safe with references to desert paradises, nature and spa resources.  This look is clean, simple and uncomplicated.

The other mood is more escapist and features translucent and cheery bright.  It's whimsical, exuberant and more daring, wanting to "live life."  This mood has more detail and stronger design elements that balances experimentalism with commercialism.

Very often, fashion operates like a seismograph, signaling cultural change, and some designers, even if they can't express it, are alert to it.  They are secure enough to transcend the daily bombardment of doomful news and provide the escapism that can sometimes seem like fashion's most useful contribution to patriotism.  Above all, fashion is about fun, staying young in the game and, sometimes, better than newness -- a sense of optimism.

Spring Color Trends

Visible  Lightness:  The sensual pleasure of color that is elusive.  Solid color is passe'.  This spring, look for color that moves; that is slightly opaque; that is translucent, revealing, mysterious, textured and sheer.  Migrating color is soothing and helps us combat the daily rigors of stressed lives.

The full range of colors include:

• White in varying hues and pure black
• Neutral Monochromatic in icy shades of grays, blues and champagnes.
• Soft Chalky Pastels with an emphasis on pinks, lavenders and blues.  these sorbet shades are suitable and comforting for men's and women's lean, casual or gently tailored sportswear.  Emerging palettes showcase mixtures of refreshing pales and brights.
• The Full Spectrum:  A rainbow revival is brewing offering a full rainbow of color to jump-start the season.  Optimistic bright color mixes in technicolor stripes, florals and textured solids.  These colors are cheerful, upbeat and reminiscent of juicy fruites and tropical flowers -- perky pinks, scarlets, aquatic tints and vintage mustard yellows and pea soup greens, and sometimes startling yellow and orangy reds with blacks and whites.
• The New Wave:  awash in everything from sea salt to driftwoods that evoke an ocean spray and finds intensity in colors from the deep seas. These colors are representative of leafy greens, deep marine blues and stalky tans, bamboo and khaki shades.
• Crayola Actives:  Crisp, clean and vibrant golds, oranges, and true reds, balanced by clear blues and emerald greens.  These fresh shades are supported by pure white and ebony blacks.

Women's trends for Spring take direction from ideas, institutions and habits distinctly American.  Minimalism and glamour are not mutually exclusive -- but both boast the adage that "less is more" in combining simplicity and sex appeal.  SAFE becomes the biggest trend of the season.  These trends include:

• As Simple As That: Playing it safe doesn't have to be boring.  Simple shapes get an extra kick with gentle ruching, seaming details, embroidery and peek-a-boo insets.  Understatement is the word with clean, unfussy looks.
• Sporty Luxury:  California type colors and easy cool styles in wearable everyday pieces for bi-coastal dressing.  Clean and pretty, this look combines crisp old school polish with flip-flop ease for sleek hassle-free chic.  Popular with this tend is the shirtdress, which suggests a thrown together carefree attitude, as well as cap sleeved polos.
• The Nostalgic Cult:  Wistful design that celebrates the bygone notion of womanhood that references ladies who are in belted, body-hugging dresses in full skirts that fell just above the knee.  Here the waist returns with belts, sashes and wrapped dresses in baby doll colors of lavender, yellow, pale pink, soft blues and other Easter basket shades.
• City Safari:  Glammed up utility gear in soft fabrics with citified touches, such as bronze zippers, patch pockets, A-line skirts and belted jackets.  Driftwood neutrals, whites and variations of beige are part of this group.
• Bloom Service -- Chinoiserie & Asian Influences:  Charming bouquets and aged wallpaper stripes in pretty clear colors with a vintage appeal and sometimes worked into patchwork effects.  Other flower power is of the garden variety, such as pop art flowers, beds of roses, Japanese gardens, little wildflowers, as well as cherries, lemons and limes.
• Stripe Tease:  Getting in line with thick, think, straight or slanted stripes of the season.  In rainbow colors, pastels, neutralized beiges and tans and almost always with white.
• Tropical/Cuban Influences:  This trend features jungle wilderness, casual attitudes and the subtler stream of Havana.  Chalky shades of blue and green, deep sage, deep blue and a range of neutrals by day, and juicier colors for night highlight palm leaves, intricate pareo patterns and abstract orchid prints.
• Attention Getters:  Mostly white, black or neutral details, such as lace overlays, laser-cut edges and lingerie trims that often combine sporty elements with feminine touches, i.e. jogging pants with a ruffled shirt or a flowered embellished tunic with jodhpurs.

• Feminine  -- less bohemian, with tight waists and fluiiid full skirts, exuding a sexy innocence.  Key are EMPHASIZED WAISTLINE and DRESSES, an outstanding category sun, shirtwaist, chemise, and blouson.
• Satin -- a key new summer weight in all classificaaations -- as hip cargo pants, short shorts to fuller and straight skirts to forward jumpsuits.
• Trenchcoats -- sexy foreign intrigue w/multiple pockets,,, length and details.
• Jackets -- a separate from the whole book.  Looook for fringes, embroideries, strong -- shouldered leather bombers -- the jacket as an item brings a lot of other business with it.
• Cargo Pants -- continuing and done in a variety of treatments, including satins and slashed with zippers and loaded with cargo pockets.  Other pants types are pedal pushers cropped just above the knee, wide-legged slouchy trousers, as well as, skinnier pant versions.