Zara SS07

First of all I have to say I am a HUGE Zara fan so excuse this somewhat biased and overly-enthusiastic post. OK, so I love Zara -it usually sells clothes that are totally fashionable and right on the mark. But the great thing about Zara that I like above all the other high street stores is that Zara's high end 'inspired' clothes don't look like cheap and cheesy copycats. The clothes look classy and expensive when in fact they're very affordable. The first time I saw Zara's SS07 collection was when I was on family holiday in Barcelona (where quite frankly, there were no other shops worth looking at so you can imagine how long my sister and I stayed inside Zara.) Zara's SS07 collection is totally loveable and wearable:

See what I mean? Seriously stylish. Sidenote: Zara always has clothes which are very Marni-ish, like in this picture.

When in Zara, look out for its silk tops and dresses. They look much more expensive than they actually cost and are the way to go to look classy. This dress (and similar ones) are available in other prints. The only reservation I have is that it is very obviously from Zara, plus you could easily clash with someone you know.\

And here's a beautiful silk top. Such a pretty summer top for day (and possibly night) wear! I'm currently considering buying similar tops (from Zara).

This Gucci-inspired dress is what I mean by 'on the mark' fashionably in a classy way. I read in a recent article that this dress was sold out within hours of selling in the the Oxford Street store. It's also available in other prints and colours. How I wish I bought one now (or at least tried it on since I'm not sure how it would look on a short person)!

And finally, there is of course officewear, which Zara has tons of.

I bought a black, double-breasted jacket from Zara last fall and absolutely adored it. However (just to balance this post out), there were two problem:

1. Loads of other people have bought the same or almost identical jackets. I'm not one of those people who are crazy about unique-looking clothes, but this is a problem when you're walking around a tiny campus and every other girl has the same jacket on.

2. The buttons are sewn on very losely so be careful! One of my buttons fell out and since Zara is a high street store, no extra buttons were provided and now my jacket looks wonky. *hopes someone in Zara'a HQ reads this!*

What do you think of Zara's SS07 collection? And any thoughts on Zara in general?

Photo source: www.zara.com

April 10, 2007

SS07 Trend: Bell Sleeves

Ever since seeing them done oh-so-prettily at the Burberry Prorsum show I've been in love with the bell sleeves.

They just so perfectly compliment the rounded collars, adding the perfect feminine, girly touch to their staple trench.

I love it so much that this spring break, I had to get my own (more affordable) version of the bell-sleeved trench, from a small boutique in HK. Loosely fitted apparel are not usually my thing, but I am definitely coming around to loving it. The trick is to pair loosely fitted clothing with fitted ones to create a balance. For example, with this jacket, I usually wear a fitted long sleeved tee (since the jkt sleeves here are three-quarter so it peeks out) with my skinny jeans and it looks very cute! Something similar to this would be the empire-waist jacket I showed by J Crew in the Empire Waist Cardigan post.

Other bell-sleeved jackets in the stores to be considered with a more fitted shape. There is this short one from Development (left) and this long one that is more simple and subtle from Nanette Lepore (right).

Flicking through Marie Claire UK (April 07), plenty of bell-sleeved dresses also showed up. I am loving how the sleeves here gives this Gucci dress here a more playful and flirty touch.

This one by Tara Jarmon, with the light fluttering bell sleeves is fun yet sophisticated at the same time.
In the stores we have this dark eyelet one from Diane von Furstenburg (left) and this simple electric purple one (right) from French Connection, which I think is also perfect for the mod look this season.