Sherbert Shots and Lemon Drops

So, looking through the Culture and Style sections of The Sunday Times (which I still haven’t totally read from the weekend) I see the most magnificent piece on the Louis Vuitton SS12 show from PFW. It’s held on the last day of Paris Fashion Week “the final hurrah”!

How sik is this carousel!?

Vuitton defines the new season with a sense of young innocence and child-like femininity through the use of pale cotton candy shades. You can see these already starting to filter through to the high streets in their new SS12 trends. Topshop styles and trends have, in recent years, become more and more affiliated with the catwalk styles, recognising the appeal to highstreet shoppers of owning catwalk trends at highstreet prices. Topshops’ spring collection is very Vuitton, donning ‘pretty pastels’ complete with lace, pearls and a myriad of textures, making us feel like we’re in a sweetie shop!

Delicious!

So, with the pastels heading on in this spring, here are my Top 5 fave Pastel Picks right now…

• 5. PASTEL GEO TUNIC; Topshop, £20

Total winner in my eyes. Definitely loving the design on it; kinda a cross between the Aztec prints we’ve been seeing in AW11, which proved ridiculously popular (include me as a fan!), with the new sherberty colours of SS12. LOVE IT.

I love this print, and the breezy sherbert colours work so well with the lines!

• 4. CHAMBRAY DRAWSTRING SHORTS; New Look, £14.99

These shorts remind me of school P.E… but in a good way. The colour fits in with the trend, but exercises some sort of casual ‘I just threw these on’ kinda thing. The model here wears them with a salmon sweatshirt, which looks good, but I think these would suit any type of floral or lace in the pastel paintbox. They can be dressed up or down also, which is a bonus.

The colour just gets me, I love it!

• 3. FLORAL LACE SHORTS; Forever21, £14.75

I know, another pair of shorts. And, tbh, I don’t wear shorts all that often, due to the huge problem I call my midriff. BUT, these are so cute, a combination of colour and texture with the lace, at a very attractive price! The colour will work well with most colours, whether sticking with the pastel colour palette, or moving onto slightly darker blues or even tans and browns!

Cute as...

• 2. PINK ROSE PRINT SUPER SKINNIES; River Island, £40

Now, I’m not usually a jeans girl either, but I think that these can work really well, regardless of shape, they just need to be dressed right… I think these are super pretty, and have all the right type of colours with a really cute design. River Island doesnt seem to be following too much the Vuitton theme, but they do have some cutesy pastel shade accessories and one-offs, so keep an eye out!

Super pretty in all the right ways

and number one goes to…

• 1. TEXTURED KNIT SWEAT; Forever21, £16.75

I am in love with this. The dusty pink works so well with the denim, much like a lot of the other pastels coming through at the moment, so I definitely advise perhaps investing in a denim shirt (I prefer oversized ones… I looted mine from a carboot sale for £1.. Mens old Marks and Sparks and I LOVE it!) This would look cute over a dress, with jeans, shorts or a little skirt… And the price is just lovely too so, what’s NOT to like? Well done Forever21!

My Pastel Winner!

So there it is, Bea’s top 5 pastel picks of the moment. I’m sure that there’ll be many more styles and colours making an appearance on the highstreet regarding this style, so I wouldn’t worry if you miss anything. Just follow these simple rules, and you’ll be fine…

1. Don’t be afraid to break up pastels with a darker block coloured accessory, such as a belt, bag or statement piece of jewellery. It lets you be adventurous and add personality to your outfit.
2. Try and shake up your outfit with textures- mix soft feathery and floaty materials i.e. a dress, with ‘rock candy’ (as Topshop call it) accessories such as patent brogues, a leather tote or wool scarf.
3. Remember that it is still wintery-ish. And although these trends are surfacing now, be careful how and when you wear them. Introduce them maybe when it’s a slightly warmer day where they’ll look more in place, than amongst all the shoppers in fur and hats/hoodies/gloves etc.
4. TRY THINGS. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different pieces in your wardrobe. For example, today I turned a vintage midi skirt from a vintage fair into a dress, belted it, and wore with heels brogues, cute socks and tights. Things can look an awful lot different ON than they do on the hanger 

Happy pastel-ing.

Bea xo