The recurrence of the “dandy” in women’s fashion

Dec 3, 2008 13:11 GMT  ·  By

Trendsetters worldwide have already announced what's hot for 2009. The famous dandy manifesto is again to be written and signed, as, come next spring-summer season, fashion trends will shift once more. The sumptuous elegance that was so characteristic to Oscar Wilde’s writings will be reinvented and transformed in such a way as to best suit everyone's fashion tastes and preferences, and especially where women are concerned.

 

The upcoming tendencies are to be seen already in some of the fall-winter collections, where designers have a more androgynous silhouette walking the catwalks. The huge gap between yin and yang is no longer there, as the feminine and the masculine present in all of us seem to get along just fine for once.

 

Speaking of which, designers have already presented a more masculine type of woman, bold enough to go for three-piece suits, or trenches with a masculine cut.

 

Still, it won’t be until next year that the new trend will completely take by storm the world of fashion, when a hint of decadence will be added to the masculine cuts – old-fashioned, stiff elegance will be toned down by bohemian, poetic notes. The colors will be severe, like dark inky, charcoal tones, softened by sparkling taupy or gray shades. Graphic prints and all sorts of stripes, from thick to the barely visible ones, will be a must for each fashionista. The fabrics will also be soft and suggestive, closely following the body shape. Ultra-fine wools, satins, silks, lace, tulles – even the most masculine outfit will receive a bonus of femininity.

 

The mixture of masculine and feminine elements will be easy to accomplish, as, next year, nothing will create a more powerful impression than a pair of cigarette-pants matched with a delicate lace top, covered by a redingote coat.

 

Shirts will either have plastrons or stripes, and will only be worn with scarves or lavalieres. For those women not willing to give up skirts yet, they will be extremely tight, in cotton, with some rock accents, like oversized zippers and buckles.