How to Wear Spring 2009 Trends

Depression-Chic styling ruled the runways this spring, but those looks are far from wearable in your normal everyday life. Luckily, The Clothes Gallery has a few key pieces that can bring the look to your wardrobe in a subtle way.
Nic & Zoe’s “flirt” skirt captures the high-waisted and belted look of the depression-chic look in a business-appropriate way. Wear it with an understated striped button-down shirt and heels, a few delicate gold chains, and heels.
For a more casual version of the look, try Tribal’s cargo pants and matching vest in earth. Layer a silky tank or satiny tee under the vest and wear it open and belted to show off your hourglass figure. Add a pair of gladiator sandals and a layered beaded necklace or floral brooch for a feminine touch.

Check back Friday for some fun hair and makeup trends to wear with these outfits, and check out the rest of our site for more great spring looks.

The Great Depression Redux: Spring 2009

With the slumping economy and worsening global market, the words “recession”, "crash", and “depression” are words we hear all too often. Appropriately, style.com has coined the term “depression-chic” for the 1920’s-inspired looks we saw on the Fashion Week runways.

Sheath dresses and sack dresses were adorned with utilitarian belts, fringe, and lots of layered necklaces, while waists dropped to hip-level on layered tops and jackets. Some designers even went the extra mile, using crinkled, smudged, or ripped fabric to really play up the depression-era feel.

Cute Spring Jackets and Vests

Like I've mentioned, I love to wear layers. What better way to stay warm in the cool weather or to add a bit of fun in the warm weather? You can change the entire look of a top by adding a jacket or a vest to it! Right now, I love these 2 pieces from The Clothes Gallery:


The first is a linen jacket from Tribal Sportswear. I love the bright blue color for it's cheeriness, and I love the easygoing silhouette for its laid-back attitude. I would wear this with khaki cropped pants or jeans and a vintage tee, with raffia sandals and a bunch of bangle bracelets.

The second is a hooded vest, also from Tribal Sportswear. I would wear this alone with Tribal's cropped pants in Earth on a hot day, or I would wear it over a white tee (long or short sleeve) with jeans on a cooler one. It would also look great over a lace or satin tank top for an evening out; the juxtaposition of the vest with girly textures and styling would be a fun way to play up the military feel of the piece.

Click around for more great spring jackets, vests, and sweaters, and check out our events page for great contests and specials.

Jackets and Vests for Spring 2009

I love layers, any time of year. Tanks, tees, cardigans, jackets, and vests…they’re so easy to mix and match for a variety of easy looks. So, I’m super-excited about suite101.com’s article that says that jackets and vests are going to be huge for Spring 2009.

On the runways, textures and silhouettes contrasted one another to show off the best of them all. Tight cropped leather mixed with a long and loose satin vest gives a sexy-but-sweet feeling (left). In the image on the right, a loose ruffled and ruched vest is paired with a sleek cropped jacket for a flirty look that’s still sporty. Bryan Reyes (center image) balances a menswear-inspired textured jacket with a silky tank top with feminine bead embellishments.

Wednesday’s article will show off a few of the pieces The Clothes Gallery carries that fit this trend, so be sure to stop back then! Until then, browse the links above for some great spring looks.

The images above are courtesy of style.com.

How to Wear the Spring Color Palette

Jungle-inspired hues and prints will be big trends for Spring 2009, as we saw earlier this week. Nic & Zoe, a theclothesgallery.com favorite brand, has a great selection of tops and dresses that bring the color story home.The wrap top in natural, the mesh cardigan in berry, and the tie-front top in turquoise would be great additions to a work wardrobe. Each one brings a bright splash of color and a fresh silhouette to your Spring look. Try the wrap top with a tweed pencil skirt and a blazer or a cute pair of flare leg jeans. The cardigan would make a great layering; try it with a printed tank top and a solid tee in neutral or black. The turquoise tie-front top is an elegant looking top, perfect with simple black pants, heels, and silver bangles for a business meeting or lunch date. The printed pieces are featured in earlier posts, but I thought the pictures were worth showing again. From left to right, they are the “jungle dots” print top, “brushstrokes” dress, and “blue leaves” cardigan.

Click on the links for more information about any of the featured pieces, and take a look at our entire selection of Nic & Zoe pieces, including tank tops in some additional great spring colors.

The Spring 2009 Palette

The warm weather this weekend (at least here in the upper Midwest) has really gotten me excited for spring, so I am thrilled to start talking about trends for the new season. What better inspiration for spring than lush tropical colors and bright floral prints?
Coral, dusty pink, pistachio green, citron green, turquoise, lemon, and fuchsia are on Pantone’s list of colors, and Style.com shows lots of deep blue and grey combos, rose, beige, tangerine, and peach.
Patterns are either in-your-face tropical prints or soft and subdued florals. Forget dainty prints or polka-dots, though. No matter how bold or soft, the patterns are lush and large, but still look elegant when paired with neutrals or metallics.

Check out the pictures above from Fashion Week (courtesy of style.com) and stop back later this week to see a few great pieces we carry at The Clothes Gallery that fit into these trends.