Fashion Trends for Summer

Plunging neckline

Turn up the heat for spring 2011 with the women’s plunging neckline, a neckline that has captured the imagination of designers from the likes of Gucci to your local artisan.

Maxi dress goes sheer
Every season trends evolve, and every season two trends merge. In that regards, summer 2011 will be no different from what has come before it. What will be different, however, is the season’s take on a staple for many women’s summer wardrobe: the maxi dress. In spring 2011 it’ll merge with another trend favourite to give us the sheer maxi dress trend.

Lace clothing
No, it’s not new. But, like all trends that span multiple seasons, it has evolved. Lace influences for summer are more to the classic side with quality antique-style fabrics the key to the trend. Less of the allover, stretch lace and more of the unique takes.

Crochet & macrame
These are two fabric finishes that could had to return: the re-rise of 70s fashion, the popularity of nautical, and a love for lace guaranteed it.

Tassels
Sometimes a little detail is all it takes to change the feel of a garment. One of the most popular trimmings is one that signifies luxury or, at times, the exotic. Adorning everything from handbags to shoes to dresses and hats.

Women’s tuxedo
Thanks to the likes of Tom Ford and the re-rise of 1970s fashion, the women’s tuxedo makes its comeback and carries on into next season. But given it was also on-trend as recently as 2008, this is one fashion trend you could definitely get wrong this season.

Pleats
Able to be worn softly or with an edge, they’re a style that might seem ever-green – but don’t let that fool you. Pleats are at the fore in spring / summer 2011, in fact, they’re dominating women’s fashion for the season. And they’ll continue to do so into next year.

Bell bottoms
With skinny pants and jeans now so common that they no longer make a statement it was inevitable that a different style would emerge as a trend. It didn’t necessarily have to be this one, but with the come back of all things 1970s it was inevitable that fashion forward people would turn to bell bottoms / flared pants as their style of choice.

Wide leg pants
By now the general experiment with cuts of pants and jeans that aren’t skinny should be evident: women’s pant trends in spring 2011 are defined by this experimentation with everyone keen to see options for women that simply aren’t skinny. Hence alongside the flares are wide leg pants and jeans.

Capri pants
For every trend exists its opposite. So as spring / summer 2011′s fashion trends allow us to welcome flares back into our wardrobes, so too does it allow for an opposite style, in the form of capri pants, to make a showing.

Tail hems: dresses longer at the back
They’ve been seen as an alternative to the summer mini skirt or maxi dress for sometime, and for spring / summer 2011 ‘tail hems’ continue their reign as the more interesting alternative to both.

Stripes
Stripes are a dominant part of any spring / summer season, though usually, year on year, featuring a variation on the theme. Summer sees stripes with an unsurprising nautical dominance.

Jumpsuits & playsuits
They’re something of a yoyo trend: one season they’re in, the next season they’re out. For summer they’re back again, reinterpreted to fuse in many of the season’s other fashion trends.

Crop tops
It was 2009 that we last focussed on this look as a trend, and back then it certainly wasn’t a trend for the whole year. This is very much a high-summer 2011 look, one great for the hottest of weather and party atmospheres, such as festivals.

Choker necklaces & cuff bracelets
If you’re looking to make a statement with your accessories this summer, then be sure to turn to the accessory that has captured our imagination this spring / summer and will easily carry over to next season. It’s the solid jewelry trend and it includes everything everything from cuffs to collars.

Cat eye sunglasses
With the warmer weather comes the need to update your sunglasses collection with a new and on-trend style. For summer the best accompaniment to a vintage-inspired look is a shape that screams ’50s/’60s glamour. From the very subtle to the extreme..