Fashion Marmite.

Monochrome: my fashion marmite. It’s fair to say, you’ll either love it or hate it but either way we’ve seen it dominate shows across the s/s 13 catwalks. Mulberry, Dior and Michael Kors notably used black and white as major themes in their collections whilst Marc Jacobs experimented with monochrome stripes…yes…that’s right…monochrome stripes.

Marc Jacobs S/S 13

Daringly bold? Well, in fact, Marc Jacobs actually called his new collection “brutal”, something I HAVE to agree with (albeit not in the good sense). Maybe it’s the steely look on the models faces as they charge down the runway working ‘inmate chic’ that has me suffering from a fashion induced perspiration? Perhaps it’s just the sheer BOLDNESS of it all. Personally, stripes have never been a hit with me. They remind me of my early teenage years, when I wore two sizes too small stripy t shirts and all the supposed to be structured lines sort of bent and stretched out of place. But monochrome stripes? Really? I have to say, it’s hard not to make it look tacky. Even the celestial waif-like beauties above seem overwhelmed by the garish prints and ‘colour’ clashes. Something about the unsubtly of it all offends me and is too potent for it to be sophisticated.  Unfortunately, I think here Jacobs got it wrong- very wrong.

However, don’t think I am a completely monochrome Nazi. There’s definitely a way to do it right, as we’ve seen with Dior’s collections this S/S. The success firstly lies in the simplicity of it all, the ‘poise’, something dubbed as part of the new mood by VOGUE, “when it comes to defining poise, consider these: to carry or hold in equilibrium; to be balance; freedom from affection or embarrassment; composure.” Whilst I’d feel suitably self-conscious strutting my stuff in one of Jacobs *gulp* creations, I’m literally salivating thinking about a gorgeous Dior, tailored dress. Indeed, tailoring is key. Whilst Jacobs’s pieces were more straight up and down, Dior’s nipped in waists and structured skirts take monochrome from brassy to classy.

Dior S/S 13