Comebacks of 2011: The good, the bad and the downright ugly...

The Good: The 1960s Twiggy look

My favourite vintage a/w trend of 2011 was the return of the high fashion Twiggy 1960's Mod style. I have completely embraced this style myself from the the pixie hair cut to the peter pan collars and a-line skirts and dresses. The 2011 take on this understated and laid back look gives it edge with skirts and dresses in contrasting fabrics, statement colours and metallics and peter pan collars with stud detail. This 1960s revival was particularly embraced by the Giambattista Vally, Louis Vuitton and DKNY a/w collections, which  predominantly featured peter pan collar pieces. Also the Yves Saint Laurent male and female collection completely reshaped the Mod look. The female collection took two central pieces of the sixties mod style; the mac jacket and a-line skirt and combined to two to create a-line, dress style jackets with a contemporary feel.

(Louis Vitton, Giambattista Vally and DKNY)

(YSL)

The Bad: The Varsity/American High School Jacket

(even Ashton looks ugly in Varsity gear)

An a/w comeback that I did not enjoy this year was definitely the return of the American high school style Varsity Jackets. Even the typical football team captain heartthrob in American teen movies looks like a total idiot in these shapeless ugly pieces. Now to make matters worse, these hideous jackets have managed to escape the land of Hollywood after the high street cottoned onto the new urban trend with rappers like Drake and Jay-Z donning the varsity look. Now jumpers like this are available in both the mens and womens sections of high street shops, such as this River Island offender:

& the Downright Ugly: The return of the 1970s flares

(Zappa in his 'dan dares')

The appeal of flares is something I am sure I just do not understand. Perhaps that is because I did not live through the 70s when everyone was wearing the fashion offenders. Yet, sadly, I myself have had a 90s tween fashion flares experience. Looking back to the days of S-club 7 and Hearsay I cringe more at the memory of a hideous pair of flared jeans, that I thought were oh so cool, more than I do at my music taste! Don't get me wrong, there were aspects of the 1970s s/s style revival that I adored, such as the maxi and midi skirts and floppy hats. However, in my opinion there is NEVER ever an excuse for flares in modern fashion, they an item that should remain in the wardrobe of the 70s never to be worn again. The Designers guilty of bringing flares back in 2011 are Marc Jacobs and Derek Lamb.