Top trend to watch from the Oscars

I love Awards ceremonies, watching celebrities on the red carpet in some of the most beautiful gowns even haute couture comes out to play . So yesterday you can imagine that I was glued to my television set from 11pm watching E! present straight from the red carpet the most important awards ceremony in the film industry, and the best awards show for the celebrities dressing to impress. And although some disappointed me, plenty made my yes list.

These awards ceremonies can be a great indication as to what trends we can expect to see in the upcoming seasons and what we see from designer that eventually will emulate to high street. A trend to watch for is certainly bold block colour, if the Oscars is to go by expect red dresses to be everywhere next season.

The host of the Oscars, Anne Hathaway made quite an entrance with this Valentino Couture beautiful dress. This was certainly her best look of the night.

The total transformation that Jennifer Hudson has undergone since her Oscar winning performance in Dream Girls is amazing. And her body looks incredible in this ash burnt Orange Versace dress.

Last years Best Actress Oscar winner, Sandra Bullock wore a stunning Vera Wang in a beautiful block deep red.

A newbie of the night who certainly caught my attention is this wonderfully inspired Baywatch looking dress by Calvin Klein is Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence was the first woman to walk the red carpet and this brave dress choice, matched with minimal jewellery, par a bangle certainly paid off. She is certainly one of my best dressed of the night.

London Fashion Week

Five days of unadulterated pleasure is what came to London in the form of London Fashion Week. There were some great designers showcasing there latest collections, Autumn/Winter 2011-12, and if  Winter wasn't dragging on and the dark early evenings getting tiresome I would wish for Autumn and Winter to come around now so that I could purchase some of these fantastic pieces. My top three of the week have to go to Burberry Prorsum, Mulberry and Vivienne Westwood Red Label.

Christopher Bailey has certainly made Burberry a more credible label since he became Creative Director, and I for one am thrilled that this British Brand is finally reaching the potential I always knew it had. The A/W collection is predominantly made up of coats and jackets but what is so exciting about the collection is their modernisation of the 60's revival that has become a growing trend over recent years. A trend to look out for would certainly be tassels on accessories and footwear. Not a bag that went down the catwalk didn't have tassels and the sky high heels the models where in, where a great reinvention of the brogue. Along with all things retro it seems the androgynous look is here to stay and I think it's a great look mixing the two ideas together. On a completely random note, it snowed on the runway, real snow!!! Brilliant.

Picture taken from catwalking.com

Mulberry had a lot to live up to in my eyes since they won the prestigious accolade best Designer Brand at last years British Fashion Awards and they didn't disappoint. Mulberry took a different direction with their Autumn/Winter 2011-12 Collection and kept the look quintessentially British with an English Rose feel. I love the 70's style that surrounds this collection with the use of corduroy blazers and skirts, a touch that really make the clothes look authentic 1970's. The colour palette was neutral with whites,greens and greys prominent in the collection. The chunky knit scarfs are amazing I want one now, they will be a perfect accessories to any cold winter day. A trend to watch for has to be the knee length socks I think they are essential to anyone trying to rock the 70's inspired look.

Picture taken from catwalking.com

A lady that never disappoints is the wonderful Vivienne Westwood for Red Label, her style is British punk and the A/W 11-12 line is inspired by Lewis Carroll's novel Alice in Wonderland , which I absolutely adore. Some of the models wore crowns fit for the Queen of Hearts, I could even see the Mad hatter wearing the crazy velvet suits in this collection. This style is definitely not for the faint hearted amongst us with it's tartan and floral prints but I for one would certainly wear the feather jacket and the tailored suits. Thumbs up too Ms  Westwood you never fail to make fashion fun.

Picture taken from Catwalking.com

My Intro...

Working in fashion allows the fashion enthusiast in me more of an insight into the fashion world from what we can expect in stores for next Autumn/Winter 2011-12 to the trends being forecast for next year to all the backstage work most people don't see. For instance I was fortunate enough to attend Pret A Porter in Paris and most recently Pure London. These events are trade shows where designers get the opportunity to exhibit there new collections, at Pret A Porter and Pure the designers exhibited there Autumn/Winter 2011-12 collections. They also have through the event catwalk shows, where the designers exhibiting can opt to showcase a few of there pieces on the runway. These catwalk shows can be very useful when trying to get a real understanding of what you can expect to see in stores in Autumn and Winter and the exhibitions are massive with hundreds of designers exhibiting everything from ethical clothes, ladies fashion, accessories and footwear. So if you were there only for a day, a visit to the show will certainly give you an understanding of the styles you can expect in the next season. For instance leather had a massive presence at both exhibitions, strapless dresses to city tailored shorts.

These trade shows can be visited by the public, you would need to purchase tickets but there definitely worth a visit if your fanatical about fashion, or even just for a different kind of day out. Also there is always a possibility of spotting a celebrity, Zandra Rhodes was at Pure on the Sunday giving a conference about boasting a brands website presence as well as exhibiting a line of handbags and footwear.

This week is set to be an exciting one with the start of London Fashion Week on Friday, there are some amazing designers on the runway this year, I'm particularly excited to see what Vivienne Westwood Red Label, Burberry Prorsum, Paul Smith and Amanda Wakeley collections have to offer.

So stay tuned for my run down of favourites on the runway this week...