The Trends on Wednesday: Eastern Promise

Eastern Promise by chiccheat featuring Etro

Fire and phoenixes  symmetry and satin, jacquard patterns and Japanese landscape prints, fashion has, once again, looked to romance and mystique of the Far East for a vibrant spectrum of inspiration. While clichés of dragons and fans may betray yet another nineties fashion influence, having grown up in that decade, I will say the trend is among the more welcome of its retro throwbacks, tacky character tattoos excepted. The eclectic mix of blossom prints, intricate embroidery and geometric shoulder silhouettes has certainly captured the imagination of designers, from the couture atelier to the high street. Spring fashion has jumped on board the Orient Express for yet another exotic foray. Will you?

Author's note: Keep it here to see some simple DIY techniques for getting the look!

Trendy Wensdy: All There in Black and white

All There in Black and white by chiccheat featuring activewear jackets

For Your Inspiration: Digital Love

A new year's resolution - ahem! - I mean, blog feature I'm setting out to do for my midweek update is a trend and inspiration collage of all the potential projects I see in on-trend items. This 90s-rich, retro-digital trend of pixels and neons was quite a sentimental one for me, reminding me of the technology of the decade, the games, the colours (can we bring back neon slap bracelets? Scrunchies can stay behind) and the colour separation, as is the case in the Catherine Malandrino dress on the left. Genuinely, that reminded me of doing chromatography in chemistry class, for which I dangled strips of coloured coffee filter paper in water, watched as the dyes separated and thought "If DIY fashion bloggers dared do the same..." Okay, the last point was a more creative, less accurate take on my memories but if they come into fruition, you know where you'll hear it first...