What's up pussycat: December 2006

Zac Posen

Finally, a fashion piece.

This is probably not news as you might have already noticed that the common themes on the sreets (no not that one...the fashionable end) seem to be inspired by umbrellas and the late 40's and the 50's. If you haven't, then how fortunate of you to stumble across this entry.

Although the umbrella inspiration is most definitely not call umbrellas on the fashion stage, but rather the "bubble" or what I tend to refer to as the balloon. The balloon is a design (mostly seen on skirts) that is with slightly more fabric around the waist and hips to create a "lift" at the waistline. This is especially lucky for most women as it's one of those multi-complementary trends. It helps remove the attention from the derriere; so if you don't have a perky one, or is missing one, or have a perfectly normal one, this skirt is just going to make you beautiful regardless.

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Bill Blass

Meanwhile, the balloon skirts are mostly accompanied with a belt or some sort of waist definer; which brings me to another current trend. The Belt.

Phi

Gone is the trend when an empire waist was cute and made you look pregnant. Now we want to look like the women from the 40's and 50's who had slim waist down to the 18'. The belt could be of any material and it's up to your imagination and creativity...and maybe a bit of originality. Most that have been spotted are in leather or ribbons.

Size matters too in this case. A wider belt is a must if you want to create an illusion of a slimmer waist. The wideness of it also goes well if you are wearing something plain, like a shirt or something loose, like a shirt. On the other hand, the thinner counterpart is only recommended for the thin and young. The light feeling of a thin belt is great with most tops such as cardigans, shirts (again), blouse, or even a plain dress. However, becareful that the thinner it is, the more it will reveal - both body mass and age.