Around the World in a Summer
By KIM ABDO
Fashion Writer
Worldly influences will have an impact on designers this summer. From Mexico to India, the African Safari to Key West, designers will work with clashes of color and bold motifs, along with rustic design touches to create an atmosphere of Old World style.
From Mexico, handmade is hot! Think boleros and Bermudas. Then add shoulder-baring tops with ruffled edges and full, colorful peasant skirts belted with wide turquoise and leather decorative accessories. Everywhere one will see embroidery and cross-stitching. Beads, sequins, brads and bobbles create a fiesta of design ideas that become the signature styles for spring and summer 2005.
Get tactfully tacky with the tourist trappings of Key West, resulting in a colorful revival of plastic jewelry, ricrac trim, parrot pins and coral and shell motifs that provide relief from serious dressing. Washed neon colors in hibiscus, bonfire and turquoise blend to create an exotic paradise of hues of oceanic proportions.
Then off to the desert plains to create a backdrop for style the safari way. Snakeskin, alligator, safari jackets and riding pants set the mood, as do wooden block prints and tribal jewelry. Patterns are prevalent and mixing them is a must to create this richly colored safari statement.
Eastern influences make dressing for your feet comfortable and colorful with brightly colored slippers beaded and embellished in gold, silver and bronze accents. Let Morrocan accessories adorn your body with bunches of bangles and chandelier earrings.
Get creative when dressing this spring and summer. Mixing these designs and accessories is fashionable and fun. Go ahead and go overboard. Let the classics give way to trendy treats and whimsical fun. Too much is not enough when creating moods of Bohemian Rhapsody mixed with the heat of an Indian summer to leave you looking hot and feeling cool.
Kim Abdo is the owner of Isabellas, located at 1311 E. 35th St. in Tulsa’s Brookside.
Updated 04-26-2005
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