By now you know how much I love dresses and therefore on the lookout for all the beautiful varieties I can wear them in. I have been ooohhhhing and aaahhhing over pocket dresses for the longest while now…dont you just love them? From funkified-formal ones popping up on red carpets to cool and breezy jersey casuals…I think I’m in love. Above you’re seeing Rosario Dawson, Lauren London and Audrina from The Hills.

This mustard one is a hottie…perfect for those of us covering up muffin tops and pouches…

How cute are they all?

Cop these at 80spurple.com

Its summertime y’all! Ok, fine, we’re in Jamaica and its dang near summertime all year long…but with summertime comes lots of new fashion trends and LOTS of reasons to wear them! Dresses are my favorite wardrobe item, from summer dresses to cocktail dresses to fancy dresses that I really don’t wear that often…I love them all. You know what goes great with a breezy, cool summer dress? Some gladiator sandals! I gotta admit, I’m always looking for a reason to wear flats out! Heels are nice and sexy and all but sometimes a girl just wants to be comfortable! Well a gladiator brings the cute with the comfortable and makes me feel great about wearing my cute dress with flats out to a party. You know ladies…its never cute to be out at a party dancing the night away with your shoes gathered at your feet. Wear some flats! Wear some wedges! Or get some heels that you feel comfortable in! They do exist, i have 3 pairs that I swear by and wear out dancing all the time cus their so comfortable (secret? they’re platforms…but thats another post)

I must admit when I first saw the gladiator trend I was not having it…but just like the ombre trend, it grew on me and now I love it! Sometimes you have to wait for a trend to evolve and take on a personality of it own, as the gladiator style has now taken on a variety of shapes and styles making it virtually impossible to not find one you like. They come in stilettos, wedges and flats, with thin straps, wide straps or a combination. Here’s a few I found that I liked from Nine West, Piperlime, Bakers and even Payless. The ones above are from Bakers and I absolutely love them! Are you feeling the gladiator trend?

Me likey, but these high ones…not so much.

Ombre is a French term meaning "shaded" and belongs to the tiedye family of the hippy sixties era. It’s also referred to as bleeding since the colour fades out from dark to light [or vice versa] or from one colour to the next. Its been popping up on fashion runways since the fall season last year and has made its way to everyday looks. I admit, I saw this trend late last year and I wasn’t too happy at forecasting it as a trend to watch as I’m not too sold on it myself. You can take a look and be the judge. Me, if I rock this trend I’ll stick to the shoes and the bags TYVM! (Ok, that orange-to-yellow Diane Von Furstenberg dress is way cute)

Sammy’s Shoes Store in Premiere Plaza, Constant Spring Road [Kgn, Jamaica] is up on this trend with some cute ombre shoes! Whether flats for everyday fab or some stilettos for a night on the town, these shoes will make your LBD pop and keep you on trend. Check out what I found there:

Here’s the uber-fab Tyra Banks rocking a chic laid back get up with an ombre bag.

Image Source & Source

According to MSN’s shopping guide, white pants are the new IT pants, and with much reason. We do need a neutral to balance out the bright hues and busy prints that are all the rage and to pair them with black pants instead would take away from the spring-summer feeling and may come out looking a bit silly. According to the guide:

White pants should be an easy way to add a little sporty style to our day, but we often find it almost absurdly difficult to land a decent pair. The fabric isn’t substantial enough, so undergarments peek through. One day’s wear means a trip to the dry cleaners. Bad tailoring seems to be more of a liability in such a bright color, and anyway, aren’t darker colors more slimming? Retailers to the rescue. White trousers and jeans are now being offered in such an array of cuts, lengths, fabric weights and sizes, that there’s hope for us all. If you’re concerned about show-through, try a more substantial linen blend and skip the flimsy polyester. White denim also provides a fantastic slimming fit plus the benefit of a heavier gauge material. Easy-care casual crop pants and shorts can be tossed in the washer, and finely constructed ottoman, twill, or silk slacks streamline and elongate your figure. The best reason to invest? White pants are the perfect match for spring’s bold blouses.

So maybe you’re not the type of person that wants to be in bright patterns from head to toe… Not feeling the bright dresses, pretty skirts and silky tops? Maybe you need a little nudging…come on…dip your toes in the water. Speaking of feet…that’s the perfect place to start with this trend if you want to warm up to it. Nordstrom has the CUTEST selection of this bright trend that will go well with your neutrals, or maybe a bag? Anyone of these are sure to make the most boring err…i mean simplest of outfits pop with pizazz, catch an eye and turn a head! Yeah man, start small…by summer you’ll be bold and beautiful! The Jamaican colored pumps above are by Gwen Stefani’s line LAMB, you know Gwen loves her some Jamaica. I love them even though Khia definitely ruins them for me here .

The seasons have changed in the lands that have such seasons…and so have the trends evolved. Fashion weeks have played out in the fashion capitals and designers have shown us hungry fashion addicts what we’ll be going ga-ga for this year. Unwearable couture designs have been filtered down to red carpet gowns and have now made it to the boutiques in more ready-to-wear ensembles.

Not all of the over-the-top styles that designers like to send sauntering down the runways make it on the backs of the fashionable, like me and you. However one of them that has made it and is making a very bold statement is that of bright and busy prints. Browse through the “what’s new” of upscale department stores like Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom and you’ll find them filling the pages. I am just in heaven! I think they’re gorgeous, bold and definitely statement-making. Fashionistas…be the first to step out in this hot trend as it is sure to take over the streets of Jamaica. Are you feeling this trend? Can you see yourself rocking it?

P.S The yellow dress above is from Nicole Miller and I will worship the ground that the person who buys me this dress walks on! Loves it! Click it, buy it, link me for shipping details! 

Ciao Stylites…

Irie Diva 

If you’ve been keeping up with Hollywood then you know there’s a writer’s strike and lots of red carpet cancellations. Hence, runway to red carpet occurrences have been minimal and we, the fashion editors, who normally watch the red carpet to see what trends have made it from the fashion week runways to the red carpet have not had many opportunity to do so this season. The Grammy’s therefore, I was sure would have been major fashion fanfare as with so few opportunities to get the glitz on, I thought for sure every celeb would have been on point with the fashion game last night. But they’re celebs…what was I thinking?!?! There were certainly more misses than there were hits last night and a few just ok. My favorite picks of the night were definitely a very smooth NEYO and a very pretty Carrie Underwood, wearing Ferragamo and Zuhair Murad respectively. Jay Z, Snoop and Luda were all very smooth with the suit game and Rihanna was in cobalt blue that really wasn’t very easy to pull off. She’s cut her hair again…soon she’ll be bald? But she keeps changing it up, gotta love her. Beyonce was a mess in a powder blue, sparkly princess gown and shorter but still wacky weave and Alicia Key’s dress was gorgeous…but her hair…hideous! Keyshia Cole was cute and girly, not sure if I’m feeling the black ‘do though.

I must mention that the dress Carrie is wearing is very fashion forward in its unusual floral print. Keep posted for more of this trend stepping straight of the fashion week runways currently buzzing in the fashion capitals.

Find more Grammy pics here.

Tonite is the party that everyone’s been anticipating for sometime now, that will properly kick off the Christmas party season. That’s “Honey,” a drink AND food inclusive event that is free for ladies and only JA$1000 [US$15] for men. Have we seen anything like this before? That’s an incredible value! Gee, I wish some of the other inclusive parties would follow suit! Of course, its not ultra or even super inclusive…but hey I’m cool with some white rum berry busters and some finger food, great way to kick off the season and warm up for parties to follow on Saturday and Sunday.

A few people have asked me how they should dress for this event. Of course, the organisers would love if you actually came out in your retro gear…but really, its not that serious. For this party, come out in your most comfortable party attire. No need to pull out the big guns of a cocktail dress and “fry-dried” hair and gentlemen, put the blazers back in the closet. This is a party where we’re actually gonna “galang bad” [i.e. behave badly] kick up a storm and get all bodied as Beyonce would say. Personally, I know I’ll be in a cute top, some jeans cut-offs and definitely some wedges or flats. Of course, its a retro house party so you’ll be uber-cute in something vintage, here’s a set I did that includes a fabulous red and black swing dress, a black and white baby-doll, a high neck ruffled blouse, purple suede skirt and slouchy sweater that wud be tres-chic with tights and leg warmers…can you see me channelling fame? “Fame! I wanna live forever!”

You can check here for a post on retro dancehall fashions. There’s also a post on swing jackets, one on shift dresses and I did find some polka dot shoes here, so there’s plenty of inspiration to get your vintage juices flowing. See you there tonight!

Here’s a challenge for you! Can you mix several fashion trends together and not look overdone? Today I have a set created with a few of my favorite trends this Christmas. I’ve taken a simple (well its covered in sequins but its simple in cut) dress from Wetseal.com and combined it with black opaque tights that I love so much when they’re paired with booties. I’ve also thrown in a clutch in a contrasting turqoise colour and a few bangles to pick up that colour. I went even further out to throw a wrap around it…you know we Jamaicans aren’t big on scarves…we have no need to as it hardly gets cold enough out here to need one. But scarves are uber-chic and brings together my outfit nicely…or at least, so I think. Do you agree? If you chose almost, I’d love hear to how you would have made it pop! I’m open to all critiques. If you’re a stylist at heart, run on over to Polyvore and lemme see what you’re made of.

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Here’s a fab tip for keeping your sequined and bejeweled outfits clean, put them in a pillow case and pop ‘em in your gentle cycle! Your wardrobe may see a few of these this season so learn how to care for them here! Thanks for the tip Angie!

So according to Camesha, the last Jamaican fashion designer featured on FOS, cobalt blue is very hot this season. I myself was not very familiar with this cobalt color so I went on the hunt. Cobalt blue, as I realised, was a a very hot, very deep almost royal blue that fits right in with the jewel tone colors thats hot this season. Right now my favorite color is still the royal purple but cobalt blue is on a fast rise. You can tell it was always close to number one when I did my nails in that color recently.

I’ve also been recently introduced to Polyvore where you can mix and match items found on the web to create outfits. Just the tool i’ve been looking for, its great for persons like myself who aren’t too photoshop savvy but are desirous of creating great sets. So without further ado, I bring to you my Cobalt Blue set created on Polyvore…do you like? Each item can be found on my polyvore page if you’re interested, and add me as your friend while you’re there so we can keep up with each other’s style My favorite item in the set are the blue shoes…dem hot nuh tru?