After looking at some fairytale illustrations earlier, I started thinking of autumn because they reminded me of books by Joan Aitken I used to love reading when I was little (I will dig them out and take photos when I go to see my mum next week). The illustrator for the books was Jan Pienkowski - who used rainbow colours contrasted with black, which for some reason always remind me of autumn and rain and nights spent cuddled up all snug probably because that's when kids are most predisposed to delight (and believe) in fairytales, ghosts and spooky stories.So I am one of many who is hoping for an indian summer mainly because I am going to Cornwall next week to see my mum, so I really want to be able to make the most of the beaches and bask in the late summer sun, but I always enjoy autumn, probably more the idea of autumn than actual autumn, purely because the colours are so beautiful and inspiring, there's also something amazing about seeing the circle of life taking place right infront of your eyes.
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| A Jan Pienkowski illustration |
All of a sudden Little Red Riding Hood popped into my head, she's kinda re-entered my psyche ever since a girl I worked with was obbsessed with finding herself the perfect red cape- just like little red riding hood, and I saw her a few months back in town with her friends wearing it. A fairytale ending indeed. Whilst looking at images of red riding hood, I remembered my wonderful red coat I got years ago which I literally wore until it had holes in. Red is a powerful statement, a great autumn colour, and a red coat or cape is completely imbued with fairytale magic. The tale also takes place in a wood- and woods are irrevocably a symbol of autumn (for me anyway). When I think of a wood or when I walk through one, no matter what time of year it is, there always seems to be death around in the form of a fallen tree, forlorn twigs or left over leaves from the previous autumn. Basically what I get when I picture a wood in autumn is orange, crispy loveliness a bit like this shoot that Mert & Marcus did for Vogue in 2009.
But this year the babes in the wood style seems to be big, just take a look at Mulberry's A/W collection and you can see they are going for a girly, oversized, youthful, back to school look, even the fabrics (corduroy) evoke the crispy, fresh autumn, even if we're not quite there yet.
The Mulberry catwalk was filled with a background of trees and toadstools, along with the 'little girl lost' styles that reminds me of a girl being brought up by animals in the forest. She is mysterious, wild, rare, and in touch with her basic instincts. Someone who has made this look her own is Miss Welch....
Shiny, diaphanous fabrics and feathers all help to create the persona of the woman who runs with wolves. It's very feminine and alluring and appeals to my low-key style as it can be low maintainance-for example, who needs 9inch heels when you've got a rose head-dress to impress with? And it's a look you can either really go to town with or keep strictly basic, but the messier you are, the more realistic it is. The a/w catwalks were full of fairytale princesses as seen at Alexander McQueen, occult like influences at Gareth Pugh, (which brings Jan's black silhouettes back to mind) muted tones and patterns and textured, velvety fabrics that look like twisted branches and moss on the forest floor at Aquilano.Rimondi, Christopher Kane, Fendi, Comme De Garcons and Roberto Cavalli. Clashing floral and geometric prints at Prada and Mary Katrantzou and simplistic shapes at Maison Martin Margiela scream 'born in the wild'. Loose layers, shimmering fabrics, nude dresses and flashes of crimson red are a few earthly qualities I'm keeping my eyes peeled for in the shops this autumn.
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| Maison Martin Margiela a/w 11 |
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| Gareth Pugh A/W 11 |
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| Fendi a/w 11 |
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| Prada a/w 11 |
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| Prada a/w 11 |
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| Aquilano.Rimondi |
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| Mary Katrantzou |
And here's my dream take on the Little Red Riding Hood cape...
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| Prada a/w 11 |
