SNAP Fashion

Ear cuffs + nose rings get fashion-friendly: be afraid

The first thing you should know is that the Snap Fashion sisters are seriously averse to needles of any kind and so find this trend super scary.

Of course piercings of any kind have got more mainstream in recent years- Topshop and ASOS have both started selling ear tunnels. But shedding the EMO and underground image, more extreme facial jewellery has hit the catwalk – but thankfully most of it is pretend.

Givenchy debuted some serious nose rings and heavy-weight earrings that toyed with last season’s gothic and fetish trends, while Chanel embellished its models with plenty of stick-on pearl earrings running up and down ears and even the spine. But the real trend is for elaborate ear cuffs that conveniently hook over the ear and allow you to show off spikes, flowers or underwater decorations all down the side of your ear without any pain involved.

Here are our catwalk and high street favourites? Will you be giving this dramatic trend a go?

Extreme feather earcuff £16.99 from Topshop

Love the hair attachment with this ASOS spike ear cuff £10

leaf cuff earring £10 from Topshop

Deep Purple: Prabal Gurung SS12 advert

Thought the fetish trend was behind us. Then think again, but add a delicious violet hue. Prabal Gurung might be predicted to be all over the red carpet this Oscars season but we doubt the celebs will brave the bondage-style ropes!

This super sultry shoot is in my humble view purple perfection – not so sugary as the pastel trend but not as dark as Alexander McQueen or Givenchy’s scary body jewellery!

Woah!

LOVE this dress

Not so floaty and pastel - sheer gets unashamedly sexy

Dark + dangerous vs. wildly romantic: Couture Week

Paris Couture Week is traditionally a time for designers to show off some crazy creations and this year was no exception- although some designs were highly wearable and tied in with the mainstream catwalk trends – Chanel anyone?

However, we do love how different the shows can be- from elegant 1950s and sunshine yellows earlier this week to giant red dresses, romantic florals and 1920s references and super-scary fetishised, leather collections- all in the space of a few days. Which side are you on…dark and mysterious or breezy and romantic?

#TeamRomance

Just peachy: Elie Saab couture

Oscar's outfit tip!

White Valentino dresses with sheer and floral detailing. Heaven.

Reminds me of charming 1920s wallpaper (a good thing) and love the shape

Romance supersized at Giambattista Valli

Dark and dangeous at Givenchy (anyone else kinda reminded of Hannibal Lecter?!)

Scary piercings

Fetish-detail jewellery and zips

More naughty than nice? Leather and rubber a staple at Jean Paul Gaultier's show.

All pics: The Telegraph.

Top 10 trends of 2011 : Part 2

6-COLOUR BLOCKING

While fashion folks might have used the term blocking before, this summer, everyone was going on about ‘colour blocking’ and we were all dressing in plain bright coloured clothes- with the more adventurous mixing lurid and clashing colours.

7-PRINT

While plain and bright was the order of the day,thick colour-block horizontal stripes (particularly good on pencil skirts and silk t-shirts – thanks Prada!) were also big news, as well as polka-dots and clashing prints in vivid colours.

Stripy x Baroque sunnies!

8-NAVAJO + PC PROBLEMS

A big debate has ranged about whether fashion people can call stuff ‘Navajo’ in a year where Vogue Italia put its foot in it big time over hoop earrings. Fashion/cultural terms aside, we liked Isabel Marant’s take on Navajo-inspired design, leather fringing and ponchos.

9-FETISH

Louis Vuitton’s fetish collection inspired a whole lot of us relatively conservatively-dressed lot to embrace leather skirts and studded slippers (so I eschewed the corsets and PVC…not handy for work!) and for me, the collection, as well as the models dressed up in the look with balloon dogs, at Vuitton’s flagship London store for FNO, is one of the most memorable trends of 2011.

From our FNO night - great experience!

10- THE CATWALK DRESS

Without doubt one of the celebrity favourites and most ripped-off looks on the high street is Stella McCartney’s Illusion dress. This item alone will be remembered as part of the fashion fabric of the past year. Props to Stella for creating a super flattering modern classic.

Top 5 studded fashion pieces: “Tell me about it, stud”

All fashion folk know that the fetish trend has been huge this autumn and winter, but I have seen relatively few people clad in PVC heel-less boots and bone-crunching corsets (thank goodness!) but leather skirts (as expertly modelled by Ashley Tisdale + Miranda Kerr) are a simple way to rock the look. However, my favourite way to add a hint-of-fetish to an outfit is studded accessories.

Of course the ultimate studded accessories hail from Hermes, but we’ve found some gems on the high street of late and River Island is obsessed with spiky shoes – v Sam Edelman-esque. Studded accessories are great for toughening up party frocks and killer spiky shoes are always a winner when teamed with black skinny jeans.

For a master class in studs and grown-up badass dressing, check out The Coveteur’s profile on Michelle Ochs. Wish I was so disciplined in my style!

This Louis Vuitton looks defines AW11 fetish

Studded suede sandals by Valentino. Get them fast in the Net-a-Porter sale £395 from £565

SO Vuitton - 2 spiky metal cuffs from ASOS Premium for £20

Versace for H&M studded bag £20 in the sale...who knew?! It's all sold out now.

The ultimate: Hermes studded cuffs

Vectra studded slipper (also in leather finish) £28 from Topshop

A selection of Michelle Ochs' spiky accessories via The Coveteur

The fetish hat that’s graced the heads of 6 cover girls incl Beyonce

Louis Vuitton has produced the must-have fashion item of AW/11 in terms of getting its products on the glossiest of fashion magazines…and the item is…*drumroll*… a £790 fetish hat!

So what’s the deal? This is one pricey accessory and is apparently inspired by racy 1970s film, the Night Porter, starring edgy Brit actress Charlotte Rampling. The hat in question, designed by Marc Jacobs, debuted in the same show at Paris Fashion Week in March when Kate Moss caused a stink by walking down the catwalk with a cigarette in hand.

Attitude!

The hat on the catwalk

So which cover girls have been snapped with the hat then?

Natalia Vodianova rocked the fetish look for German Vogue in July...

...Beyonce covered W Magazine in a flimsy LV shirt and glittery eye mask...

...Milla Jovovich covered Polish Elle this September...

...Heidi Klum for Russian Harper’s...

...Fei Fei for Marie Claire China; check out that waspie...

...And finally model Edita Vilkeviciute covered Chinese Vogue (China’s LOVING the hat!)

Which is your fav cover look and would you ever consider wearing a fetish-style hat?

PFW: Alexander McQueen too extreme for a princess?

We loved Kate Middleton’s wedding dress but were still glad to see an edgy collection from Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen.

I’ve always been fascinated by the design house’s obsession with the less obvious side of beauty and exploration of darkness, whilst still producing exquisitely crafted feminine fashion.

So this ‘extreme beauty collection,’ which a press release described as: “a collection about excess – an exploration of ideals of beauty at their most extreme,” had me hooked.

In a completely different way to Thierry Mugler, McQueen has also updated the fetish trend for Spring 2012 with corsets, lace-up boots, hoods and shards of black plastic making up masks, but also with a lot of softness in the form of floaty dresses and an abundance of lace.

Whilst some catwalk shows give the audience a flavour of what we’ll be seeing on the red-carpet or a hint of lust-have shoes
and handbags, McQueen gave us a concept and proof that the fascinatingly contradictory qualities of a quintessentially McQueen collection are still very much alive under Burton. For me, this is less shopping inspiration and more art.

Just wow!

McQueen turns to the dark side

Extreme beauty- this piece says it all!

Feminine floatiness contrasts with the metallic strapping

LFW: Amber Le Bon for Felder Felder + John-Pierre Braganza

This autumn we’re dabbling with leather having been inspired by Louis Vuitton’s risqué fetish-inspired collection. The good news for those investing in studs and leather trimmings, is that Felder Felder is up for dominating Spring with a continuation of the fetish trend.

The show, which notably saw Amber Le Bon in studded shoes and flowing black chiffon also included body con numbers with harnesses and collars and studded stilettos, which managed to look feminine in a non scary/trashy dominatrix way.

Amber Le Bon rocks Felder Felder's fetish-inspired collection

Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre Braganza’s collection was a masterpiece in monochrome. The designer mixed flowing maxi skirts with beautifully tailored jackets with geometric prints lending an elegantly art deco touch. (Catwalk video above)

Colour pops of rich red and spray diffused coral plus killer heels completed the collection. I want it all!

Our fav monochrome look so far?

Please let the high street create a look-a-like version of this amazing dress!

NYFW Day Three: Symmetrical prints

Symmetrical prints are nothing new (think Alexander McQueen’s stunning Plato’s Atlantis collection a couple of years ago) but thereare some seriously pretty examples on the runway, all with a fresh take on the theme.

Prabel Gurung’s naughty collection incorporated seductive purple florals, silky fabrics and slices of sheer netting showing tantalising glimpses of hips and thighs, or bodycon numbers with provocative slashes. According to Vogue, Gurung worked with Zana Bayne (who’s created clothes for Lady Gaga) to add fetish-inspired stilettos and harnesses to the collection.

Florals get naughty

Simple slashes + sheer detail = 1 sexy dress

Elaborate detail preserves modesty

Pics from LelaLondon.

Jill Stewart’s beautifully simple collection was, in contrast, about colour and simple pattern. Vibrant tangerine was mixed with peach as well as several bright smoothie colours- lemon yellow and mint mixed with pale apricot. There was something tropical about the collection in colour as well as pattern, which reminded us a little of pineapples. (Maybe we’re still just a little obsessed after FNO?)

Just peachy!

Alexander Wang had a very different approach to symmetrical style with masculine bomber jackets made out of sporty mesh and bright polo shirts, parachute shapes with plenty of drawstrings in muted colours and botanical prints. Then there were plenty of bright chevron detailed pieces on close-fitting jackets and leggings.

Chevrons again!

Sporty and simple - a signature look

Print perfection