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Jacket €40, Republic.co.uk
Penneys
November 14, 2010
VOL 27 NO 46
Ciara Elliott's Trend Report: Gilded Brocade
Brocade fire
Dress €180, Ella Boo at The Design Centre, Powerscourt, Dublin 2
Bustier €24.95, H&M
Aran cardigan from Urban Outfitters
Comptoir Des Cotonnier
Leather shorts
Put away your winter florals and plush velvets from last year and get ready to shimmy out in the latest party material from the '80s to come round again – gilded brocade. While designers have been pushing it for some seasons now, this year it was Roberto Cavalli, Alexander McQueen and Maxmara who went big on damask and now the high street is awash with inexpensive look-alikes.
Historically, the material was the glamour fabric for kings and queens, at a time when textile decoration was a specialist, sought-after craft and those who wore this dressy material were the VIPs of the day – just think of Marie Antoinette and her party crew.
No wonder, then, that when the silk material became mass-produced in the '50s and '60s it soon became the 'look' for upmarket furnishing and interiors as well as for eveningwear. (I can so picture Betty Draper at a cocktail party in that Ella Boo number pictured opposite, can't you?). The fabric has been in and out of favour ever since, its last big splash being the early '90s at the big Christian Dior show. Right before everything went minimalist and grunge.
This season, the luxe fabric is being re-worked again into bustiers, dresses, hotpants and skirts and looks great when offset with ordinary denims and cottons – very Madonna in her 'Like a Virgin' era. Wear with satins, lace or even feathers for more of that burlesque party feel.
Brocade jackets look good either tux or boxy style and can jazz up even the weariest of LBDs and SBJs (Skinny Black Jeans); I love the look of how this purple brocade jacket has been styled up for this shoot from Penneys. The jacket from Republic wants to be slung over a fitted dress or worn in a less formal style with high-waisted trousers and brogues. It's all very Christmas 2010, isn't it? So to look effortlessly glamorous at this season's gatherings, drape on some damask and party like it's 1959.
Shopping Audit
* We're loving Aran cardigans
If you've a mammy who knits, be extremely nice to her. Otherwise this will cost you the princely sum of €85 from Urban Outfitters
* We're lusting after Comptoir des Cotonnier
In that time-honoured fashion of always wanting what we can't have, our lives won't be complete until this vrai chic French label is available here
* We're not sure about leather shorts
They result in either feeling a) like a sweaty mess or b) yodelling
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