Best Fashion Trends of 2020

This may be a weird pastime, but I enjoy spotting fashion trends since I was a kid. It is fascinating to see what retailers try to market vs. what actually inspires a large amount of people, and what personally resonates with me. 

Since my end-goal has always been to have less clutter, I try to not jump on every trend that comes out, but for some reason the year 2020 has come out with lots of clothing and accessory styles that I absolutely adore!

So these are my top 5 trends that I am loving this year:

1. Slip Dress (or satiny skirt): layer with cropped tee for more casual outings, and then under oversized sweater for the coming fall weather...

My Inspiration: Monroe Steele's instagram, she rocks slip dresses as no other!

2. Twist Top Headband: Anything that comes from Jennifer Behr becomes the next big thing when advertised on celebrities. I like this wider, softer band look, which is easier to wear than the puffy headband that seems so last-year or from the 90's (which I did try to bring back for my wedding in 2018 as a statement piece but too fancy to wear on a normal basis). This twist style is more wearable!

My Inspiration: Sabrina Carpenter

3. Paperbag High-Waist Shorts: I am surprised the paperbag shorts is still going strong since I was first introduced to it in 2012. For some reason, retailers have been pushing out more paperbag shorts and pants this year than any other year I can remember, and I'm loving it because it hides a bloated tummy, the high waist gives the illusion of better proportions for my body-type, and the bagginess is super comfortable. 

My Inspiration: Abercrombie and Fitch model

4. Tie-Dye: I suppose by now most people own at least one piece of something in tie-dye. It can be retro, geeky, attention-grabbing, but for me, I mostly reserve it for loungewear or beach attire. I own one T-shirt in tie-dye that I bought as a souvenir at the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk a couple of years ago and finally took it out from the back of my closet since tie-dye is having a moment. 

My Inspiration: Lilliana Vazquez's DIY tie-dye outfit during quarantine life

 

5. Chin-length Blunt Bob haircut: Hair is fashion to me, so I'm including this here. I personally love any bobs. This blunt textured one seems refreshing and playful and I have been seeing it everywhere on celebrities and models. I'll be asking for this cut at my next visit to the hair salon...

⥱

My Inspiration: Kaia Gerber definitely started it all! And doesn't this Victoria's Secret model look almost like her?

Now on to the trendy items that did NOT make it on my wardrobe, but may reconsider another day:

Bike shorts: because I have not been inspired by anyone who looks amazing or picturesque in bike shorts.

Shoulder Pad Muscle Tee: I use to get a lot of hand-me-down clothes from my aunts as a kid that had shoulder pads, and it made me cringe how they get warped in the washer/dryer machine. No thanks to shoulder pads, but maybe a plain muscle tee is okay. 

Oversize Graphic Tee: I think the oversize tee is super cute on kids and teenagers, but not for me, I'm getting old.

Puffy Sleeves Top/Sweater: It just reminds me of clown-clothes, something I've been trying to avoid. I think I would feel too self-conscious in puffy sleeves, probably traumatized by the puffy sleeve dresses we wore as children in the 80's as our parents thought it made us cute as dolls, which is a bit creepy.

Balmy palmy cover-up

I've been on a roll in the men's department lately, discovering that men's t-shirts tend to be more sturdy and sometimes less expensive than women's. Since I prefer wearing loose fitting shirts in the summertime (no sweating here), men's tees are the perfect thing! I love the blog-popular leaf print on this one. The long length is also great for tucking in or wearing like a tunic/mini dress. If you're crafty with the sewing machine, this tee (in the larger sizes) can turn into wonderful feminine pieces (ie. Extra Petite's old diy shift dress, or this oversize tee turned dolman top from Trash to Couture...so cool!).

The tee would make a great cover-up with the recent swimwear collection from H&M too!

My past palm print ideas here....

Peaked by palm print decor from The Zhush: pillows (on instagram), wallpaper (from Martinique)
Atlantic-Pacific totally obsessed with the palms: bomber jacket, shift dress, Indochine wallpaper, skirt
And bounced off of I am Khatu's leafy outfits: romper, diy dress (also seen on Jean recently)

Long jacket proportions

When I found this navy H&M fitted jacket on sale for $25 with further discounts with coupon codes (from $49.95), I snatched it up without a thought (thanks to my recent obsession with gold buttons).  The smallest size available at the time was size 4. I was happy that the shoulder width and sleeves length were just right, but the overall back-length felt too long. Thus, I decided to see if I can make a long jacket length work for my short frame...

Knee-length dress too dumpy.

Mid-thigh skirt is better. 

High-waisted shorts is the winner!

Then it got me thinking about how relevant "high-waisted" shorts is going to stay in fashion? It's not always comfortable to wear high-waisted bottoms all the time. Thus, I decided to test the top verses shorts waist placement...does it matter?

Ah, yes it does! If you close one eye and look at my photos from afar, it appears my high-waist shorts give the illusion of longer legs, thus more flattering proportion for my body type. I guess I better stock up on more high-waisted bottoms before they go out of style, haha!

Clueless the movie inspiration

Another 90's era fashion inspiration! I really loved that the 1995 teenage flick Clueless was a spin-off of a Jane Austen book. I also really loved that Alicia Silverstone at the time reminded me of a young Meg Ryan. Speaking of, if you are fan of Meg Ryan in Nora Ephron movies...this cheesy ABC show Manhattan Love Story stars an actress (Analeigh Tipton) who channels Meg Ryan to a T! What a transformation from the memorable babysitter in the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love!

Got my red stripes on

 I'm happy to report that red and white stripes are on the rise in fashion! 

Very cool red stripe tee on Aubrey Plaza in the NBC show Welcome to Sweden:

Also on Pharrel Williams on The Voice season 8:

The lengthy debate

The usual guideline is if you're petite, shorter hemlines are preferred to lengthen the legs. However, I'm always debating this because shorter lengths are not always appropriate and sometimes the legs just don't look that great (flabby thighs, cellulite-showing, pasty, crooked, bruised, veiny, etc.). So here's me attempting different hemlines to see what really is the best length? 

A) MINI-SHORT SHORTS - not appropriate for work, but good for hot summer weekends

B) MID-THIGH - shhh, actually wearing an underslip dress here

 C) KNEE-LENGTH - this is realistically how I normally dress to work

D) MIDI-MID-CALF - the only midi-length items I own now are gaucho (or culottes) lounge pants

  E) FLOOR-LENGTH - wish I had a black maxi-dress for more consistency

Hmm...after looking at these photos, I really can't decide what looks better. The infamous midi length is probably the least flattering. However, there are probably ways to make midi-length more pleasing like wearing heels instead of flats. Anyhow...

Does length really matter?

What do you think is the best or worst?

(Featuring customize whale-print tote from my favorite Etsy tote-maker: NancyPKdesigns)

Massimo Dutti Brogues

I first heard about Massimo Dutti from the wonderful Fast Food & Fast Fashion, and have been intrigued with their shoe selections since. I finally decided to order something from them during the July sales when these NYC limited edition leather brogues were around $79 (marked down from ~$220). Also being heavily influenced by menswear fashion lately, I decided to try these out.....

Gasp! They are gorgeous!

The packaging made me feel like I was opening a gift from the King of Spain or something....

The size 36 (US 6) fits true to size. The shoes are well-made and have that expensive leather furniture smell. Here's how they look on me with different outfits:

In actuality, I had a difficult time trying to figure out how to style these shoes. The shoes look beautiful on their own, but I felt dowdy in them. I'm thinking the problem is that the brown color doesn't suit my complexion and the heel is too low for my short legs. The sturdy leather also pinched the sides of my feet (bunions), so I decided these weren't going to work out for me. Thank goodness for the free returns.

Maybe brogues/oxfords are not suited for me after all. I'll leave 'em for the boys to look good in, or leggy girls like this gorgeous model from Massimo Dutti:

Oxfords are trending this fall. If I'm ever tempted to try this style again, must remind myself to keep the shoes more dainty like these from Wendy's Lookbook.

Darn, aren't these shoes so beautiful though?

Fruity hued pumps

Just when I thought my life was complete with my current shoe collection, my eyes are now wandering off towards these fruity orange pumps....

Prada Pointed Toe Pumps in Orange

($389+)

Diane Von Furstenberg Anette in Peach Nectar

($222+)

Stuart Weitzman Naughty in Papaya Aniline

($137+)

Zara Leather Court Shoe in Orange

($89+)

Corso Como Craven in Coral

($47+)

Also inspired by Quest for Fashion Sense's orange pumps!

A few of my favorite things

1. Wearing olive green & white combinations.

2. Testing out yellow pumps! 

3. Handmade pocket tissue cases from Etsy. 

These linen ones are also perfect for organizing/storing jewelry and preventing moisture-induced rusting!

What to wear to a golf resort?

Per advice from TBSmen.com, "take inspiration from Mother Nature and mimic her seasonal palette."  In other words, dress to match your environment, even man-made ones.

When I think of golf, I think of vivid green grass and sunny blue skies. 

Here's some color palette ideas from Ralph Lauren ads I saved in my scrapbook from 2001....seems like such a long time ago.

Polka dots, gingham, and stripes....still in-style today!

White shorts

Forever21 High-Waisted Pocketed Shorts

Egret size XS ($15.80)

(Also wearing Forever 21 Studded Faux Leather Flats size 6 - fits true to size.)

I added these shorts to my online shopping cart to reach the free shipping deal, and I'm glad I did. The size XS fits comfortably on me (with a little bit of gaping at back of waist). I like that it's not too thin or see-through as with most white shorts. The annoying thing is that it's dry-clean (the stretchy sateen-like material looks prone to shrinkage in the machine wash).

Unintentionally channeling Audrey Hepburn's style again....

Here's a more modern take on white shorts:

Inspiration from my scrapbook.

I'm also loving white Bermuda-length shorts like this one from ASOS:

ASOS City Shorts ($53.20)

 Do you own white shorts? What's your favorite style of shorts?