The Easter Bunny came early this year: this spring’s 2012 RTW runways were ladened with the sugary pastels found in Candyland. Cotton candy pinks and blues found their complement in minty greens and lemon drop yellows. Such confections are noted across the entire sartorial scale as traditionalists like Chanel and Louis Vuitton and revolutionaries like Alexander McQueen both indulged their sweeter side.
“After the hardness of Fall, we wanted something gentle and kind, fragile but strong, too,” said designer Marc Jacobs in regards to his unabashedly feminine designs for Louis Vuitton this spring. Jacobs employed a pastel color palette, incorporating a variety of stripes and patterns that could easily sway from business to play.
“What lingers about the collection is just how sweet it was—everything candy-colored and much of it trimmed with big lacy collars or oversize white buttons. Broderie anglaise dresses came veiled in pastel shades of organza; laser-cut lace tops and skirts were sealed in silk cellophane… After an interlude of matte crocodile motorcycle jackets… in their icy pastel colors, Jacobs affixed 3-D plastic paillettes to dresses with crystals and embellished tweed skirtsuits with ombré feathers,” writes blogger Nicole Phelps of Style.com. Organza and cellophane aside, Jacob’s exhibition of soft femininity has relevance in the most unglamorous of places, college campuses being one of them.
Like spring flowers, pastels continue to appear across campus as the season’s outerwear progress lightens from coats, to cardigans, to tees. The soft nature of a pastel yellow sweater is checked by sporty riding boots or ripped jeans. A blush-colored raincoat brings a cheery pop of color to a dismal rainy day. Taking a cue from Jacobs’ floral prints, leggings blooming in pastel floral prints look precious. Pastel jeans are also a youthful way to reinvent the classic- but some days boring- blue jean. And as temperatures continue to rise so will hem lines: high-wasted pastel shorts are ideal for a beach day or a boring day in class. Juxtapose a dark color like navy or black with a light pastel to create contrast. Or exaggerate the pastel color towards neon, as many gym-goers do, with their colorful yoga pants and racer-backs. Pastels can be effortless or fussy depending how one wears them.
The overwhelming lace and embroidery of Valentino’s spring collection offered us a more feminine, if fussy, way to interpret pastels. Head designers Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri offered the sartorial world models confectioned in sweet and flowing frocks, “many of them walking out on flat sandals or lace espadrilles that helped give the outing its fresh feel.”
Offsetting the pastel color palette, the designers inset lace into leather for a halter dress and also a trench. Valentino’s collection also used a cotton lace fabric that made the designs into everyday sort of propositions, ones that could be similarly found among the racks of Forever 21 or Urban Outfitters. The fashion house’s pieces were adorned with “hand-painted floral prints and velvet flower appliqués,” adding an almost folkloric, rather than prim, feel to the collection.
Conversely, Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen decided to play devil’s advocate to this spring’s sense of uncompromising girlishness: Burton disrupted such soft prettiness with glossy, sharp black leather, producing an even more arresting compilation. Ikat prints and sporty motifs are also another way to scatter some of the sweetness of a pastel composition.
No sweet tooth? Opt for some SweetnLow -incorporate spring’s pastels in more discrete ways. Nail polish is one option: OPI’s Beyond Chic collection of iridescent pastels offer a drop of sweetness that’s neither sickening or costly. Another cheap application of pastels is through makeup.
Mind you, do not plaster your eyelids baby blue like we did in middle school and expect to look fashionable or attractive. But rather, a faint blush of pink swiped across the cheeks or lips looks undeniably sweet and begs to be kissed. Hair bows in assortments of pastels and polka dots are also precious. Or look down- pastel Keds blooming in floral or Ikat prints add dynamism to a casual jeans and t-shirt ensemble. Pastel shoe laces can be bought online through Etsy.com for less than $5, a relatively cheap way to rejuvenate a scuffed pair of Vans or tennis shoes.
Whether the interpretation is flowery, folkloric, or edgy, the relevance of pastels in the dreary winter months that precede the spring are indisputable. This season’s designers have embraced pastels with open arms, as they conjure to mind a softer, more comfortable feeling than Fall 2011’s strict edginess. After all, “fashion is a dream, and in this moment, we need dreams,” says Valentino head designer Piccioli. With this season’s sugary pastels, there will be sweet dreams indeed.
Katelyn Edwards can be reached at katelyn.edwards@spartans.ut.edu.