Bright & Beautiful

From the Fall Runway Report in the latest issue of Bazaar magazine, the future of fall fashion is looking very bright. High-fashion designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Dior and Celine are crafting their latest designs in brilliant raspberry, shimmering violet, orange and cherry.

Moving away from traditional fall colors such as chocolate, grey and black, designers are taking a fresh approach to the upcoming season by pairing winter fashions with more brilliant versions of classic spring pastels.

For the holiday season, liven up your tree with some ornaments in vivid colors, or brightly colored satin ribbons.

Silvertone bright yellow and pale blue peep-toe shoe ornament and pewter paintbrush with raspberry paint splatter by Gloria Duchin.

Metallics Continue to Shine

From clothing to jewelry, the fashion statement is clear - shine on! Celebrities favor glitz and glamour with sleek, form-fitting metallic gowns and layered metallic necklaces. Below, a photo from the latest edition of People magazine shows some of Hollywood's hottest starlets wearing metallics everywhere from head to toe.

Accent your metallic look with a splash of color to add depth and intrigue, like a chunky blue gemstone, or a blue peep-toe pump. For the holiday season, be sure to check out some of our newest designs like the pewter snowflake below, dotted with sparkling blue Swarovski crystals.

Mad for Plaid

Plaid is back with a vengeance, layering multi-color stripes over dresses, skirts, blazers, and even stockings. Over the years, plaid has been symbolic of many fashion trends and lifestyles. In today's fashion, depending on how it is worn, you may feel as if you are ready for a weekend in a wooded log-cabin, about to embark on an English fox hunt, or preparing for your first day of prep school. It doesn't matter how you wear it, as long as you join the world in going mad for plaid.

Plaid fashions from the Dolce & Gabbana collections

For the upcoming Holiday season, give your tree a log cabin makeover. Use thick-wired plaid ribbon as garland, accent the branches with natural pinecones, and hang woodsy themed ornaments from the ends with smaller plaid ribbons.

Gloria Duchin bronze fishing bear ornament with plaid ribbon.

A Star Spangled Affair

It's the Monday after the 4th of July, but the fireworks continue to sparkle through fashion on the streets of New York and LA! Yesterday, the New York Times printed a fashion spread of Red, White and Blue couture in the city including the photo below of the Americana themed window at Bergdorf Goodman's featuring models in adorable crenoline lined mini-dresses.

Teen star Aimee Teegarden showed her suppport in the latest issue of Star magazine, with a star bangled necklace and matching ring.

At Gloria Duchin, we are celebrating America with Christmas in July this entire month and offering a FREE ornament to any of our customers who spend $25.00 or more on our website!

Gloria Duchin hand silk-screened flag heart. FREE with $25 purchase at http://www.gloriaduchin.com

Sneak Peek... 2009 Hot Trend Alert

Bright colors are splattered on fabrics and furniture is being constructed from unconventional materials as if to give a nod to the abstract expressionists and pop artists of the 1950s. From flowing paint-splattered gowns, Warhol inspired dinnerware, Christmas wreaths made from computer parts, the Pop Art trend is something not to be missed in 2009.

Stay tuned… additional sneak peeks will be released over the next several months from our 2009 Trend Intelligence© forecast.

Just Can't Get Enough...

Sex and the City! In my last entry, I wrote about our family trip to Italy, and the trends we spotted in our travels. The entire country was buzzing about the movie and young fashionistas crowded the city streets. This week, back in the US, I open the latest edition of Traditional Home to find a feature on the girls' apartments from the film.

Led by Jeremy Conway, the show's production designer, and Lydia Marks, the set decorator, Carrie's apartment was based on the same design from the show, with a few updates. The new design included bright blue walls mixed with neutral linens in brown and beige, accompanied by art deco style mirrored furniture.

The scheme matches Carrie's ecclectic and experimental personality, and I think as the months continue, we will see a lot more experimenation in both the fashion and home decor worlds, with the focus being on self-expression.

Viva Italia!

I just returned from a 10-day vacation in Italy to celebrate our son's graduation from college with family and friends. What a special holiday and one I am sure that we will not forget any time soon.

We started our journey in Viterbo, Italy and explored the regions throughout Tuscany. Wherever our travels took us, even to remote, small Tuscan villages, it never ceased to amaze me the influence of popular culture through out the world.

Specifically, one day a friend of mine and I were shopping for ceramics in a beautiful mountain top town and it seemed everywhere we turned we saw posters in the small shop windows for Sex and the City, which coincidently opened in Italy around the same time as in the states. We also saw the influence of metallics (which I am sure preceded the movie) especially in sneakers for young and old, and a strong presence of skull and cross bones as well! Gold, both matte and polished, was apparent especially in sunglasses and accessories.

So it didn't surprise me when we ventured to Rome later on in the week to see young Carries, Samathas, Mirandas and Charlottes appearing through out the city fabulously dressed.(I still don't know how they walk in stilettos on the cobblestone streets).

Rome is overwhelming to the visual senses and tremendouly beautiful. It was comforting to say that nothing changed since my previous visit and it was a joy to share it with the rest of my family and close friends.

As we were touring the Pantheon, one of my son's favorites, we were taken by surprise when the police started blocking off the streets and my husband then saw movie cameras being strategically positioned. As we were engrossed in the magic of ancient Rome all of a sudden we heard "action" and Ron Howard and Tom Hanks appeared! They were filming the sequel to the Divinci Code, Angels and Demons! What unexpected fun, and a terrific ending to a magical holiday.