Boutique owners discuss spring trends to inspire your style
The runways for spring ’13 featured Twiggy-like silhouettes at Moschino and Louis Vuitton, kimono dresses from Emilio Pucci and Etro, dresses so oversized that models at Jil Sander were drowning in them, sporty styles from Stella McCartney and Victoria Beckham, stripes from vertical to chevron over at Marc Jacobs, patchwork looks a la Proenza Schouler and Erdem and giant ruffles from Gucci and Chloe.
Does that mean to stay stylish women must run out and add all these looks to their wardrobes? Not exactly. Fashion is always up for interpretation. That’s what fans would call the beauty of it.
To explore this philosophy, we checked in with three local boutique owners. Their stores are vastly different, as are their shoppers. Each has her own translation of the spring ’13 runways, the season’s hottest trends and what fashion-conscious shoppers should be purging from their closets to avoid looking dated.
Marisela Altamirano’s Amari Boutique in Henderson, for example, is largely celebrity-driven. She follows top stylists and the stars they dress to fill her store with looks that stay less than $200 while keeping current with trends before they’ve gone stale.
Her top trends for spring include white and black color blocking, anything in emerald (Pantone’s color of the year for 2013), textile mixing, such as a jean jacket with leather sleeves and a spiked stiletto such as the Rockstud by Valentino, even though she doesn’t sell shoes.
“Floral jeans are the hottest trend for spring, but if you’re looking for something that will last, go with a top or blazer in a floral print,” she says.
Of course, these looks haven’t completely caught on quite yet. Her shoppers are still hunting for the mullet cuts that have both a high and low hem, and denim jackets are still holding on strong.
Altamirano compares her store’s style with Zoe Saldana’s chic streetwear look and Jenna Dewan Tatum’s risk-taking casual looks. She stays on top of trends with the help of blogs such as Song of Style and Sincerely Jules, but translates the looks to better suit her shoppers.
Over at The Bungalow, owner Meital Bronstein also leans toward bold looks, but not if they appear too young for her clientele, which she refers to as stylish moms who are “not in their 20s.”
For instance, she saw many trends on the runways that had great fanfare, but didn’t quite fit her store’s tone.
“There were a lot of high-waisted pants with tube tops that showed the stomach. That was a big look, but I know it’s not going to go over well here,” Bronstein says. “Anything too sweet won’t really work, either.”
Her shoppers are still into the vegan leather of fall, but she sees them abandoning the neon look of last spring, as well as cutoff denim shorts. Cotton lace, vintage-inspired tees, teal blue skinny jeans and oversized totes will be their must-haves for spring.
Bronstein, who features a lot of obscure and up-and-coming designers, takes most of her inspiration from high- fashion photography and the people she sees at high-profile events in Los Angeles and New York.
Her overall impression of spring ’13 was “kind of like ’60s inspired, sort of minimalist and back to comfort-comfort.”
Lauren Feather, who owns the Best Kept Secret Boutiques, caters more to the young shopper on a budget who wants to make a statement. She calls mint the “color of spring” and is a little nervous about what she sees as the season’s most obvious trend.
“We’re looking at a lot of Bermuda shorts,” she says. “It looks like more conservative is in and shorts are longer.”
It’s a definite departure from last spring’s denim shorts that exposed pocket linings, they were so short. She just hopes her shoppers will embrace the longer look with the same enthusiasm.
Cutouts on the sides of dresses, or above the belly button, are big here, as are lower heels on sandals and smaller, satchel-style purses, but keep them cross-body style, she advises.
Maxi dresses and skirts with slits down the sides return this spring at her store, but don’t expect to see the “booty shorts.”
“The Daisy Dukes with the cutoffs,” she says, “those are out. So out.”
Contact Xazmin Garza at xgarza@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0477. Follow her on Twitter @startswithanx.
