Doll's Eye View: Milan Spring/Summer 2017 Trends

One thing I can count on in Milan, somewhere during their fashion week, there will be pretty clothes. And spring summer trends here do not disappoint. Many of the trends we've seen elsewhere--stripes, black/white themes, asymmetrical detailing, short-shorts and maxi hems--also all woven into designers' messages here. But here in Italy, true to form, there is lots of lace for super girly styles, interesting fabric treatments for upscale looks, as well as crisp clean lines, all of which makes for timeless, keepsake fashion.

Cloak Room

Coat hemlines race up and down the leg. Our favorite is the mini length coat, belted at the waist. Here, they're shown with sandals, but we also love accessorizing this length with thigh high boots as well. If you're going to make a coat for your doll, consider making a trench coat. Here we love the foiled florals on the face of Fendi's coat. But watch out....the 1980's with its super wide shoulders has begun creeping onto the catwalks! It will take awhile for our eyes to adjust to this silhouette, but slowly, shoulders are getting pumped!

We really loved the look of the Fendi coat. On close examination, we noticed the floral decals with areas of foiling. For Estelle's coat, I selected a linen. I had a bit of cotton chintz on hand. I carefully cut out a bit of its blue floral print. The idea is to simulate a "placed motif" effect (as opposed to an all over print--which is why I didn't use the print fabric for the base of the coat). Think of this as "decoupage." Using fabric glue on the back, I applied my cut-outs to the face of my A-line coat and ironed them in place. I applied foil to parts of the floral pattern. Though I had made a belt out of the printed fabric, everything came out so lovely, I decided not to belt the coat.

Peasant Girl

A very popular look that began last summer, this year's version of the peasant dress reappears with bare midriff tops, off the shoulder puff sleeves and cotton lace stovepipe pants.

Crème Fraiche

Creamy, rich with just the right amount of swirl and tangy goodness, these are very pretty feminine dresses for late day and evening. Silhouettes are pretty much straight forward and simple. Silhouettes skim the body in light, airy fabrics or lace.

Bringing back the simplicity and grace of the 1960's, Naomi wears a simple shift dress with full sleeves. For the embellishment, we made small loops from 3mm ribbon, flattened them with an iron and stitched them in place.

The Pin-Up

These are not bathing suits! They are super-short-shorts and a micro-mini dress, inspired by the pin-up girls of yesteryear like Betty Grable or synchronized swimmer, Esther Williams!

This was such a cute look with its bra, short-shorts and shirt, we couldn't resist interpreting this for our doll, Violetta.

Towing the Line

By now, we can see that stripes are a staple for summer styles. What we like here is the simplicity of style and the boldness of line.

To illustrate how simple stripes are worn..... Billie's dress is a simple tube dress made from a striped sock! Stunning!

Frayed!

One of the most stylish ways to wear denim blue! From the denim top and shorts to Armani's sheer coat over sheath dress, it's the details that make all the difference. And the details here are frayed or fringed edges.

It's interesting to see how few designers incorporate denim looks in their collections. So my younger Barbies were thrilled with this look. Jerry wears a flared tunic over shorts. Denim on this scale would have been too stiff, so we used a denim-toned silk instead. (You can also use a blue cotton chambray.) The neckline and armholes have lace trim added to mimic the look of a lace shirt. What we also liked here, are the matching boots!

 

Fruit Punch

There's not a lot of color on the catwalks these days. But what there is that my girls liked, were taken from the colors of fruit: raspberry, kiwi, lemon, mango, tangerine....

The Gallery Scene

Soup can labels, pizza box tops, abstract etchings....everything art has been lifted from the galleries and transformed into clothing. The things to note here: again, simple shift or sheath dresses, mix and match of patterns, matchy-matchy: dress with matching handbag and shoes.

Zen

Time to cleanse the palette. Choose simple lines and shapes for a classic look that works for most dolls.

This is an easy, 3-piece outfit that simply works. This is a shortened wrap blouse, straight trousers (where I extended the waist and have not closed the darts), and a straight coat with a collar

Summer Storms

From overcast skies to ominous clouds and  raindrops on the window, the mood is subtle elegance delivered via interesting fabric treatments.

Angels and Demons

What's black, white, naughty and nice? This group of lacey dresses with off the shoulder flounces, layers of lace and punctuated waists. Note the range of hemlines.

 She's a pin-up and a devilish angel, Carmela wears a version of Ermanno Scervino's "bathing suit" dress. This is a super short slip dress that we added medallions of lace. Over her shoulders in the opening shot....a vintage black "chapel veil" made of netting and velvet ribbon!

Coming up next... the final stop of Fashion Month....Paris!

Text and images property of Fashion Doll Stylist. 2016.

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