sunshine state of mind

One of the styles featured in the Lucky guide was California Casual, which is was a style I was interested in briefly when I was in university. I wasn't the bohemian type, but the outdoorsy, sunshine-y, carefree joy of the style appealed to me. My penchant for floaty printed tops date from this era, as does my love of flip flips, shorts, denim skirts (hmm I should revive mine I think), chunky knits, and t-shirts. (I'd like to move on from the gypsy skirt.)

The winter clothing in shops and the sticky humid weather outside drove me to check out the spring summer collections now showing in New York. Finally, something relevant to my climate, even though styles like these won't trickle onto sales floors for another six months. And like a sign from the heavens, there were lots of great California girl looks on the runways.

You can do it chic and luxe like at Michael Kors -

Or you can do it cheerfully loud in surfer-bright tones like at Proenza Schouler. Can I just say how pleased I am to finally love a Proenza Schouler collection again?

My favourite thing about all these clothes is the relaxed but slim shapes, and the throwaway simplicity. The fabric and colours are rich, even complex, but they're not overpowering.

Derek Lam had some very nice things too, and I was intrigued by this bit in his press notes which I read about this morning in On The Runway about "California minimalism":

“They shared a serene sensuousness that couldn’t have been more remote from New York’s principled asperity.” - Peter Schjeldahl.

Pictures from nymag