Fashion-industry wisdom holds that what we see on the runways this year will be on the needles in a couple of years, and what’s on retail hangers this year will be on our needles even sooner. I took a pictorial tour of the fashion site Polyvore to get a sampling of this year’s retail trends.
- As with handknitting, gradients are huge! Since we dye gradients, that’s fun to see. Some appear to be different skeins, some appear dip-dyed on the garment, and some fade softly like our cakes do.
- Handkerchief, shark bite, shirttail, asymmetrical and mermaid tail hems are all definitely in vogue.I find these styles flattering to a lot of figures, so that’s nice to see.
- Shawls, capes, ponchos and fringe are making a comeback. I wonder if we’ll see a return to the poncho handknititng craze of the mid-2000s?
- Chunky yarns are huge right now (get it?) on the runways and in stores. I saw a lot of chunky combined with a cropped style to offset the yarn’s thickness. Chunky hats, cowls and scarves seem to be popular with handknitters this winter…
- Both traditional-looking colorwork and cheeky takeoffs on the traditional seem to be making a splash. Good to know that our heirloom yoke sweaters won’t be going out of style!
It’s fun to see what stores are making with sweaters…what will we do?
Happy knitting,
Jaala