It's not always easy to predict when a trend will stand the test of time or be over in the blink of an eye.

As the year rolls to a close, we’ve been told avocados are over and athleisure is out, but there are five fashion trends that seem to be at no risk of dying anytime soon.

According to trend-forecasting bible Highsnobiety, these six trends have made it through the brutal year that was 2016 and are set to carry on into 2017.

photo: formal dresses nz

1. All-white trainers

Worn by both hipsters and fashion editors, impractical all-white trainers have been ubiquitous this past year. 

People from all walks of life have embraced trainers over the past few years because they’re just so darn comfy - heels be gone - but the last 12 months have seen the rise and rise of the all-white sneaker.

The reason is that they go with everything. “People might get distracted by new technology and wacky colors, but don’t expect footwear brands to stop producing crisp white kicks anytime soon,” says Highsnobiety.

2. Ripped denim

Millennials and teenagers have been walking around with their knees exposed to the chilly air and baffling their grandparents for years now - “Why would you pay for jeans that look like they’ve been worn to bits?” people cried.

And yet, the slashed denim trend prevails, having successfully come over from the original grungewave movement to the mainstream.

Ripped jeans are now just as likely to be seen on a Zoella-loving teenage girl who wants to seem rebellious as a rapper.

3. Pin badges

Both men and women have been embellishing their clothes with pin badges for decades as a way to show some flair and personality.

But the past couple of years have seen a resurgence in the little badges and a playful reinvention, with pins of everything from emojis to Beyoncé and Jay Z appearing.

Although easily disposable, Highsnobiety believe it’s this throwaway nature that will ensure pin badges’ enduring appeal - “They’ll always be a fun way to customise your outfit, so people will still keep using them,” they say.

Read more at: evening dresses online

Fashion is the second largest industrial polluter on the planet.

The University of Cambridge’s Centre for Study of Existential Risk (CSER) investigates threats to humanity posed by technology and human activity. At the top of their list, climate change firmly rests as the greatest self created risk to our civilization. Fossil-fueled industry and overconsumption have danced together to create exponential global environmental changes. The top industrial contributor to climate change is intuitive to many—oil. The second is often a surprise: fashion.

Fashion is the second largest industrial polluter on the planet and among the top exploiters of people globally. It’s the second greatest contaminator of the Earth’s freshwater supply. A t-shirt made from conventional cotton requires 2,700 liters of water, or one person’s drinking water for 900 days. The apparel industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. A quarter of the chemicals produced in the world are used in textiles.

Microfibers that shed from synthetic clothing account for 85% of the man-made material found along ocean shores, threatening marine wildlife. Annually, 150 billion garments are produced and most end up in landfills. Over 60% of the world’s clothing is manufactured in developing countries. Garment workers—80% of them women aged 18-35—earn as little as $21 a month. Many support their children and families using their wages. Eleven percent of the global population of children are engaged in child labor, many in the garment industry.

MAN-SOLVING PROBLEMS

The environmental and ethical deterioration caused by fashion is astounding and begs the question: How do we fix it? The good news is that if a problem is manmade, it can be man-solved. Industry follows market trends and won’t become part of the solution unless consumers create demand for sustainability and social impact.

Consumerism must lead fashion out of planetary and ethical degradation. Conscious consumerism is the utilization of personal economics toward brands that entrench environmental and social solutions into their business models. Consumers are the fulcrum in reshaping fashion by creating market demand for businesses to pursue positive impact along with profit.

Conscious consumerism is a burgeoning trend in business and buying. In a Nielsen survey, more than half of online consumers across 60 countries say they are willing to pay more for products and services provided by companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact. However, conscious consumerism needs to flourish more rapidly to meet the pace required to fix our great planetary and humanitarian crises.

Innovations in fabrication and supply chains have created a thriving global community of social and eco-conscious fashion brands that require consumer demand in order to reshape industry. There is a new generation of emerging designers that redefine design. Brands like Indigenous use organic textiles and fair-trade supply chains to support local artisan communities. Indigenous is listed on B-Corporation’s Best of the World List that honors the most socially and environmentally impactful companies in the world.

Sustainable fashion retailers are capitalizing on the fast-growing trend in sustainability while making it easier for consumers to shop. Modavanti is a retailer that allows consumers to shop fashion brands by traits like the use of recycled materials, zero waste, fair trade and more.

REDEFINING THE VALUE OF STYLE

For these brands and retailers, beauty isn’t merely at face value. It’s sewn into every stage of the garment’s production and supply chain. Sustainable fashion is redefining the value of style and is betting on the conscious consumer to grow in scale and power. Across the world, sustainable fashion brands and retailers have created more options for consumers to vote for the future of our planet. With a simple Google search, consumers can find a slew of ethical and sustainable alternatives for their wardrobe.

Change doesn’t come overnight, but it begins with all of us leveraging our day-to-day clothing purchases to support brands that solve humanity’s struggles. Consumers raise their voices with their wallets and can meaningfully impact climate change via fashion. By expressing an interest in brands that couple design with transparency, ethics and a regard for our environment, we can safeguard our inner and outer humanity.

Read more at: evening dresses online

Kanye West’s Yeezy trainers are seemingly as elusive as tickets to The Cursed Child, and attempting to get your hands - well, feet - on a pair has resulted in heartbreak for many people time and time again.

According to West, just 40,000 pairs are released each drop, and with 75-125,000 people hoping to nab a pair, that puts your chances at about 0.25 per cent.

Every time a new batch of Yeezys is released, Twitter is awash with tales of disappointment from fans desperate for a pair of their own, only to fail, many not for the first time.

But despite this, there are people who defy the incredible odds and strut around smugly sporting their Yeezys (or so one would imagine, for they are so rare to see), so just how did they do it?

According to Riley Tengler, founder of ResellCartel.com, the most important factor is to be prepared: do your research, make a list of all the different websites selling the shoes, know the release schedule.

photo: prom dresses online

With that all done, you need to be ready to buy - it’s not enough simply to have your payment card out, have the details stored on your computer so you can simply paste them in. Make sure you’re signed into each website too, so as not to waste any time.

Another good option is to go through Adidas, with quite a lot of people seeming to be successful that way, according to Twitter. Rather than simply being first come, first served, an algorithm randomly picks people from a queue - just don’t make the error of refreshing the page.

If you really want to increase your chances, you can actually pay a service - whilst it’ll cost more than if you were to get Yeezys at their retail price, it’s less than they tend to go at resale.

According to 35-year-old Mike Dee from Queens, paying a bot is the only way to ensure success. “You can buy a bot from @njsneaks and do it on your own, or pay someone if you don't know much about computers,” Dee told Racked, after using a bot to successfully buy two pairs of Yeezys.

And for some people, it has just come down to luck and being online at the right time: after seeing a retailer tweet a link, Brandon Zaboklicki managed to buy himself a pair of the elusive trainers. His advice? "Lots of prayer, also throw a fit on social media. That might work."

Read more at: forma dresses nz

The midi skirt – by which I mean a loose skirt whose hem hits a little below the knee – arrived in my wardrobe as a seasonal visitor, granted a temporary visa by dint of being on trend. Silver, with a pleasing swishiness, it was meant to represent a short-term, casual kind of hook-up, so I was surprised when this skirt made itself indispensable and moved in on a permanent basis. Our happy relationship has borne fruit: I now have five midi skirts, including a second silver one. (Yes, I do need both, thank you. The new one is pleated, so it’s quite different.)

The midi skirt, which you would imagine to be an almost polar opposite look to black trousers, has unexpectedly edged them out of my wardrobe. Weirdly, despite its vaguely housewifely air, it ticks lots of the same boxes. Looking smart makes me feel more confident up to the point where looking smart crosses into looking dolled-up, when it makes me feel more self-conscious. The midi skirt, like a good pair of black trousers, is relaxed without being scruffy. Also, it works with flat shoes as well as heels, both stylistically (there is something pleasingly modern about a loafer or trainers with a longish skirt) and from a self-image perspective (your legs don’t need to look longer if they are hidden by your skirt). And you can walk fast in it (can’t stand anything I can’t march in), and you don’t need to wear tights unless it is really cold.

But while we skip off into the sunrise together happily of a morning, no relationship is perfect. The midi is more fashionable than the pencil skirts I used to wear to work, but lacks their crisp bossiness. A simple crew neck works with a pencil skirt, but doesn’t cut it with a midi. You need a statement neckline: a ribbed polo neck, for instance, has more drama than a crew neck. The blouse I’m wearing here is supposed to have a pussy bow, but I’ve reworked it as a necktie. Any collar works well, so you can’t go wrong with a white shirt. The midi skirt isn’t going anywhere: the rest of my wardrobe is adjusting to fit.

Read more at: ball dresses 2017

There may not be an arctic chill in the air just yet but trust us, it’s well on its way and for many of us autumn is as good a time as any to start searching for the ultimate winter coat.

When it comes to choosing ‘the one’, function often subsides in favour of style as we convince ourselves that a classic trench will suffice, but thanks to a recent spate of designer fixation with off-duty cool, winter’s must-have coat could mean we get the very best of both worlds. 

Looking for a super-comfy coat that will answer all your winter woes? Then you’ll be glad to hear that the puffer has made a surprisingly chic comeback. So what’s changed?

photo: evening dresses online

Designers are finally starting to get to grips with our casual lifestyles that demand inherently functional fashion, leading to a reimagining of items that were once considered a no-no. Lo and behold, the autumn/winter 2016 runways were awash with swaddling cover-ups that elevated the puffer from faux pas to fashion forward.

At Alexander McQueen it was a rose-colour blanket coat that stole the show while over at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld presented lux, cropped styles in frosty pale pink.

Stella McCartney had her feather-free wadding puffer jackets that came down to the knee in quilted black and burnt orange, and Balenciaga took theirs off the shoulder.

But it was Marques Almeida’s XXL floor length and accompanying shocking pink crop versions that really caught our attention; Could the puffer really be the It coat next winter? We think so.

Finally a coat that you can reach for when the temperature dips below freezing that won’t completely rescind you style credentials.

Luckily, the High Street is fully on board with a host of styles, sizes and colours available. If you’re not afraid of a little extra volume go full length for added dimension but if you’re petite, or want to maintain some feminine appeal opt for a standard or cropped length that’s cinched at the waist for a sleeker silhouette.

Read more at: formal dresses nz

By the time Taylor Swift was bobbing to Rihanna and Calvin Harris, iPhone pointed at the runway, Tommy Hilfiger’s job was done. Fashion be damned. Fourteen seconds of video of Gigi Hadid, the ruling supermodel of Ms Swift’s squad and an ambassador for the Tommy brand, and suddenly Mr Hilfiger was trending.

It was a moment. Never mind that the clothes were a recycling of Mr Hilfiger’s greatest hits — nautical motifs, oversized cable knits and a douse of the streetwear that the brand later retired in favour of exaggerated prep. Mr Hilfiger et al are if nothing less than masters of the production. For autumn winter 2016 that meant an elaborate showing on Pier 16 in New York’s South Street Seaport, bedecked with dozens of food and gaming booths, a temporary tattoo parlour, Gigi’s boxing club, Tilt-a-Whirl and Ferris wheel.

photo: formal dresses online

The MO for the fantastical set up was clear: sell more Tommy logo-emblazoned apparel, in all of its forms. Tommy, like a handful of other brands, is experimenting with see now, buy now. Like the look on Ms Hadid? With a click of a button it can be yours on the web. It is a test that PVH, Tommy’s parent company, is closely scrutinising. The company’s chief executive flagged it as an initiative worth watching on a call with Wall Street analysts less than two weeks ago.

They will not be the only ones paying attention. Tommy and stablemate Calvin Klein have been among the few brands to shrug off languid sales in the US, buoyed by results abroad and the pair’s healthy and growing wholesale business. Investors, after all, are not only reading the tea leaves from policymakers at the Federal Reserve. Will the latest Tommy venture and the Tommy by Gigi Hadid capsule collection (understandably titled TommyXGigi) offer a blueprint for US retailers struggling with heavy handed discounts and sapped consumer attention spans?

Perhaps, but it would do with better clothes. Beyond a few standouts, particularly when the house dipped into the iconography and overt logos that made it a hit with consumers in the 1990s, it was somewhat forgettable. The beige roll neck sweaters, frayed denim skirts, faux fur bombers and wool military coats have passed on this catwalk before.

Mr Hilfiger succeeded when he harked back to the high street, rap influenced looks from 20 years ago: an oversized fleece flag hoodie in the house’s iconic navy with a giant red and white box on the chest; a scuba dress made of bonded velour jersey with the same logo; and Mars red coloured flared track pants shown with a cropped track jacket in the same fabric and peekaboo Tommy boxers.

It was classic Hilfiger, reconstructed with a Vetements-like edge. Hopefully it is something that Ms Hadid can popularise with the Snapchat and Instagram sets. The 4.6m views Ms Swift’s video has already attracted show that it’s possible.

Read more at: evening dresses nz

The first few seconds of Spike Jonze’s new advert for Kenzo perfume lull you: a beautiful woman, bored in a black-tie world; just what you might expect from a glossy fashion ad. But then she sneaks out, into an empty hall – and then we’re off into the deep end of one of the most engaging ads we have had this year.

Margaret Qualley (Jill in The Leftovers) takes centre stage, a spiritual successor to Christopher Walken’s freaky dancer in Jonze’s video for Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim. Her hair’s out of place, there’s a cheeky glint in her eye and then, to the sound of Mutant Brain by Ape Drums (featuring Sam Spiegel and Assassin), she throws herself through the rest of the ad. It’s a riotous dance, choreographed by Ryan Heffington, (the man behind Sia’s Chandelier video), as she twirls, hops, punches and flies, lost in a moment that is as daft as it is cool. In short, everything you don’t expect from the sedate world of perfume ads.

It’s not the first time film directors have paired with fashion brands. Kenzo themselves worked with cult indie star Gregg Araki for last year’s Here Now. Here are four more.

For his 2013 film for Prada, Anderson cast his film favourite Jason Schwartzman as Castello Cavalcanti, a brash racing driver zipping around a tiny 1950s village in Italy. With Giada Colagrande as a sultry cafe owner who catches his eye when he crashes, it’s more short film than traditional ad – a “Prada Racing” logo on the back of Cavalcanti’s jaunty yellow jumpsuit is the only branding in the 7.45-minute run.

Natalie Portman offers the promise of a rose garden in Sofia Coppola’s chic campaign for Miss Dior’s 2013 run.

Joe Wright paired with his Pride & Prejudice and Atonement muse Keira Knightley again for Chanel’s 2011 campaign. Here she drops the period costumes in favour of a slick biker look as she races through Paris.

“This feeling came over me as I heard the pearls … falling and hitting … the jade.” Marion Cotillard stars in this 15-minute excursion into Lynch country from 2010: an unsettling fever dream filled with red curtains, spooky hotel rooms and blue roses (coming out of nice handbags).

Read more at: ball dresses nz

The wholesale fashion jewelry industry has seen a magnificent growth due to the ever increasing range of fashionable products which have flooded the market. From bracelets to chokers to necklaces, arm bands, anklets, rings, there are different jewelries made of end number of materials like bone, horn, shell, wood, plastic, resin, beads, metals, stones and glasses. An alluring aspect to fashion jewelry lies in the fact that different styles are available. Consumers are not confined to selecting from only a limited varieties. These jewelries have their unique charm and styles considering the budget and taste of different sections of people.

Fashion jewelry: Always an inexpensive alternate to gold and diamond

These days the demand for costume jewelries or fashion jewelries have risen very rapidly due to the fact that they are an inexpensive alternate to diamonds and gold. Artificial Jewelry has become a hot fashion trend. With fashion trends changing every day, gold and diamonds no doubt have their own charms but mostly kept as keepsakes or investments in jewelry boxes. The best thing about fashion jewelry is that you don't need to plan to buy such a type of jewelry. It is so inexpensive that you can actually never have enough. In a dynamic society that gives a great deal of emphasis on fashion, what defines fashion jewelry can sometimes include trendy, modern, eclectic, vintage, contemporary and anything.

Styles of fashion jewelries

It is often seen that it is the celebrities who sets the year's hottest trends. Fashion jewelry is also one such product which the celebrities try to flaunt. High-end fashion jewelry pieces are available as collectible replicas of the latest accessories celebrities have been seen wearing to weddings, parties, clubs, awards shows and even in their latest movies. The fashion jewelry realm has shown a celebrity status in direct proportion to the consumers that display their fashion tastes and style sense. Fashion jewelries in vintage and antique designs is also gaining popularity. It gives that classy and unique look. Bright and bold in color and design, they are indeed the funky accents to daily outfits.

Choose your styles

Whether your wish to follow celebrity fashion trends, or sport your own unique style or collect antique pieces, fashion jewelry offers unique pieces just right for you. Choose one that reflects your true taste and style. To coincide with your personality, fashion jewelry comprises every accessory from hair to foot starting from the hair pin to your anklet. To match every taste, a wide range of jewelry designs are available at affordable prices. When these jeweleries be it beaded earrings or glass arm lets or dangles are worn by fashion-minded people it displays a real sense of fashion.

So, the next time you want to make a fashion statement, consider adding fashion jewelry. The jewelry pieces should be over-the-top, exuberant and enjoyable to wear.

Read more at: ball dresses 2016

The award-winning actress is celebrating the arrival of her new Spring/Summer collection with Bourbon Footwear and due to demand, it marks her largest compilation yet.

More than 80 styles feature in the eighth collaboration between Amy and the Irish fashion brand, including new ranges of occasion wear and an extended holiday collection, with each style named after one of her favourite films.

Their hugely successful pairing shows no sign of slowing down, thanks in part to Amy's undeniable selling power (the company recorded record profits of €850,468 in 2015) and another string on her already jam-packed CV.

The mother-of-two is her own best spokesperson, always starring in the campaign, shot by Eilish McCormack, and nearly exclusively wearing a pair of her own designs for red carpet appearances - which unsurprisingly, sell out soon after.

Huberman launched her debut collection with the company, which is owned by Buddha Brand, the business which launched Tommy Bowe's hugely successful clothing and shoe line, in 2012. She is no stranger to design as her London-born father Harold designed tailored coats for generations of Irish women and also worked with Henry White.

Read more at: prom dresses online nz

The Oscars is the most anticipated red carpet of the year, where Hollywood's most acclaimed stars from the worlds of film, fashion and entertainment industry descend in their best attire.

Attendees and, of course, nominees, have carefully planned their outfits of the night.

From Leonardo Di Caprio to Jennifer Lawrence, Blanchett and Lady Gaga, see all the outfits from the red carpet on the Academy Awards 2016.

photo:cocktail dresses nz

Award-winning Alicia Vikander was one of the first stars to light the red carpet in a dusty yellow dress by Louis Vuitton. Jenniffer Lawrence arrived fahsionably late in a black and nude Dior lace gown Charlize Theron channelled same house in a hugging red gown. Sofia Vergara appeared in Marquesa, Eddie Redmayne in Alexander McQueen, Olivia Wilde in Maison Valentino.

Lady Gaga appeared in a white trouser/gown outfit by designer and friend and Naomi Watts wore a sequinned number by Armani Prive. Jared Leto and Brie Larson took Gucci to the red carpet.

While the night is all about celebrating the best in the movie industry, the dresses often take the centre of the stage.

From Audrey Hepburn's Givenchy gown in the fifties to Gweneth Paltrow's iconic pink Ralph Lauren dress in the nineties, to other revealing outfits like Bjork's swan dress in 2001 and Cher in 1988 some of the dresses that have made history have appeared on the red carpet of the Academy Awards. This year the world was treated to nothing daring  - just fitted, strapless gowns, black and purple.

Read more at: http://www.angelamall.co.nz/graduation-dresses.html