Going GaGa, Riding with Handlebars and The Negative Consequences of Chuck Bass

It seems like since 2006 style has become a relevant term. The catwalks and highstreets have been flooded with a plurality of looks and trends bucking back and forth faster than a jive bunny (note: much like a duracell bunny but faster, with lesser endurance). Now it seems like there's few places left to capture the mainstream.

But then, just when you think it's all been done and re-done there's always something around the corner. As long as we never go back to full nineties get-up. Please, lets never look back...

So it got me thinking, what's next? As I mentioned in my last blog in relation to new crush Frederick Blood-Royale, the handlebar moustache has made a reappearance. But this may be too high-maintenence for most XY civilians. The Killers and Jason Lee ('My Name Is Earl') have been rocking a sort of halfway house, but never quite managed the full waxed tips. As a girl, I hate the feel of a scratchy, tickly facial hair and so am hoping this doesn't catch on.

Like most fashion seekers, after getting heavily into Gossip Girl over the festive period (I know, I'm late!), I've been looking to the characters of this Cruel Intentions clone for upcoming trends. Like The O.C. before it, it's definitely a major player in emerging trends over its next couple of seasons ('till it inevitably gets canned). Chuck Bass' bow-tie is the accessory-du-jour I can't stop staring at with utter trepidation.

This piece of unsightly frippery manages to render the devastatingly sexy Chuck Bass into a creepy lost Chuckle Brother. It's so distracting I can barely concentrate on the boy's devilish eyebrows anymore. You'll also see the pastel colouring of this waspish blazer. With the economy hitting the fan like the proverbial, it's unlikely we'll be looking to these debutantes for antire ensembles but pastels could defintiely make a comeback in the spring after a roll of seasons featuring loud, proud, bold blocks. Muted colours may reflect our current situation, but I hope the colour doesn't fade for long.

As for the girls, I'm still hoping bustles and petticoats will make a major comeback. Smaller handbags, perhaps some 1930's hemlines sitting modestly between the knee and ankle (after all, we're looking back to Depression era in other areas, only fair fashion gets a look-in too). Faux fur in replacement of real fur seems to have made a splash over the past 18 months in the UK but while shopping in The Big Apple over Christmas I saw many a lady in OTT fur overcoats - will we see this here? I hope not, slightly too gaudy for my liking (and it's hard enough to a spot on the tube as it is without a fashionista in fox furs smothering your face too!)

Of course, Lady GaGa is going to have a HA-UGE impression on fashion this year, with Christina Aguilera already having been accused of stealing GaGa's look back in October. With all the hype, there's bound to be an epic backlash coming up for this Lady but I love her style and must admit that her album The Fame is a perfect guily pleasure for a year of frugality.