TOP WINTER TREND

BAROQUE FASHION

Going for Baroque: ornate clothing brings drama back to fashion.

Wallpapers, winding staircases, chandeliers and the sharp trills of a harpsichord. The ornamented drama of the Baroque and Rococo periods returns in new ways for fall 2013, rebelling against the minimal and the financially conscious to show that obvious displays of luxury are still on the cards. From gilded filagree to embroidery, plush appliques to heavy brocades, going for Baroque is one way to stand out come fall.

As with any revival this one isn’t a straight-out repeat of a particular era. Some collections draw comparisons to the early Baroque era, some later or French Rococo. Contrarily, the Renaissance even popped up as an inspiraiton. The point is it’s useless trying to pigeonhole the entire revival into one: its really a swirl of influences that collectively make up a broader, new, aesthetic. So while we can refer to fall 2012′s trend as being neo-Baroque or neo-Rococo, not every garment or collection will fit a particular term.

What we can look at instead are the common elements that come together to form the aesthetic.