Uni Trend Report - Dressed For Chess

Have you noticed more people walking around in checks that before? Yep, so have I! So for university when we were given the assignment to write a trend report I couldn't write quick enough. I already had my ideas and took to Polyvore to make sets to visual the trend for both high street and designer pieces but also celebrities that had been spotted wearing them.

Here's the final report.

This year’s fashion shows were heavily inspired by the 60s and with the new series of Mad Men filled with prints and styles from the era just shows we can’t get enough. Fashion designers have not been left short of inspiration with graphic prints spreading from not only clothing but to bags, shoes and accessories.

Spring’s catwalks saw a mass of those iconic squares originally seen on the chessboard. Marc Jacobs’ designs for French fashion house, Louis Vuitton, saw the biggest impact with the patchwork pattern, however he stayed away from the stereotypical monochrome colour scheme and used a palette of greens, bronzes and yellows instead.

Models paraded down the catwalk wearing a mix of checks in all different sizes and colours. The most popular colour was a bronzy-brown paired with a subtle shade of off-white and also a pea green and white combination.

Alexandre Hervovitch’s model wore a top and skirt both with checks, one pattern bigger than the other for contrast and a big impact. All the accessories and jewellery on her catwalk was kept to a minimum to avoid distraction. Marni’s pattern was slightly different, instead of typical checks; she used a monochrome pattern of lines and squares to create a unique style. Sportmax created a similar style print to Marni, their dresses were sheer and layered over an opaque slip.

It didn’t take long for celebrities to pick up on the trend: stars such as Kirsten Dunst and Miranda Kerr wore dresses in the pattern. Miroslava Duma even wore a matching coat over the top of her mini dress. Kristen Stewart and Jessica Alba played safe by wearing the classic black and white checks: Jessica in a floor length gown and Kristen in a playsuit with jumbo-sized squares.

Daisy Lowe was also seen wearing the pattern top to bottom in a pair of skinny trousers and a matching jacket, only for the brave and daring.

Luckily, the high street are quick to meet the needs of those with a lower clothing budget: they’ve not disappointed with a variety of garments each decorated with the squares. There is a selection of sizes and colours: Topshop have a lovely cami with a pastel yellow and white pattern while Dorothy Perkins have a shift dressed stretched with the pattern to form slim rectangles, perfect to elongate the body by illusion.

BooHoo also has a sweetheart mini dress with the checked pattern in red and black, something different to the rest of the high street. Both Asos and Missguided have the pattern on midi dresses, two trends in one!

To wear the trend it’s best to let the checked piece stand out by muting the rest of your outfit: if your dress is sporting the pattern then it is best to pair it with shoes, a bag and a jacket that matches the colour scheme.

This trend checks all the boxes.

What do you think of checkered clothing and accessories? Are you tempted?