Angelina Jolie caused a stir on the Oscars' red carpet by wearing a black velvet gown by Atelier Versace with a thigh-high split at the front, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.
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| Balmain and Jean Paul Gaultier (photos: vogue.it) |
Velvet is one of next season's fashion trends, emerging on different catwalk shows in a wide range of shapes. Cara Delevingne, who is set to appear in this summer's new film version of Anna Karenina, ended Burberry Prorsum catwalk show with a sumptuous quilted purple velvet coat.
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| Burberry Prorsum and Versace (photos: vogue.it) |
My selection also includes designers who chose to dress the woman in velvet head-to-toe in bold colours, from bright red by Ralph Lauren to electric blue by Vionnet. If you prefer to wear trousers this is a good option, you can always dress it down to work with a black jumper.
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| Ralph Lauren and Vionnet (photos: vogue.it) |
For everyday life, you can also wear a velvet pencil skirt as seen in both Versace and Burberry Prorsum but I'm sure high street labels will be producing them at affordable prices although not with the same level of quality and creative flair.
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| Burberry Prorsum and Versace (photos: vogue.it) |
I also have to refer to beautiful long velvet black dresses. Tomas Maier, the German designer who is the Creative Director for Bottega Veneta, has created a particularly elegant dress with a peplum resembling flower petals.
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| Alberta Ferretti and Bottega Veneta (photos: vogue.it) |
In New York, the velvet dress featured in Jason Wu and Diane Von Furstenberg catwalk shows but in a more practical knee-length version. You can go for the oriental inspired Jason Wu dress or the 20s look presented by Diane Von Furstenberg.
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| Jason Wu and Diane Von Furstenberg (photos: vogue.it) |
I leave you with Vivienne Westwood red label. This graceful black velvet dress is undoubtedly timeless and it works as a white canvas, you can dress it up or down according to your choice of accessories.
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| Vivienne Westwood red label (photo: vogue.it) |
Other related blog posts:
Designs of the Year 2012
British Design Explosion
Dresses for the Oscars