I have been listening to a lot of Lana del Rey lately. And it's not just because she has a deeply soulful voice that has captured the world. Nope. It's more because she has a bag named after her. If you haven't heard Mulberry has named a bag "Lana" after the songstress who has rocketed to fame and appears on the cover of the current issue of Vogue (aka the Bible). It seems a little quick for all this to happen. She's only had one album and released only two songs so far. A little reminiscent of the Gaga some might say. But her influence, as you can tell, is great. Her style takes you back in time to the sixties when pretty much anything went and her quirky-cool persona is making her the most watched girlie on the planet.
So indirectly giving kudos to her for the style revolution that is currently underway, I wanted to check out how her look is filtering down from the FROW at Mulberry to the high street. Is it wearable? Can we interpret it through this season's trends or are we looking to create new ones?
Lana – the all American girl
We may have to thank LDR for the summer super trend of cut off blouses, bare mid rifs and denim shorts. This retro casual look is everywhere at the moment from Forever 21 to The Outnet. The look is for the brave given that there is a lot of skin on show, but if you are willing to be trendy and give this a try, you can put together the look fairly easily and not expensive either (your wallet likes me already).
Shirt, Penneys
The denim short look may not work, just yet, but to keep you going try this look out with a pair of printed jeans which I think will be this season's must have. There is a profusion of coloured denim from red to green to neons but the floral prints are the statement. They maintain the level of fun we need this season and Lana has rocked this look a few times now.
Floral trousers, New Look
Lana – The Vogue Cover Girl
If you buy anything this season and you would like my expert advice, get a dress! Spring/Summer is girlie. Think Zooey Deschanel meets Audrey Hepburn (gosh I'd love to be there for that meeting). The essence of Lana's Vogue cover is soft and pretty. To get this look down, I think lace is a key fabric. Lace has substance and adds a nice texture to fabrics synonymous with the Summer. And here is where you can experiment with candy colours too. LDR loves these colours and if you look at images of her from 2012, the soft hues dominate, with the exception of the Brits dress which I'll get to shortly! If you want to tone down the girliness of a dress, think about adding a colour, aka Karl Lagerfeld, in pearl or an embroidered style. These are so easy to come by on the high street although River Island is THE place for them right now.
Next lace dress
You can make this look extra-Lana by wearing with ankle socks (I like lace ones) and platform peep toe shoes!
Lana – suited and booted
We love a little shirt here at styleisle HQ. In fact, styleisle herself has a borderline fetish with them. Floral, laser effected print, tie-dyed and the list goes wrong. But despite the popularity of the print thanks to Erdem and Mary Katrantzou (if you haven't heard of her, Google her!), Lana has brought back the white shirt. With her long flowing locks, this look is a total juxtaposition. She mixes the softness of her features with structured. Feminine versus masculine vicariously through channelled through her style. Shirts are available in their abundance right now, but remember a couple of things. The look to emanate is one which echoes Lana's silhouette so look for a shirt with shape that cinches you in at the waist and creates a really sexy curve. Also, test the colour for sturdiness. This may sound like you are testing out shelves or something but collars can collapse when washed so the stronger the collar the less likely it is to become misshapen by the washing machine.
Black and white shirt, Penneys
And lastly Lana – Red carpet Wowza
Lana is clearly doing something right when she won a Brit award. Her voice is sensational so credit where credit is due and all that. Her red carpet look is as I say in the title – Red. Now this look is very glam but it can be made look a little casual by wearing a maxi dress. SO whether you are sunning yourself somewhere hot this year or you want to wear out shopping with a nice leather jacket, red is a colour to embrace this season.
So you may have guest I have a little style crush but in my own defence, it's totally justified given this lady's style track record thus far. I'm sure I'll move onto someone else by Autumn/Winter but for now, I'll just love Lana.
