Fashion Week Favourites with Kate Gaskin - Top 5 Trends and Fashion Week Saviours

What a fun, fashion filled week we have had with Kate Gaskin! Thank you SO MUCH to Kate for guiding us through the cream of the crop from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, we have loved reading her insights! You can find Kate at Vivien's Creative where she works as a stylist and she also has her own fantastic blog, The Memento. Thanks again Kate!! -Jenny x

Cool kids on the street - Uber-blogger Susie Bubble, Milliner Richard Nylon, Sarah-Jane Clarke from Sass and Bide and Ruby Rose

Well we made it- the fifth and final day of fashion week! Instead of a daily review I thought I'd do a round-up of the week- my top five trends, top five saviours and a couple of street style snaps....

Top Five Trends as seen during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2012

Clockwise from top left - double prints at Bec and Bridge, fantastic nails at Jenny Kee, Alice McCall's Peplum skirt and short shorts at Ellery

1. Prints- floral, geometric, stripes etc etc. and usually all mixed into the one outfit- the more the merrier! 'Double floral' is also big (matching floral jacket/blouse and pant/skirt combos- ie 'full floral suit' - not to be mistaken with double denim!)

2. Decorated nails- from the comic book inspired stars and stripes at Romance Was Born to the modern minimal black tipped manicure at Carl Kapp just about every collection had some detailing on the nails. Good news is us mere mortals can easily achieve a similar look with a huge array of stick on foil and acrylic nails available everywhere this season. Brands like Sally Hansen and Minx Nails carry a wide variety of prints and colours in both stick on and heat transfer nails that are definitely worth checking out to get the look.

3. Ladylike dresses- think tea dresses and day dresses in pretty silks and summer weight cottons- perfect for a spring picnic or a day out around town.

4. Short shorts and mini skirts- yep, they're back! Now considering not everyone has a derriere like that of Kylie Minogue circa the 'Spinning Around' film clip, luckily there are also slightly longer lengths coming through like the mid calf and just-below-the-knee hemlines. In contrast, and thank goodness, maxi skirts and dresses are also still quite strong across a lot of the collections.

5. Peplums- (the flared ruffle attached to the waistline of a dress or jacket). From mini shorts at Ellery to tailored jackets at Maticevski, peplums were featured quite heavily on the runways this year. Fortunately the peplum is actually really flattering for almost all figures so I'm tipping it'll be quite popular this season.

Top Five Saviours as seen during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2012

Clockwise from top left - Hello! San Pellegrino 'drink boys', Meg Gray and her fab pink hair, my dear pal Emily doing the tourist thang on Sydney Harbour and Alice Euphemia's wonderful Victoria Gordon

1. The endless supply of sugar hits in the form of fizzy drinks from the infamous San Pellegrino 'drinks boys'

2. Goodies from the gift bags- boxes of chocolates, Party Feet packs, a never-ending supply of nail polishes, candles, upper lip waxing kits (???!!), and my favourite from one of the shows- a large bottle of premium Vodka (now that's more like it!).

3. Meg Gray's amazing wardrobe and signature flaming pink locks- a refreshing reminder not to take the whole fashion thing too seriously!

4. Familiar friendly faces like those of Jamie Wdziekonski (of 'Oh Jamie' blog fame), the gorgeous Victoria Gordon from Alice Euphemia, Geraldine Frater of Event Gallery and my colleague/co-conspirator/partner-in-crime Emily Ward.

5. Our local dining haunts- amazing falafel wraps and cherry cookies from The Fine Food Store at The Rocks, and the perfect end to a long day- a 'Rose Miss Wednesday' cocktail (even the name is fabulous!) from Sake restaurant

Well that's it from me! I hope you enjoyed my brief round-ups of fashion week and thank you so much for having me Design Files!!