2014modetrends

Why brights are big this season - and how to wear them

(Image:bridesmaid dresses)

I should have been concentrating on my downward dog, but last week at yoga, I was distracted by the eye-popping manicures and pedicures of my sister classmates. They’d obviously all received the national fashion memo: brights (in case you didn’t receive it . . .) are in.

Almost to a woman, they were sporting vibrant orange and coral fingernails and toenails. These aren’t hipsters from Hoxton or art students from Brighton, but my neighbours in Weybridge, Surrey, who range from their late Thirties to Sixties. When the Home Counties are trumpeting a trend so uniformly, it’s a sure sign it has arrived.

Fingernails are just the tip of it. Sunshine colours are being embraced from high street to high fashion – and in more elevated circles than that, as no less a distinguished figure than the Queen demonstrated at the D-Day memorial in Normandy on Friday, wearing a coat in a dazzling citrus green.

At Marks & Spencer, the buying team is feeling pleased that it tipped “paintbox” as one of its key trends for summer 2014, because its bright-coloured pieces are performing beyond expectation. Yellow, a colour previously shunned by shoppers, is the big winner this year, says Jo Hales, its head of womenswear buying. “Corals and hot pinks are also selling exceptionally well, and floral prints in bold, optimistic colours are clearly resonating with our customers.”

Men want in on the brights trend, too: the best-selling M&S shorts are pink chinos. At John Lewis, sales of brightly coloured pieces are performing better than last year, says Jo Bennett, the store’s womenswear buyer. Meanwhile, at Whistles, it’s all about “nectar” – in particular, says its head of press, Virginia Norris, a cut-away dress that has sold incredibly well: “Even though it’s a bright, it complements pale skin tones.” Jade and minty-green bags and shoes are also flying.Also read here:vintage prom dresses uk