Or should I say, old trend that has come around again. I tried for ages to think of a pithy title but all I could come up with was cringe-inducing “All aboard!” style puns. So I spared you the pain but lied in the process. Nautical themes aren’t new, in fact I remember clearly a few years ago when sailor pants were very “on-trend” (Thank you STYD for that amazing phrase). I also remember the inevitable fall-out of this trend, creased denim crotches accented with giant novelty buttons that drew the eye straight to your thighs, which at this stage were optically illusioned* to appear 5 times wider than they actually were.

But enough about my battle with thematical trousers.

Nautical inspired clothing and accessories can, at best, be very fresh and whimsical and can at worst, involve horrible plastic necklaces bearing an anchor motif and waaaaay to many navy and white stripes.** My interpretation of this trend involves white pants (don’t even get me started), gold jewellery and a killer blow-dry -  evoking that “I just stepped off my fabulous yacht in St Tropez” mood. Thankfully fashion designers don’t answer to me (cue: daydream sequence involving an explosion of sequins and too many comic book hero styled outfits with impractical shoes).

Let’s workshop a few looks for a moment shall we? From left to right –Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring 2008, recent image stolen from style.com, sexy man from polo.com (model sold separately). I’m not so sure about that bag in the middle but I’m digging the gold espadrilles.

 

This season, the nautical trend has edged its way in to a few collections and I blame Johnny Depp (not really, I just wanted to say his name, in fact Pirates of the Caribbean probably had very little to do with anything but I sure as hell enjoyed it).
Net-A-Porter tells me that the key to nautical dressing is navy + bright white + gold accents = chic-as-hell. Come on, the navy/ white combo was a no-brainer but I see what they’re saying with the “accents” qualification to the gold aspect. I love me some tacky Gold Coast armfuls of gold bangles but perhaps not everyone subscribes to the more-is-just-enough approach to accessorising. In order to properly illustrate this wild “say no to trashy” concept, I’ll use another handy DO and DON’T photo comparison:

 
 

But putting aside overt nautical ahoy-tharr-maties style referencing, Alexi Freeman has produced a di-vaaaahn collection for S/S 08. In fact he’s even come up with a punny name for the collection, entitled “Nautical But Nice” (Damn, it was so obvious, why didn’t I go for the naughty/ nautical angle?). Putting my inadequacies aside, the collection gently nods towards the sea-faring aesthetic but without the obvious red/ white/ navy based palette. My favourite piece from the collection, which encompasses classic cuts in cotton blends and CSI style Tyvek, and gorgeous silk/ jersey draping, is typically wrong but oh-so-right. The 80s style, shoulder-emphasising, bold print with gold foil, cocktail dress extravaganza:

 


Aaah gold-foil. You can do no wrong.


* I know this isn’t a real word. I went to university and everything.

** If you want cheap thrills check out the Portmans website, they actually have some pretty cute stuff out at the moment (the trench with the red stripey lining!). Word of warning exercise restraint, remember what we talked about with the anchors and what-not…..