Though the fickle winds of winter still blow through North Texas, we at DFW Style Daily are looking ahead. Today, we premier our S/S 2014 Trending series with the first of ten key fashion trends for the season to come. Take note, and you’ll be ahead of the style curve come spring.  

Our first story brings a breath of fresh air in a downtrodden post-holiday economy. Sweet, candy-coated pastels evoke happiness and tranquility, as well as progressive thinking. These trending shades reflect our New Year wishes for change.  

  When we speak of pastel colors throughout fashion history, no era defines this palette so memorably as France in the early 18th century. A significant shift in culture occurred at the time, known as the Enlightenment, which valued reason over authority. Opulence was in the soil, but it wore an innocent mask of pale, petit fours colors with contrasting aspects. We recall, of course, Marie Antoinette, the ill-fated Queen of Versailles. Subsequently, this fanciful fashion movement ended, for the most part, with the French Revolution. Many aspects, however, echoed for decades, and even centuries, to come.  

  Fast forward to the States in the roaring 1920’s, and we again note a significant resurgence of the candy-coated craze. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, The Great Gatsby, painted the picture of another color-splashed era of fashionable beauties and dapper gents. Translated from page to screen in 1974, American designer Ralph Lauren’s pastel costumes for Jack Clayton’s film of the same title brought the look to life. The psychology behind candy tones belies the aforementioned tumultuous times. They generate calm and peace within. As brighter and primary colors elevate our energy level, pastels evoke emotions of stillness and serenity. Specifically, we predict that pink will be the forerunner in this trend, but no matter the flavor, designers are crushing on candy.    

Candy Colors On The Runway

        DKNY                               Burberry Prorsum                               J. Mendel                             Oscar de la Renta                           Pamella Roland                             Paul Smith                               Peter Pilotto                                

Shop The Trend

      Pearl Southern Couture, Calloway Dress ($115)                             Victoria’s Secret, Cut-Out Dress ($60)                           Enlightenment image via HistoryofEuropeanFashion.wordpress.com. The Great Gatsby still via IMDB.com. All runway and product image via individual designers. Additional Research by Natalie Starnes.