For the most part I try to avoid trends at all costs, as they often are driven by celebrity culture, not creativity or art, and they can be short-lived, leaving you with clothing you don’t understand or want. Every now and then, however, a trend comes along that just speaks to you, maybe it reminds you of your past (hello every 90’s trend) or even your mother/grandmothers time, or maybe it just fits in nicely with your personal style preferences. These occasions are a great opportunity to welcome a new piece of clothing into your wardrobe, as well as being a part of the current fashion conversation.

Ahead of Valentine’s Day I can see a lot of people pushing ‘romantic’ clothing; girly, floral and flouncy. For me, a bolder, more masculine dresser, this often annoys me as it’s the one-sided story of what romantic clothing can look like. I like to draw date night outfit inspiration from two sources; the French and the New York woman. These women have nailed dressing with power and femininity like no others, showing off both their masculine and feminine styles simultaneously. I try to channel this inspiration into my everyday style with monochrome outfits, sexy necklines and attempts at effortless layering. 

While most people probably think of date nights as a chance to wear dresses or skirts, it can also be a great time to try out some of the more subtle-sexy looks. With this in mind, I started looking at current trends that spoke to my personal style preferences and would be an interesting choice for a date night. Trawling through fashion magazines and trend prediction websites led me to the conclusion that these are currently the hottest trends around:

·    Turtleneck sweaters 

·     Leather blazers

·     90’s shoulder bags 

Next, I got to work on finding vegan alternatives for these items, and brands that focussed on sustainability and ethical production methods. All of these items can be found second hand, on Depop or in vintage stores, but if you’re looking to buy them brand new, here are some sources I found…

Turtleneck ‘Marylou’ top from People Tree

People Tree are a British fashion brand dedicated to using organic materials and ensuring fair wages for everyone involved in their business. Usually, these styles of tops are in jumpers or sweaters and are often made from wool or even cashmere. Look for alternative sustainable materials like organic cotton, bamboo or hemp. You can either go big with a chunky knit style or sexier with a skin-tight version. Pair with an oversized blazer or layer under a dress or tunic. 

Faux leather ‘Jaden’ blazer from Weekday

This brand is rated ‘it’s a start’ on Good On You, basically 3 out of 5. Owned by H+M, these guys are probably classed as fast fashion so decide for yourself if you want to support them. But, they are making efforts to become more sustainable, and they have a dedicated page listing all their policies on animal welfare, labour, CO2, etc. Finding this style of blazer in vintage stores is easy enough, but they all seemed to be made with cow’s leather. You may get lucky with charity shops or Depop (that’s where mines from), but this one from Weekday was the best option from the most sustainable online retailer – let me know if you can find a faux leather better option! These work great thrown over plain white tops or camisoles. 

Black baguette ‘Eva’ shoulder bag from JW Pei

This is a brand specialising in vegan leather accessories that stay up-to-date and aspirational. This style of bag can be cute on dates and also carry deceptively large amounts of provisions – perfect for taking home leftovers from your meal (haha you can tell I’m not a ‘date’ type of girl). These bags are perfect for styling up a casual jeans and t-shirt outfit, especially with some chunky trainers. Or go more sophisticated and add it to a trench coat or duster jacket.

These trends really spoke to me and I have a feeling they have a lot more staying power than most fair-weather trends, I reckon they’re here to stay. The combination of all three turns out to work really well too as I recently discovered. Pictured here is a Depop faux leather blazer, a turtleneck I bought second hand, and the Aries bag from Collection & Co.