Fashion confusion

The 60s look: timeless or tired?

As the high street ditches shorts and sarongs to make way for coats and cashmere sweaters, the message from planet fashion about what we should be wearing this Winter is far from clear.

This year's catwalk shows span several decades of style.

So, should we be donning the sixties mini, the twenties flapper or the eighties off -the- shoulder?

We spoke to fashion historian Bronwyn Cosgrave about the latest offerings for the autumn/winter season

It seems as though the designers and fashion editors can't agree and that high streets will be flooded with clothes from any decade between the 1920s and 1980s.

At least two designers have gone for the 60s look with Kate Moss appearing in campaigns for both Burberry and Missoni.

But whereas the former has gone for a straight 60s style - the latter is following a late 50s/60s Brigitte Bardot look.

One commentator noted in a recent article for the Guardian that several designers had put their faith in designs from the 1920s.

Dior, Chanel, Gaultier and Ungaro favoured beaded dresses and cropped jackets but the advice was not to go too over the top with pearl earrings and hat.

Bronwyn Cosgrave says her gut reaction is that designers always send out a load of trends - because fashion has to appeal to such a huge audience.

She thinks the way they've done with minis is really good - showing them with black tights which makes them easy to wear for those blessed with less than perfect pins.

"The whole Bardot thing is in response to Missoni's latest ad campaign which has Kate Moss styled like Bardot -very effective as her look appeals to the nation of teens, twenty and thirtysomethings." says Cosgrave.

Kate Moss is a major trend setter, but fashion journalists have their own agenda and they want to tell women what to wear.

Many of the volume designers react to the market by switching production from one range to another part way through a season.

So if you're keen to get the right look, it might be worth waiting before you rush out and buy a new wardrobe only to find it's instantly out of date - by several decades.