Safari Sophistication

In the 2009 spring/summer we saw subtle hints of the 80s English country and safari fashions sprinkled into various runway collections.  This style of sportswear has reoccurred in all seasonal collections since then, its echos rippling across  with the "country" fashion trend popularised by Ralph Lauren in the 80s. Country and safari are the grandparents of the American prep style, so it is a natural progression that the more current runways have also served us with a generous serve of American prep, as this was the next  logical step. Another relative belonging to this style of fashion is the military/utilitarian style, which is  also thriving in current street-wear. The combination of all these styles has resulted in an abundance of  linen, seersucker, gigham, canvas, tweeds, bouclé, gabardine, corduroy, suede, knee and thigh high boots,  pockets upon pockets, messenger bags and other across the shoulder bags,  more neutral shades than the Sahara desert, wavy or frizzy tied-back hair with bushy brows and the mono/duo-lid shaded eyes. Casual, presentable elegance with traditional and conservative  fundamentals.  It's a youthful style that demands a clean, tidy face, disciplined embellishments, no excessive shine, and  plenty of neutrals.  It's all about comfort and utility while still remaining presentable in non-formal social setting. 

These fashion trends have forced a drastic restyling of the 90s  and 00s makeup fashions.  Namely, lots of natural and naked eyelid, dark, unkempt brows, velvety skins, matte and deep lips, lack of brow bone highlighting,  broad and dark upper eyelid shading which has increased spatially to hit just under, or colliding directly into the brows, and natural matte wahes of eyeshadow. A number of these very trends are being worn by the model on the left where one would be forgiven in thinking that this is shot taken back in the mid 80s.

The signature marks that distinguishes this style of eye makeup are the lack of brow bone highlighting, and the use of one or two shadows only. The shadows tend to belong to the neutral colour family, of a matte texture, and applied softly.  Eyeshadow colours  utilised are khaki, peach, taupe, tawny, camel, amber and tan. A wash of colour is applied to the entire eyelid melding into, and framed by barely groomed, thick  brows, and natural looking eyelashes lined softly mostly to enhance the lashes rather than to restyle or enhance the eye shape. A look which sultry-fies the eyes with a subtle hint of depth, while retaining an essence of purity due to its uncomplicated application and appearance. Youthful, elegant and clean.

This eye makeup direction has steadily appeared in fashion magazines, mostly showcased on thick brow models. The 2009  summer/spring runways steered towards a mono-eyeshadow of camels and sands, but the avant-guarde spin on this style was marked by a bright yellow shadow using a vibrant matte lipstick to counteract its unnatural brilliance,  but also to add more facial balance. Although I often shy away from  brightly coloured eyeshadow, I have to admit that the yellow and red combination made me melt at my knees - it's not easy to achieve an overly trendy look that manages to retain a chic integrity. Currently, the yellow is being  used even  now after  its overuse  during spring and summer  2009  by catwalks, glossies and even ads (French  Connection, Guess, Bebe, Marc Jacob, etc).  To freshen this overexposed look,  makeup artists have started to substitute the yellow eyeshadow with corals, roses and peaches.

In the autumn/winter 2009 runways makeup artists became  so accustomed to the mono-lid trend  they took it a step further  by utilising richer and deeper colours such as copper, bronze and moth brown. Any possibility of a vamp look, which this style of makeup is predisposed to as soon as the colour is deepened,  is eliminated by selecting shimmery textures and avoiding shades beyond a medium intensity.  Eyebrows tended to be darkened a maximum of one shade darker than the hair colour, and eye lining  was kept to a minimum, using richly pigmented shadows (over liquids) for  a softer finish due  its blending ability so to enhance the depth of the eyelashes only.

At present the nude eye shadow in neutral shades is considered one of the major trends for spring/summer 2010. The models for Chanel's last spring/summer 2010 collection sported just such a look as seen on the right. The models' eyes were made up with just two matte colours with no brow bone highlighting and a light wash of  mascara and soft, well blended lining.  The light mascara and natural eye definition is a foreseeable future trend for 2011.