Kitty Tebbetts

"The leotard. American Apparel is a shop full of bold colors, stretchable material, comfortable-yet-sexy casuals — it is the store that has hit my No. 1. It's there for the young raver who wants bold colors but wears sunglasses at night; indie chicks attempting heroin chic and looking for the tightest outfit to show off their new skeleton figure; and for any woman, actually, who wants to feel sexy but is sick of those cheap-and-easy casuals that don't do anything for their figure. "Body con" is pure women. The beauty of body con is that it can act as a blank canvas for accessories: anything from a waist belt, brightly colored bag, or big bangles. It allows you to make a feature out of these things in a way that no other trend ever has. Body con makes you feel better looking, be it cute casuals, officewear, or something for the morning workout.  When I feel good, I tend to experiment with accessories and use them more as a focal point for my outfits, and body con makes this easy for me. The best news I have received recently is that Vogue is talking about featuring a new wool body con, which will be filling store shelves this autumn/winter. After London fashion week, I was excited to see the progression of body con in the spring/summer collections. With yet another fall/winter fashion week come and gone, we see the return of big knit, wool lux — whatever you want to call it — and it is the combination of thick knit and the way some designers have decided to partner it with the body con that I am really excited about. Designers like SteveJ&Yonip and Bora Aksu in particular are really going to town with these contrasting textures. Don't ask me why, but there is something about the thin material (like a second skin) of a leotard, drenched in a creamy, thick-knit cardy with an added "ouch" of my favorite Claire Tough bangles. That, for me, is just the way fashion should be — I simply cannot get enough of it!"