Expert Summer-Fashion Advice

CEBU, Philippines - Summer is a time to look fashionable and trendy. But this is not always easy to achieve.  Those who want to keep up with the fashion trend need help from fashion experts, as well as access to the right fashion pieces.

The internet fashion blogs are good sources of useful fashion ideas. Of course, the traditional fashion magazines remain ever reliable in giving sensible fashion advice. More conveniently, the legitimate fashion stores beckon both the fashion-challenged and the picky fashion buffs.

A good example to cite is the Spring/Summer 2014 collections at Topshop and Topman Cebu, both located at Ayala Center Cebu. During the launching of the collections recently, two of Manila's fashion bloggers Lissa Kahayon and David Guison shared practical fashion tips.

For the ladies, Kahayon revealed that pastel-colored wears are going to remain trendy this summer. And ladies can have these pieces either as formal or casual wear; it depends on what the pieces are paired with. Topshop has two collections for the season: Skate Away and Kiss Me Margate.

Skate Away is a skate-inspired story that provides a fresh antidote to all the hi-tech sports stories from previous seasons, creating a casual look that is in line with next summers' boyish slouch aesthetic.  Kiss Me Margate, on the other hand, is a celebration of seaside days gone by, of endless summers and quirky picture postcards, a mood epitomized by Tracey Emin's infamous artwork "For a dirty weekend come to Margate." A true girly story, offset with a beatnik/tomboyish undertone.

On the other hand, Guison bared that bold colors are what's going to top the fashion trends for the gentlemen this summer. True enough, Topman's summer collection presents the latest monochromatic pieces punctuated with bold graphic prints and illuminating brights. (FREEMAN)