Trust Tata Naka, the brain child of twin sisters Tamara and Natasha Surguladze to bring something quirky and interesting in terms of a good, old fashioned runway show. There's no gimmick about the look of the clothes, there's no distraction with make up, hair or presentation on the models and I think I personally prefer the clean presentation which allows for a greater emphasise on the clothes themselves of this resort collection of ready-to-wear. As usual there's a few colours and surprising patterns all thrown in together for the collection, mainly vintage basics including mustard, ebony and grey as well as muted pink floral tones.
Two or three of the dresses and skirts from the collection have this gorgeous detail which combines a sequin/ beaded look with ruffled feathers. It's a nice new reinvention of a 1920s flapper girl dress but it's a little more classy and updated with a loose and messy bun as well as bright pinky/ red lipstick. The dress shown above is my favourite piece from the entire collection for it's high scoop neck as well as shift dress structure- I'm in my element wearing a dress of that style and have something similar in plain black sequins but I quite like the beads along the neckline which look like a string of gems from afar. It's saves you having to choose something from your own collection of jewellery, but you could wear gold rings as well to really dress it up and be bombastic.
Catching on the trend of pleated maxi skirts comes a chic and very casual ensemble of a long mustard yellow skirt and a black sleeveless blouse with embroidered detail on the breast pocket. What I like about Tata Naka is that they don't indulge in Haute Couture shows and often their clothing is just really nicely constructed pieces in good prints and materials which are executed well. You don't feel intimidated by the seriousness and unrealistic standards of the models and that makes you feel that the clothes they wear are a little more accessible to you as a consumer.
The combination of sleeveless blouse, patterned pants as well as shoes are simply marvellous- this would look great if you were ever invited to a fancy game of lawn balls or a garden party. While I do like the look and everything about the outfit, I'm afraid that it wouldn't quite have the same effect and do me justice since I have dark brown hair and slightly tanned skin. It was a good call whoever decided that this outfit should be worn by this model because I really do believe that if I should ever get the blouse, the pants should also be worn with them too but one thing you must always remember when buying clothes is that they should suit the way you look as well as being a part of your style. Not just something that looks nice and pretty, no, things are a bit more complicated these days when it comes to personal presentation.
I love the beaded detail on these shorts and top- without the added sparkle the outfit would look plain and boring, something mass-produced from a store like K-Mart but with the ruffle bead detail down the middle as well as the exquisite shape of the beads from afar and the darts up the sides of the shorts it looks like something really special. You could certainly wear something like this with pride to a garden show or something to do with flowers, maybe a lunch at a nice restaurant too?
Another simple structured piece are these chic and loose hemmed pants as well as the beaded detail around the sleeves of this blouse. The pursed lips of the model make me think that something more bold in deep dark red, maybe dark plum or even black could be used to add attitude to this otherwise plain and pretty ensemble. The billowing of the pants as the model walks looks really luxurious and once again, the hair pulled up in a messy bun with some intentional fly-aways makes the look seem all the more real but pretty.
This is my second favourite dress of the collection, for it's pink floral roses as well as the unusual structure at the top half of the dress. While I've never been much of a gambler or one to take any risks at all I would love to be able to wear a dress like this to the spring races in Melbourne and the black plain sandals intensify the dark green leaves and stems of the flowers in the pattern. There's a loose and casual style about the dress and it looks as it one arm is completely covered in sleeve on the right whereas there's a single strap on the left and the structure of the dress is completely different. It's sort of a Tarzan-meets-Jane dress with draping on one shoulder and clean lines over the other but I love it all and the new and interesting structure Tata Naka have created for their Spring/ Summer 2011 collection. I personally think it's always sweet to see florals and pastel colours for Spring- it cheers me up from the gloom of Winter.
For me, this dresses epitomises chic style as well as a Grecian goddess look if you choose to wear fringed sandals and clasp a glass of champagne in your hand. If you'll scroll above, you will also see the exact same structure of this dress except in a charcoal/ marle
The piece from this Summer/Spring collection which would best integrate into my wardrobe has to be this lovely printed and patterned chiffon skirt. The length is perfect if you're wearing ankle boots and still want to show them off without hiding them under the length of you're skirt and I love the way the colour playfully streaks across the length of it. It must be quite a long skirt, sitting on the tip of the model so the hem may hang a little lower on me but I'd love to wear it with some plain blouses from American Apparel in a whole range of colours.
The second favourite dress/ skirt and camisole combination of the collection is something else with a flapper girl style- I'm not sure how I feel about the full use of feathers on the skirt but at least the colour chosen isn't too loud and bold. It reminds me a little too much of Bjork's infamous swan dress but it is tasteful and chic and the beaded detail on the neckline as well as the high cut of the neckline of the dress shows off the collarbones well but is still modest. I love the way there's an in built necklace for the garment making it look even more glorious- it's simply genius. You don't have to worry about fastening any clasps or the necklace getting lost either!
