trendz of the Oh Nines

THE international collections came to an end last night after more than five weeks of back-to-back shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris. As the fashion pack make their way home to unload their wardrobes to the drycleaners, reconcile with neglected men and children, and generally get back into the swing of normal life, we have assessed the hundreds of looks from each city to bring you the strongest trends for next season.

First up, the failsafe options:

• Buy a hat (or a head scarf or a hair accessory of some description - the ponytail tubes at Louis Vuitton are a good option);
• Buy a really, really fabulous pair of heels (you need asking twice?);
• Buy at least one single-shouldered dress (one for evening and one for summer daytime flirting would be best);
• Buy something gold;
• Plan plenty of monochrome outfits;
• Put all your blues together, and all your greens, and practice wearing them layered up, all at once;
• If you're keen to invest in one of the bags of the season, go for a long strapped one slung across your body or clutch a teeny weeny one in your palm (as at Chanel and Louis Vuitton), or, for the real deal (and bank) breaker, check out the scrunchy, hand-held ones at Prada, Miu Miu and Louis Vuitton;
• Plus, if you're feeling brave and you really want to look the spring/summer 2009 part, be the first to master Stefano Pilati's Yves Saint Laurent baggy nappy pants. We dare you.

All too specific? If you want to be on trend but less obvious about it, we've put together this A to Z of the season. If we saw something twice or more, we called it a trend and recorded its sources here - this is the list to learn if you're going to drop the right fashion names next season:

A

Asymmetric (single-shouldered dresses, toga styles, one-legged all-in-ones, skirts that don't know whether to be long or short) - Gucci, Erin Fetherston, Celine, Lanvin, Nicole Farhi, Aquascutum, Ashley Isham, Bottega Veneta, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, La Perla, Gucci, Sophia Kokosalaki, YSL, Karl Lagerfeld, Yohji Yamamoto, Amanda Wakeley, Balenciaga, Valentino - everybody, actually.

B

Ballerinas (lace, ribbons and ruffled princess dresses) - Charles Anastase, Giambattista Valli, Nina Ricci, John Rocha, Jonathan Saunders, Pollini, Sonia Rykiel, Sue Stemp, Erdem, Bora Aksu.

Blazers (mannish, or with cropped sleeves) - a regular spot throughout all four cities, most notably at Paul Smith, Sinha-Stanic, Nathan Jenden, Jil Sander, Bottega Veneta.

Bows - Moschino, Marni, Dolce & Gabbana, Carolina Herrera, Yves Saint Laurent, Chloe, Lanvin.

Broderie Anglais - Collette Dinnigan, Charles Anastase, Oscar de la Renta, Roberto Cavalli, La Perla, Prada... In fact, almost everybody put it somewhere.

C

Clustered embellishments (pile them up anywhere you like) - Alberta Ferretti, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, Dries Van Noten.

Colours - neon bright or very muted variations of nude.

Colour blocking - Oscar, Cynthia Rowley, Lanvin, Richard Nicoll, La Perla, Moschino.

Corsages - Roksanda Ilincic, Christian Lacroix, Marchesa, Alberta Ferretti, Jaeger, Modernist.

Cropped, blousy trousers - Ralph Lauren, Vivienne Westwood Red Label, Marc Jacobs - everywhere, in fact. YSL's were transparent.

Crumpled fabrics - Prada, Burberry, Bottega Veneta, Lanvin.

Cut-outs - Henry Holland, Roberto Cavalli, Jil Sander, La Perla, Prada. Again, these are a safe bet - they were everywhere.

D

Degrade - gorgeous at Burberry, Roberto Cavalli and Richard Nicoll also played with it.

DIY - Junya Watanabe, Vivienne Westwood.

Dots - Albino, Pollini, Loewe, Fendi, Dries Van Noten, Wunderkind, Giles, House of Holland, Dolce & Gabbana.

E

Earrings (huge ones) - Zac Posen, Jil Sander, Giles, Stella McCartney, Louis Vuitton.

Eighties - Moschino, Nathan Jenden, TopShop Unique, Balmain, Danielle Scutt, Giles, Stella McCartney, Julien Macdonald, Rock and Republic, Miss Sixty, Gucci, Sonia Rykiel.

F

Feathers - Sonia Rykiel, Giles, DVF, L'Wren Scott, Celine, Louis Vuitton.

Fringing - Jil Sander, Alberta Ferretti, Ashish, Emma Cook, Balenciaga, Kris Van Assche, Jasper Conran, Julien Macdonald, Elie Saab, Alexander McQueen, Jil Sander, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, Alberta Ferretti.

Futurism - Gianfranco Ferre, Calvin Klein, Balenciaga, Bruno Pieters, Cynthia Rowley, Nathen Jenden, Gareth Pugh, Balmain, Comme des Garcons, Costume National, Emilio Pucci.

G

Gold - Dior, Martin Margiela, Vivienne Westwood, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Bottega Veneta, Giorgio Armani, Missoni, Alberta Ferretti, Albino, Burberry, Missoni, Ralph Lauren, Vivienne Westwood Red Label, Dries Van Noten.

H

Harem pants - Ralph Lauren, Aquilano e Rimondo, DKNY, Jeremy Laing, Yves Saint Laurent.

Head gear - everywhere (hats; headscarves; pony tail tubes at Louis Vuitton).

Homemade - Prada, Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood, Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui.

I

Intricate tailoring - did you see the chiffon at Christopher Kane? Those dresses will be among next season's most phenomenally expensive.

J

Jade green - Gucci, Moschino, Issa, Balmain.

Jumpsuits and rompers - Marc by Marc Jacobs, Derek Lam, Marios Schwab, Alice Temperley, Stella McCartney, DKNY, Halston, Derek Lam, Proenza Schouler, Phillip Lim, Moschino, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Vivienne Westwood, Ann Demeulemeester, Bottega Veneta, Betty Jackson, Karl Lagerfeld.

K

Killer heels - never mind the broken ankles.

L

Lame - Missoni, D&G, Prada, Marc Jacobs, Derek Lam, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton.

Layering (hems on hems; cardigans on cardigans) - Jonathan Saunders, Richard Nicoll, Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld.

Leggings - Burberry, Jil Sander, Nicole Farhi, La Perla, Alberta Ferretti (they were sometimes oddly baggy - or perhaps the models' legs were just too skinny).

Long fine cardigans - Alessandro Dell'Acqua, La Perla, Burberry Prorsum

Long skirts - Alberta Ferretti, Henry Holland, Erdem, Richard Nicoll.

M

Mens' pyjamas: Dolce & Gabbana, Chloe, Kris Van Assche, Yves Saint Laurent, Jean Paul Gaultier, Etro, Louis Vuitton.

Metallic leather: Bottega Veneta, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Sophia Kokosalaki, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Vivienne Westwood Red Label, DSquared2.

Monochrome: Phi, Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferre, Emanuel Ungaro, Gareth Pugh, Dries Van Noten and just about everybody else you can think of.

N

Necklaces (huge ones) - Marni, Issa, Phillip Lim, Marc Jacobs, Marni, Issa, Phillip Lim, Marc Jacobs, Dries Van Noten, Celine, Giambattista Valli, Christian Lacroix.

Neons - scattered liberally over the collections; Tom Binns' necklaces were the best.

Nudes - Blumarine, Stella McCartney, Elie Saab, Giambattista Valli, Lanvin, all the masters.

O

Orientalism - Blumarine, Albino, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Basso & Brooke, Gucci, Etro, Sophia Kokosalaki.

Orange - Alberta Ferretti, Ann Demeulemeester, Dior, Marni, Pollini, Derek Lam, Diane Von Furstenburg, Bottega Veneta, Christopher Kane, Richard Nicoll, Giles, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton.

P

Pearls - Emporio Armani, Luella, Giabattista Valli (he wears them himself with his suit), Roberto Cavalli, Lanvin, Charles Nolan.

Perforation - Emilio Pucci, Fendi, Loewe, Chanel.

Perspex - Hussein Chalayan, Louis Vuitton, Loewe.

Pink - Antonio Berardi, Matthew Williamson, Alexander Wang, Richard Nicoll, Elie Tahari, Alice Temperley.

Pleats - everywhere, on everything.

Q

Quiffs - Zac Posen, Basso & Brooke, Costume National

R

Ruffles - they're hand in hand with pleats.

S

Seventies - La Perla, Gucci, DSquared2.

Sequins - Dior, Martin Margiela, Vivienne Westwood, Balenciaga, DVF, Armand Basi, Ashish, Marni.

Sheer - Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Dior, Sonia Rykiel, Nina Ricci, Todd Lynn, Louise Goldin. It's a summer season - sheer was everywhere.

Shorts - really short ones.

Shrunken jackets - Charles Anastase, Alice Temperley, Armani - gorgeous at Temperley.

Snakeskin - Prada, Gucci, La Perla, Burberry, Loewe, Sophia Kokosalaki, Dior, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Celine.

Suits - with trousers or with skirts.

Spectrums of blue - Aquascutum, Emporio Armani, Gucci, Alberta Ferretti, Marni, Antonio Berardi, Sophia Kokosalaki, Branquinho, Celine.

Spectrums of green - Everywhere.

Squishy bags (scrunched in the hand) - Prada, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu.

Summer suede - Marios Schwab, Christopher Kane, Loewe, House of Holland.

T

Transparent outerwear - Marni, MeadhamKirchhoff, Yves Saint Laurent.

Tribal - Tory Burch, Ralph Lauren, Dior, Max Azria, Halston, Sophia Kokosalaki, Paul Costello, Emma Cook, Christopher Kane, Zac Posen, Louis Vuitton.

Twenties - Alberta Ferretti, Marc Jacobs, Moschino, Ann Demeulemeester, Emma Cook, Balenciaga.

U

Up-dos - major chignons at Yves Saint Laurent and swingy ponytails at Jil Sander.

V

Voluminous backs - Bottega Veneta, Jil Sander, Missoni, Bottega Veneta; cowl backs - Jil Sander, La Perla, Albino, Gucci, to name but a few - there were lots.

W

Waistcoats - Gucci, Moschino, La Perla.

X

As in, the ex-job - Alessandra Facchinetti's war of words with Valentino and Ivana Omazic makes room for Phoebe Philo at Celine.

Y

Yellow - it had a heyday in London.

Z

Zips - Peter Pilotto, Phillip Lim, Versace, Lanvin, Aminaka Wilmont, Hussein Chalayan, Yves Saint Laurent.