Lace, Lace, and more Lace

A red lace dress from Erdem's SS 2011 collection certainly left a lasting impression this Spring and Summer season. Michelle Williams was soon spotted wearing the dress at Blue Valentine's premier last October and Alexa Chung graced the cover of Net-a-Porter's Spring 2011 magazine wearing that same dress.The lace dress trend is definitely on the radar this summer as Issa also creates a lace dress capsule collection for Net-a-Porter this year.

For myself, I went Victoria Prison (now empty and occasionally used for various occasions) in Central, Hong Kong earlier this year for an art exhibit and came across a darkish grey blue lace on top of beige lining purse and thought "this would look really good on a dress." I'd never been a lace fan before but the combination seemed to fit perfectly and the moment I saw Alexa Chung wearing Erdem's lace dress, I was already in a must-have-this-summer mood.

Before I knew it, similar dresses started showing up everywhere! Topshop (as worn by Kate Bosworth), French Connection, Zara TRF (a sleeveless version) all have made similar dress (if I remember correctly, Marks & Spencer also made something similar). Occasionally I'd even find runway clips with a similar above-the-knee, one-color, mid-sleeve lace dress. Do you want to see more in the future? With Kate Middleton's lace wedding gown, I don't think this trend's going to be off the shelves any time soon.

All photos from Net-a-Porter (from top to bottom, left to right): Alexa Chung in Net-a-Porter's Spring 2011 magazine (in a red lace Erdem dress, another white Erdem dress, and the same red dress for the magazine cover) and Issa's capsule collection for Net-a-Porter.

For more affordable options, try Topshop's Cobalt Blue Lace Flippy Dress, French Connection's Anna Lace Dress, or Dorothy Perkin's Red Lace Babydoll Dress.

Cheers,
Delilah