Karla Spetic

Sometimes it's not simply the clothes, but more the way they're put together than can make a collection look all shiny and new. Fashion week brought with it a cascade of new season trends and colours (you've checked out our mega-galleries by now, right?), but in addition to all of that designers were employing some nifty styling tricks that we're keen to try too (read: blatantly steal). From the unexpected footwear at Dion Lee's exclusive presentation to the new school way of wearing your shirt at Watson X Watson — there's a slew of new school ways to wear. Let's go! 

Karla Spetic has a way of making bold, bright colour look sophisticated. In other hands her bubblegum colour palette could look childish, but Karla's modest frilled-bust tunics, organza-spliced cocktail frocks, dainty lace overlays and irreverent use of religious portraiture ensured her Spring/Summer '13-'14 line was anything but. A considered mix of playful elegance was the overriding theme of this morning's presentation, starting Day Two of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia off on an unashamedly positive note. The skies may have been grey, but the runway was a riot of sunshine.

• Colours: Cobalt, white, black, fuchsia and turquoise.
• Trends: Trouser suits, crop tops, sheer, frills, white on white and graphic prints. 
• Key Looks: Graphic religious prints in rainbow hues, pretty sheer lace work over crop tops and tube skirts, slightly over-sized suiting and organza-spliced cocktail frocks.
• Accessories: Ladylike ankle-strap heels in nude, blue and black.

We arrived at a famous art gallery in Sydney's Surry Hills for today's first show, Karla Spetic. The hair is headed-up by ghd's Sophie Roberts, and she used Karla's Croatian heritage to inspire low-slung plaits and glass-like texture. Napoleon Perdis is on makeup, and is also calling on "subtle religious motifs" to create an ethereal beauty look. Things are warming up for day two of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, click through.

Feel like Fashion Week was so long ago now that you need a refresher course in the key looks of the season? The organizers of Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival Sydney must've been feeling the same way, coz last night they put on a keenly edited runway show of RAFW's finest at Sydney's Town Hall. All the key trends were represented, with colour blocking, white-on-white, pops of neon, graphic prints and statement trousers showcased by designers including (but not limited to) Dion Lee, Magdalena Velevska, Gary Bigeni and Karla Spetic. MBFF has got more fashion-fun on the cards, with events continuing until Saturday. Scope the full schedule here.

Apart from the white-out we saw on many a RAFW runway, there was another colour combination that kept cropping up in our show notes. Colour blocking was everywhere; be it in spliced dresses as seen at Josh Goot, via clever interweaving and edging at Dion Lee, in two-tone ensembles like those at Lisa Ho, Yeojin Bae and Karla Spetic, in liquid silk as envisioned by Bianca Spender, or made alive in neon in Magdalena Velevska's note-worthy colour palette. The perfect antidote for Winter's grey days, colour blocking is set to be the simplest way to inject your Summer 2011-12 wardrobe with some joie de vivre. Want to see which designers did it best? Step right this way to get your Fashion Week cheat sheet.

Don't want to wait til Summer to try out the colour blocking trend? Get ahead of the curve at Net-a-Porter.

The jumpsuit, romper, playsuit, all-in-one — whatever you want to call it, has proven to still be one of the hottest trends on the runway, shown in bright, block colours and soft, gauzy prints at RAFW. Designers Zimmermann, Marnie Skillings and Arnsdorf all opted for breezy full-length varieties, while Gary Bigeni, Manning Cartell and Shakuhachi kept lengths ankle-skimming and silhouettes streamlined. Bianca Spender, White Suede and Lisa Maree all played with proportions, cutting leg lengths mid-calf. We can't rave enough about the versatility of a jumpsuit — add a slouchy blazer and heels for cool Summer nights, or team with cute flats and statement jewels for an easy desk to dinner look.

Get your own RAFW-inspired jumpsuit at Net-a-Porter!

It's always hard to narrow down our favourite looks from Fashion Week when there are so many we want to pick for all different reasons. Some had amazing skin, some had the best brows, others featured the hottest hairstyles and some looks ticked all the boxes. In the end, our top 10 features looks from Ginger & Smart, Lisa Ho, Ellery and Gary Bigeni, to name a few. To see who made the cut, step right this way.