Fierce creature

If you’re at your desk, twiddling your thumbs instead of working, wondering whether Malibu Barbie or Disco Barbie is your ticket to Halloween costume heaven, then it’s time to put down the pen and start working. (A visit to a shrink won’t hurt either – time to discuss your unhealthy fixation on Barbie.)

With trends taking a turn for the dramatic, there’s no end to the well of inspiration for this year’s biggest dress-up event. The best part? You won’t have to throw away the clothes after the big Halloween bash – except for the fangs and scary wig. The gory accoutrements probably won’t fly at the next office party.

Thanks to labels like Balenciaga, which made a riotous leap between equestrian majorette to cyborg gladiator, fashion’s latest must-haves have shifted from the commonplace to out-of-this-world. Metal plates, futuristic shoulder padding and ultra cool thigh-high boots in robotic material made an appearance at Nicolas Ghesquière’s runway ode to the future. Shiny, fish-scale cutouts in flashy metal (which turned out to be light-as-air plastic) made one sparkly minidress at Versace a standout and sure red-carpet staple. Karl Lagerfeld turned out lucite wedges edged in glitter for Chanel and sent out a parade of Fendi ’60s-inspired shift dresses in black silicone and silver leather made to appear like metal mesh material.

Future Perfect

There’s enough cyber fodder making the rounds in the latest spring collections to bring back Robocop. Add a dash of big hair, a little leather and a lot of cheese (think David Hasselhoff) and you’ve got the makings of a Knight Rider: The Sequel.

Designers are looking forward – to the future where, surely, space-age fabrics in bright silver and gold and the ubiquitous black will be the uniform du jour for moon-trekking citizens sporting live TV-streaming watches and chugging power capsules for sleepless days of work and partying.

Hussein Chalayan, with some techno-tricks up his sleeve, transformed a collection of soft, chic dresses into performance art. In a flash, a long Victorian dress on a model morphed into a flapper minidress. While one garment disappeared entirely into a headpiece, leaving one hollow-cheeked Estonian teen naked and wide-eyed in the middle of a bright runway – flashbulbs and cameras popping left and right at what appeared to be a moment straight out of a Robert Altman film – critics applauded the spectacle, mumbling about Chalayan’s ability to channel the zeitgeist of fashion responsive to a post-9/11 world.

Designer Magic Wand

With The Illusionist marching past theaters and The Prestige gaining Oscar buzz, magician-themed films are making its presence felt in fashion. No doubt the help of the tech team responsible for creating the animated hippogriff in the Harry Potter movie didn’t hurt Chalayan’s special effects-assisted collection.

Tricks of the eye are the name of the game for some surrealist trompe l’oeil pieces making waves. Black-tie gets a so-cal version with tux-printed tees. Chanel’s 2004 collection included old school collectibles like cute cassette clutches and little record purses.

Costume Drama

Even over-the-top queens with a taste for cake have taken Hollywood by storm. Sofia Coppola’s modernist take on Marie Antoinette has everyone drooling over Kirsten Dunst’s frothy pastel gowns and confectionery shoes crafted by Manolo Blahnik specifically for the film.

Vogue celebrated the return to dress form with an issue devoted to couture dresses so infinitely-detailed and large-scaled that they even drowned out the blond celebutante with her tresses scaled so high they topped Everest’s peaks.

with corsets wound so tight they made the hourglass figure look like a stick, the dresses spread out like a canopy of intricate prints ranging from contempo-stripes to baroque figures awash in lace.

Animal Magnetism

Celebs like Beyoncé shrug on the furs, from wild yeti-inspired full-on capes to discreet mufflers and fur-embellished parkas like at last year’s urban Prada collection.

The fashion-forward label took inspiration from some fierce four-legged creatures of the night and had their pale models in stark agile poses against some tall grass. Poised and ready to spring, makeup pale to the point of nonexistent, the models appeared as mutant cats, their lean crouched figures akin to the louche mode models take at post-runway shows. Instead of meat, these cats are after more valuable prizes. Like Prada’s large, beautifully-rendered deerskin case.

Celebrities took a bite out of animal prints this year with Christina Aguilera’s red pout and leopard print pumps out and about. Gwen Stefani used all her red carpet steam to expose some spots, from zebra print tops paired with rasta satin pants to Louis Vuitton’s red animal print scarf.

Locals can indulge in the animal fever with looks lifted directly from the season’s best available at the recently-opened British high street label Warehouse. The 30-year-old brand, one of the first to utilize Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon and Christy Turlington, opened its doors to the Philippines only a couple of weeks ago. With racks filled with animal print mohair cardigans, knit tank dresses in a delectable shade of red, utilitarian pullovers and ‘80s-inspired sweaters, the store is a hub for all things trendy.

A Luella Bartley-inspired minidress in plaid with a sweetheart neckline is a must-have, while another animal-print schoolgirl dress puts a growl in any wardrobe.

Draped jersey dresses and chunky cable knits also make an appearance.

With some exaggerated makeup and a lot of attitude, Warehouse’s key pieces will take you places this Halloween. And after the trick or treating and big bash, you can just chuck the overdone makeup and creepy fangs and keep the clothes.

At the end of the day, you want an outfit with ooomph. You don’t want to walk around after the 31st looking like some runaway cast member from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

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