Trend Report: Fall 2009

Every season comes with new trends. Here, The Voice gives you an update on what’s in.

Fashion
The chilly season is coming up quicker than Pres girls can handle. With school, family, and social lives, many do not have time to hit the mall to browse for new trends. Have no fear, The Voice has all the trends that are in for this upcoming season.
One of the main focuses for girls is staying warm while attending events or going to school. There are ways to do this without layering three sweatshirts! Buy an insulated pea coat that has buttons or a belt. With a little extra length, they keep your torso and upper thighs warm throughout the day. These jackets are a huge hit with teenage girls as they allow girls to adjust the belt or buttons to accentuate their waists, the thinnest area in a woman’s midsection. Pair your jacket with a cute cashmere sweater underneath. Cashmere is a material that is extremely soft and traps in heat so your body stays warm and cozy. If bought in a neutral color, (black, white, tan, navy blue,) the sweater can be paired with almost anything, including your school uniform! If you are going out, match your jacket and sweater with a cute, fitted pair of skinny jeans. These jeans are still popular in the fashion world, and thus are sold at almost every store that carries jeans. Find a pair that fits your body type and rock your outfit at a football game, the movies or a family event.
As girls, we need to carry around our makeup, wallet, cell phone and iPod everywhere we go. Carry the “essentials” in a stylish new purse. The perfect purse for this season is a large, dark purple one. Purple is the new black for this season as seen in shirts, jackets, scarves and accessories. With a purse like this, girls will always be able to show off this beautiful color.
Finally, many girls’ favorite part of an outfit: the shoes. This season’s most popular shoe is the boot. The most versatile boots are the booties that go to the ankle. These come with buckles, peep toes, ruffles, studs or flats. The variety is endless with plenty of options for all kinds of styles. So grab a friend (or a computer!) and score some of the essentials for this season.

Music
Need to update your iPod soon? Don’t forget these three top songs for your playlist! For a calm, peaceful song, purchase Owl City’s song “Fireflies” which is currently number one on iTunes. If you are feeling overwhelmed from school, “Fireflies” will lift your spirits, due to the pleasant lyrics, such as “‘Cause I’d get a thousand hugs, From ten thousand lightning bugs, As they tried to teach me how to dance” and the soft voice of the lead singer. Another popular song to get girls out of their seats is “3” by Britney Spears. This song- exactly three minutes and 33 seconds long- is good to listen to while driving or cleaning up; it will bring some fun into tedious activities. For a sweet, upbeat love song, purchase “Replay” by Iyaz. This song will bring smiles to everyone’s faces. Since its release, “Replay” has been on the iTunes top songs and has remained there for more than a month. Other top songs include “Paparazzi” by Lady GaGa, “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z, and “Forever” by Drake, Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne, and Eminem.

Technology
One of a girl’s favorite pieces of technology is the cell phone. AT&T and Verizon came out with some cool new phones that seem to have unbelievable abilities. AT&T’s newest phone is the Blackberry Curve 8900. This black phone has voice-guided GPS, a 3.2 megapixels camera and Wi-Fi access. Text messaging capabilities allow sending pictures, videos, and voice recordings quickly, and the use of Instant Messaging through AIM, Windows Live and Yahoo Messenger. Another new phone available at AT&T is the HTC Tilt2. This cell phone has a touch screen front, and a slide-out full keyboard. There is access to full HTML web browsing and mobile email. The Tilt2 also offers Video Share, which is sharing live videos streaming videos with other phones. These new phones are very popular within AT&T and are expected to become more popular after they have been released for a longer period of time.
Verizon Wireless also offers some amazing new phones. One of the new phones is the Blackberry Tour 9630. This phone received four and a half out of five stars by customers according to verizonwireless.com. This smart phone has Visual Voicemail, VCAST music with Rhapsody and Bluetooth capabilities. The buttons of the phone are tilted for faster, easier texting. Verizon is currently offering a deal for buy-one-get-one-free Blackberries. Another new phone is the Samsung Rouge. This phone has a touch screen front and a full keyboard that slides out. The screen is large and easily reacts to the touch of a finger for easy texting abilities. This phone has a Widget toolbar with one touch access to Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and YouTube. The camera, which is more advanced than others, also offers multi-shot picture taking. No matter what network you are on, there is a cool cell phone that will fit your needs and make texting your friends easier for you.
This season has plenty of new and exciting trends for everyone. Whether you are looking for clothes, music, or technology, designers have made something for you. So go treat yourself to some new items or start some early holiday shopping for friends or family. Happy shopping!

Jonas Brothers World Tour

The only thing better than a Jonas Brothers concert is…well, nothing really!  This world-famous band made a stop at the HP Pavilion August 3 on their first ever world tour.  Pulling out all the stops, this concert featured a rotating in-the-round stage and intense effects which kept the crowd excited and energized for hours.  With opening acts like Honor Society and Jordin Sparks, as well as the Wondergirls from Korea, fans were treated to an amazing show even before their idols came onstage.

Opening with their hit single “Paranoid,” the brothers played all of their old favorites as well as songs from their new album Lines, Vines, and Trying Times, which was released in June.  New effects included an enormous water screen which rained from the ceiling and a trampoline stretched across the stage on which Kevin performed a flip with his guitar.  A giant disco ball made an appearance during “Much Better,” and Joe and Kevin sprayed the audience with foam while Nick sang at the piano.

Typical Jonas attire was sported; the fashionable rock-star preppy style kept them looking classy.  And yes, the skinny jeans are back.  Kevin also donned a raincoat for his trip under the water screen.

There seemed to be less audience interaction in this tour as the Jonas Brothers focused on running through dozens of numbers with new effects and video screens, which ran the “When You Look Me in the Eyes” music video during the song, as well as special images that enhanced songs like “Poison Ivy.”  However, Nick did tell the audience “You are my inspiration” during his performance of “A Little Bit Longer.”

This highly anticipated concert definitely lived up to expectations; just ask any of the screaming girls.  Personally, I enjoyed their previous concert because of the outdoor aspect and enthusiastic audience, but the world tour was by no means short of excellent.  From the amazing effects to the beautiful “A Little Bit Longer”/ “Black Keys” medley and the Jonas Brothers’ own rendition of “Sweet Caroline,” every second was exciting and memorable.

The Jonas Brothers continue to deliver family-friendly performances as they have always done.  Although the brothers recently hosted the Teen Choice Awards, the concert was totally appropriate with a complete absence of pole-dancing, unlike other Disney channel stars (need we say Miley Cyrus?).

When “Burnin’ Up” was performed as the grand finale, everyone was sorry to see the concert end.  Once again the Jonas Brothers have managed to deliver a talented and spectacular performance for all their fans.  I couldn’t have wished for a better way to end my summer, but maybe next time I can win the meet and greet passes!