Warehouse currently has a great sale on its autumn/winter dresses UK. It boasts some outstanding discounts, such as over 40% off its double frill sleeve dress. But if you want to get the most out of the sales and the selection of dresses UK stores have on offer you need to know what the spring/summer trends are going to be. So here is a run down of the top summer fashions.

Hotel Tropicana
Clashing tropical prints, in bold, bright shades with touches of neon and colour blocking make this trend hard to master but fun to play around with. There is a certain early nineties feel about this look with crop tops, tropical print shirts, loose blazers, tailored shorts, high waisted trousers and Capri pants. In terms of dresses, bright, printed maxis or tunics work best in shades of turquoise, pink and blue. Warehouse’s scarf ornamental print dress (pictured) is currently on sale and the intense pattern will fit well into this new tropical trend.

Get sporty
Nineties street wear including running shorts, mesh and nylon sweaters, high-waisted tapered trousers, acid wash or coloured jeans, hoodies, t-shirts and tennis skirts will definitely put the heat into summer. Dress wise you need to keep it casual and effortless, but you can dress down more formal dresses with white pumps, a hoodie and denim jacket. The curve front vest dress from Warehouse is ideal. It has a racer back, which is a hot trend for the summer and being made from polyester it already has a sporty feel.

Pastel palette
Mint, lemon, strawberry and pistachio… these sound good enough to eat, but in fact they are the colour palettes for much of the season’s coolest trends. Ladylike colours matched with feminine cuts, soft and floaty fabrics and pretty-as-a-picture styling make this one of the easiest and most covetable trends of the summer. Warehouse’s nude embellished ballet layered dress is spot on thanks to its creamy colour, feminine shape and delicate sequin detailing.

If you want more summer fashion trends, check out Vogue’s spring/summer 2012 trend slideshow here.

 Stand-out Soles
One key trend for the year ahead is statement soles. Concealed platform soles have been the celeb’s heel of choice lately, but that’s all set to change. This year, designers want to make a statement with soles, not cover them up. So look out for shoes with a contrasting platform, or contrasting heel. These Nine West court shoes (pictured) from House of Fraser sum up the trend, and they’re currently reduced online too.

Shop Online
You’ll often find the cheapest footwear prices online. Alongside auction sites and secondhand online swap shops, high street stores often use their websites to advertise the latest sale stock. Sign up for online newsletters and your favourite online shoe stores will contact you when new footwear items are added to their clearance range. Shopping for shoes online also gives you access to discounted shoes that might have already sold out in physical stores, and access to offers that you won’t find in store either.

Futuristic Trend
This is one of the most wearable footwear trends for 2012. Futuristic materials, metallic silver and gold, and transparent strapping is what this trend is all about. Look out for metallic shades and detailing. If you’re looking to get the futuristic look for less, it’s also one of the easiest trends to do yourself. Glitz up your heels by applying silver beading, metal studs, or get to work with gold fabric paint.

Do It Yourself
Another moneysaving footwear tip is to get crafty and recreate the latest looks yourself. Fabric paints, haberdashery items, ribbon and beading are all easily affordable and easily applied to footwear. Fabric dye’s also an affordable way to give your footwear a colour revamp to keep up with the latest colour trends.

1920s Glamour
Designers often look to vintage styles for inspiration, and this year they’ve turned their attention to the 1920s. The era of the speakeasy, flapper dress and the Charleston has is a key trend for footwear and clothing for 2012, and getting the look right is really affordable too. Check out this guide to 1920s fashion to see just why this particular era has captured the imaginations of the leading fashion houses.

Go Vintage
With vintage-inspired trends like these, the most affordable way to get the look is often to seek out original vintage items rather than expensive designer copies. Head to your local car boot sale, second hand clothes market and vintage boutiques and you’ll find genuine 1920s footwear and fashion on offer for less.

The Science Museum is on Exhibition Road, a major tourist area in the city that is also the location of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Natural History Museum, which is in fact next door to the Science Museum.  The Science Museum has an excellent range of displays, both static and interactive, over five floors, with enough to keep you occupied for a full day.  The ground floor has an impressive collection of vehicles charting the rise of the engine, and includes some rare seam engines.  The Exploring Space gallery contains rockets, and exhibitions that explain some to the benefits that space exploration has brought to mankind, primarily through advances in telecommunications.  Elsewhere in the Making the Modern World gallery, the actual command module used during the Apollo 10 mission is on display.  The Science Museum also houses an IMAX cinema, while over 50 interactive exhibits can be found in the Launchpad Gallery.

The Natural History Museum has an impressive collection of species of different sizes from around the world, with two of the centrepiece exhibits being the 32m long replica of a Diplodocus skeleton, as the 25 m long skeleton of a Blue Whale!  The Victoria and Albert Museum is in fact the largest museum of decorative art and design in the world, and house a staggering 4.5 million objects, including ceramics, jewellery, metalwork, glasswork and fashion from around the globe and throughout history.

As well as being handy for all this classic, contemporary and high culture, Knightsbridge is a great location for those that fancy a spot of retail therapy – as well as being home to Harrods, Knightsbridge is also the location of top fashion store Harvey Nichols.

When you have had enough of educational and artistic pursuits, a want to take a break from shopping, Hyde Park offers a chance to relax amongst some greenery, without leaving the heart of the city.  For more information about things to do in London, try looking at: http://www.visitlondon.com/attractions/culture/top-ten-attractions.

Image: Mike_fleming