THE sales are in full swing but spring and summer fashion trends are starting to fill the pages of glossy magazines beloved by the fashionistas in our ranks.

Colour and feminine frills are the key essentials to add to your wardrobe this spring, says Michelle Norris, and she is in a position to know.

Michelle is fashion advisor on the fashion floor at John Lewis in WestQuay in Southampton where you can find designer clothes and top quality labels from the likes of Coast, Phase 8, and Principles alongside John Lewis's exclusive JFW range.

She has been picking the brains of fashion buyers on behalf of Journal Woman to find out what's likely to be in store by Easter.

"After a drab autumn, colour is the big picture - bold, bright fuchsias and oranges, turquoises and jades," she says.

Raspberry and daffodil will also be popular.

"Last season, it was a very hard yellow that worked well on Naomi Campbell, but not on anyone else - this is a much softer pastel colour," she explains.

She sees our love affair with vintage style inspired by the Bloomsbury set and the 1920s/30s continuing with plenty of chiffon and organza finding its way into spring styles.

Go for a layered look - think meadows, says Michelle - and look out for soft swing trench coats and boxy short jackets.

"With trousers, anything goes depending on your shape, but you've got to get the leg length right - crop trousers should finish on the biggest part of the calf or the leg will look shorter than it is."

Butterflies, popular as a motif last season, will stay with us and on the shoe front, so too will wedges and Minnie Mouse round toes.

Jewellery will be moving towards bigger, more ethnic pieces.

"It'll be a big metallic season," says Michelle.

"People panic and think 1980s, but it's not like that."

If you are not feeling bold, keep it for shoes and hair accessories, she advises.

"But if you went to play everything down but still make a statement, the bag will do it for you."

Choose big bucket bags or old-fashioned Gladstone bags - or a raffia bag that will take you straight through to summer.