T
he French answer to The Official Preppy Handbook is a slim, late-’80s volume
titled Bon Chic, Bon Genre (meaning “good style, good class,” emphasis on
class). In the mode of the American preppy or the British Sloane Ranger, the
cornerstone of BCBG dressing is its very inoffensiveness, its unobtrusiveness.
Think of the boarding-school kids who ripped out the breast-pocket croc
mascots on their Lacoste polos, leaving only telltale threads in the shape of
the familiar reptile. Or the logo-avoidant, but always perfectly turned-out, French ladies clad
in camel and cream who populate the Right Bank.
You might expect Hedi Slimane, a man enamored of thigh-skimming minidresses and
slick leather, to be the last person inspired by the BCBG ethos. His tendencies tack toward
the other side of the Seine, populated by rebels and rockers. But for his fall 2019 Celine
show, he surprised everyone, turning to a discreet style—plaid midiskirts, camel-colored
capes, high-necked blouses and scarves—that took us back to the buttoned-up days of
Mitterrand-era France, when the designer would have been in his formative years.
Slimane may have been riffing on his Paris adolescence, but he wasn’t the only one
crashing the cotillion this season. Other unlikely arbiters of the trend included Alessan-
dro Michele of Gucci, who showed some straightforward navy suits amid his fantasti-
cal masks and flapper gowns. Riccardo Tisci kitted out his Burberry models in demure
sheathdresses and pleated skirts. (Beige never looked so alluring.) Dior’s Maria Grazia
Chiuri showed subdued gray suits worn over pussy-bow blouses. Even Demna Gvasalia—
the Pied Piper of post-Soviet style—had a few pieces in his Balenciaga show, like a tie-neck
dress in a paisley pattern, that were a 180 from the neon “pantaboots” he made famous.
“Safe is back!” is not a declaration that lends itself to an enticing headline. But what
these designers understand about the bourgeois woman is the same thing director Luis
Buñuel knew: Beneath her starched blouse beats a heart—and a libido. (Think of Cather-
ine Deneuve’s housewife-turned-hooker in his masterpiece Belle de Jour.) Sometimes re-
pression is more interesting than putting it all out there, which might explain this sudden
tonal shift. For so long, we’ve idolized Facetuned Instagram teens and off-duty models.
The course correction is dressing up, looking like an adult, and incorporating a little mys-
tery while we’re at it.
Or perhaps the truth lies elsewhere. Often, when segments of our society start to dis-
appear, they bubble up again in fashion. (Think of the rise of workwear as manufacturing
fades out, or the recent trendiness of NASA despite the space program’s waning.) For so
long, being a member of the stalwart middle class was uncool. But now that that comfort-
able existence is endangered, it feels aspirational again, and ready to be glamorized anew.
Maybe the new subversion is to button all the way up.
B
A
D
A
N
D
B
O
U
G
I
E
FRONT ROW
This season, designers
rediscover the
oh-so-discreet charm
of the bourgeoisie.
By Véronique Hyland
T
he French answer to The Official Preppy Handbook is a slim, late-’80s volume
titled Bon Chic, Bon Genre (meaning “good style, good class,” emphasis on
class). In the mode of the American preppy or the British Sloane Ranger, the
cornerstone of BCBG dressing is its very inoffensiveness, its unobtrusiveness.
Think of the boarding-school kids who ripped out the breast-pocket croc
mascots on their Lacoste polos, leaving only telltale threads in the shape of
the familiar reptile. Or the logo-avoidant, but always perfectly turned-out, French ladies clad
in camel and cream who populate the Right Bank.
You might expect Hedi Slimane, a man enamored of thigh-skimming minidresses and
slick leather, to be the last person inspired by the BCBG ethos. His tendencies tack toward
the other side of the Seine, populated by rebels and rockers. But for his fall 2019 Celine
show, he surprised everyone, turning to a discreet style—plaid midiskirts, camel-colored
capes, high-necked blouses and scarves—that took us back to the buttoned-up days of
Mitterrand-era France, when the designer would have been in his formative years.
Slimane may have been riffing on his Paris adolescence, but he wasn’t the only one
crashing the cotillion this season. Other unlikely arbiters of the trend included Alessan-
dro Michele of Gucci, who showed some straightforward navy suits amid his fantasti-
cal masks and flapper gowns. Riccardo Tisci kitted out his Burberry models in demure
sheathdresses and pleated skirts. (Beige never looked so alluring.) Dior’s Maria Grazia
Chiuri showed subdued gray suits worn over pussy-bow blouses. Even Demna Gvasalia—
the Pied Piper of post-Soviet style—had a few pieces in his Balenciaga show, like a tie-neck
dress in a paisley pattern, that were a 180 from the neon “pantaboots” he made famous.
“Safe is back!” is not a declaration that lends itself to an enticing headline. But what
these designers understand about the bourgeois woman is the same thing director Luis
Buñuel knew: Beneath her starched blouse beats a heart—and a libido. (Think of Cather-
ine Deneuve’s housewife-turned-hooker in his masterpiece Belle de Jour.) Sometimes re-
pression is more interesting than putting it all out there, which might explain this sudden
tonal shift. For so long, we’ve idolized Facetuned Instagram teens and off-duty models.
The course correction is dressing up, looking like an adult, and incorporating a little mys-
tery while we’re at it.
Or perhaps the truth lies elsewhere. Often, when segments of our society start to dis-
appear, they bubble up again in fashion. (Think of the rise of workwear as manufacturing
fades out, or the recent trendiness of NASA despite the space program’s waning.) For so
long, being a member of the stalwart middle class was uncool. But now that that comfort-
able existence is endangered, it feels aspirational again, and ready to be glamorized anew.
Maybe the new subversion is to button all the way up.
BACKSTAGE PRIM LOOKS REIGNED AT BURBERRY (ABOVE LEFT) AND CELINE (ABOVE).
AT DIOR
FALL 2019.
Dior^
andBu
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rry
:^
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e
.com;^
Ce
li
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strop
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