Times 2 - UK (2020-08-05)

(Antfer) #1

4 1GT Wednesday August 5 2020 | the times


fashion


S


ummer 2020. Not exactly
a vintage year, but one that
will certainly stick in the
memory if not the craw.
A summer of staying put
and making do, of washing
hands, waiting outside
shops and wearing...
well, a mask for the foreseeable. That
doesn’t mean this summer hasn’t also
had its timely trends or hero pieces,
however. Here, in the Times fashion-
desk summer awards, we celebrate a
year that will go down in history for
its lurgy rather than its looks.

Big bikinis
2020 was the year that brought back
big bottoms. I’m talking about bikini
bottoms, but you might want to make
the correlating leap from the supposed
corona-stone many of us have piled
on and the vogue for high-waisted,
extra-capacity swimming knickers
— I couldn’t possibly comment. Make
like Bettie Paige in a navy pair from
Boden (£25, boden.co.uk), Calzedonia’s
rainbow-hued shaping style (£20,
calzedonia.com) or Lululemon’s slate
grey and aptly named Full Bottom
(£58, lululemon.co.uk).

Steinem sunnies
Those in the know are hunting down
vintage Tom Ford aviators on eBay
to better recreate Gloria Steinem’s
shades-over-hair look, as brought to
our attention by Rose Byrne in the
BBC Two series Mrs America.
Ray-Bans will also do the job (£131,
ray-ban.com), as will M&S’s men’s
take (£11.25, marksandspencer.com).

Stay home and shop


Who hasn’t discovered, mended
or otherwise resurrected something
from the back of their wardrobe this
summer and felt pretty smug about
giving it a new lease on life? Your
country needs you to start shopping
again, but let’s not forget the thrill of
first browsing your already crammed
rails; you undoubtedly own a version
of whatever it is you can’t do without.

Army jacket


Throughout all this the only troops on
the streets have remained, thankfully,
the legions of clued-up, khaki-wearing
individuals who have already cottoned
on to the myriad uses of the army
shacket, or shirt-jacket. Try it
embellished — as seen last month
on the socially distanced catwalk
at Dior or from Free People (£158,
freepeople.com) — or plain and
utilitarian. Beware Melania Trump’s
“I really don’t care, do you?” version:

this is not very
2020-feeling.
I like Arket’s belted
workwear jacket (£135,
arket.com) for its roomy
patch pockets, which
are now all the more
important since...

Handbag hiatus


... your work tote is
gathering dust on a shelf
and all you carry now is
your phone and card. No
wonder in summer 2020
we have seen the rise of
the hands-free bungee-
cord carry case. Amazon
has a wide if functional
selection from about £10,
while Etsy’s are a little
jollier. Anya Hindmarch’s
Pimp Your Phone range of mix-and-
match cases, straps and pockets are
the luxury pick (cases from £135,
anyahindmarch.com), while Chaos’s
embossed initials and zip lanyards are
the selfie-set choice (from £55,
shop.chaos.club).


Birkenstocks


Sturdy, supportive, goes with
everything — German footwear has
all the qualities of a great spouse, let
alone a good sandal. In the absence of
the Germans’ enviable track-and-trace
system, we had the Teutonic Fussbett.
The fashion crowd are still in the
two-strap Arizona style (mine are rose
gold, £80, birkenstock.com), while
yummy mummies prefer the single
Madrid variety (£50, schuh.co.uk).
I’ve just ordered a pair of closed-toe
Boston Birkie clogs for autumn
and anticipate having zero regrets
(£95, arket.com).

The pretty mask


This is possibly the first time as
a fashion editor that I’ve used
“must-have” in the legal sense, but
there is a way to make the now
police-enforcable accessory du
moment more statement than
sanitation measure. First, avoid
anything beige: it looks clinical
and gets mucky quickly. Second,
yours should be made of upcycled
or deadstock fabric. Front-row types
are in Sonia Carrasco’s (€75, sonia-
carrasco.com) or the Vampire’s Wife’s
sold-out £35 version. Third, there isn’t
a lower face and chin around that
doesn’t look good in Liberty print
(£40 for five, libertylondon.com).

Make up for it with
mascara

Aka the fourth rule of mask-
wearing. Hourglass’s Extreme Lash
(£29, cultbeauty.co.uk) was already
a beauty-editor secret weapon, but
its new launch, Unlocked (£29,
spacenk.com), is billed as “instant
extensions”. At a time when the real
thing are still considered
high risk in salons, this separating,
Arizona sandal, £65, birkenstock.com lengthening and lifting wand will

Birkenstocks


The dresses! The masks! And


It’s the summer fashion awards — Harriet Walker


hails the trends that worked in a season like no other


give even a disposable mask the exotic
eye glamour of the Fry’s Turkish
Delight ad.

Lilac nails


Manicures are back. Instagram’s
favourite matte-white nail shade
will always hold something of the
bored-in-maths Tippex session for
me, so electric lilac is the next hippest
choice (Nailberry Lilac Fairy, £15,
spacenk.com), while Chanel’s coral
Cruise shade remains a zingy modern
classic (£22, johnlewis.com).

Stretch vs denim


Widely touted as the new jeans
in the days when WFH was still a
novelty, it seems that posh (that is,

beyond the gym) leggings as workwear
are here to stay, but that cramming
yourself back into your pre-corona
jeans to prove some kind of point is
a more important focus right now.

The can’t-do-without dress


It’s long-ish with sleeves, might be a
wrap and is probably floral print —
the garment that Vogue christened
the “go-anywhere” dress remains
this summer’s wardrobe champ
even though the list of places you
can actually take it is somewhat
diminished. Park, pub, by the pool if
you’re lucky enough, or simply as a
staycation treat. This midi-length,
worn with trainers or sandals, is an
instant esteem boost that has more

The big bikini


mixand


Steinem shad


es


Salma Hayek. Below:
Sarah Jessica Parker

The pretty mask


Bikini top, £21, bottoms, £
(boden.co.uk). Right: the Duchess
of Cambridge in Faithfull the Brand
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