The Times - UK (2022-01-19)

the times | Wednesday January 19 2022 5

fashion

Paris

Dior’s spring/summer 1991 show

Noughties, with their ultra-low-rise
jeans and hip-hugging belts? The
tunics over leggings, A-line shifts and
low-slung skirts? All à la mode well
before cameraphones.
The modern condition of being
constantly aware of how we appear
on screen has had a lot to do with the
return of the cinch. Take it from
somebody who looks through old

celebrity photos regularly:

the lower your waistband,

the shorter your legs, the

flatter your bum and the

rounder your stomach appear

— and that’s just the gym-

honed A-list.

For anybody mortal, not

defining your waist is robbing

Peter without even paying

Paul. How unfair it was to

laugh at Simon Cowell’s high

waistbands while sporting some of the

least flattering trousers ever created.

Designers such as Vivienne

Westwood and Roland Mouret —

he of the Galaxy dress — have long

known, and deployed, the power of

the hourglass. Yet it wasn’t until Kate

Winslet appeared at a premiere in a

Stella McCartney illusion gown in 2011

that the wider fashion industry began

to rethink. Then, anybody highlighting

their waist was thought of

euphemistically as “vintage-inspired”,

doing so perhaps because of their

“fuller figure” (at the time anything

above a size 10).

Thankfully we are now living in

a more body-positive era. Indeed,

the focus in recent years on

Kardashian-proportioned

bottoms has made waists the

focus of pretty much any outfit

Then: 1990

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

— and I include in that lockdown

leggings and joggers.

Who among us high-waisted Lycra

aficionados could now return to the

type of leggings that used to cling on

at hip height? Why create extra

lumps and bumps when you can

work with the topography of

your anatomy?

I first noticed the importance of

my midsection when returning to

work after my daughter was born.

Over the past four years, I have

been five different clothing sizes

and I looked tidier at every stage

in outfits that included some

definition in that area. Perhaps

the pendulum will swing back

to those long-torsoed looks at

some point but, for now at

least, enjoy not having to hoick

your trousers back up every

two minutes.

Twitter: @harrywalker1

You’ll see endless

pairs of jeans

that button above

the tummy

Silver is back:

will you ditch

the gold hoops?

C

hances are that the

decoration hanging from

your neck, wrist and earlobes

right now is one shade:

gold. Not for long, I’m afraid.

The powers that be (in fashion that is)

have declared that silver jewellery is

set to make a comeback after seasons

in purgatory.

At Tory Burch silver cuffs wrapped

the power arms of its spring/summer

2022 catwalk models; the necks of

Chanel’s muses were draped with long,

burnished silver chains. Street-stylers

at the men’s shows in Milan and Paris

this month have swapped their gold

hoops for the trendier alternative,

and Zendaya has been wearing silver

earrings on the Euphoria red carpet.

The good news? It’s the quickest

way to update your look, and you

probably have some at the bottom of

the trinket box. Just be sure that

whatever you fish out is made of

sterling silver (and so won’t turn

your January pallor any more green).

Hannah Rogers

Influencer Paris

Alexandra

Lapp

COVER AND BELOW: GETTY IMAGES

The new It belt,

£680,

valentino.com

£95,

uk.missoma.com

£98,

barjewellery.com

£15.99,

zara.com

£250,

annikainez.com

£80,

mejuri.com

Now: 2021