tatler.com Tatler July 2019BYS TA NDE RHave you ever popped
into a boutique
dressed completely
in black and walked
out, covered from head-to-toe in
Gucci monograms and drippingFL ASH FORWARDBling is back – and this time
it’s bigger, bolder, brasher
and more beautiful than
ever, says Osman Ahmedgold chains? Surely I’m not alone.
For so long, we spent a fortune
on neutral-hued cashmere coats,
jumpers and tailoring because they
ensured longevity, anonymity and
recession-era discretion. But lately
the pendulum has swung back
to a more sparkly, excessive and
opulent time: we have (once again)
become enamoured with displays
of decadence.
As Diana Vreeland exclaimed,
‘A little bad taste is like a nicesplash of paprika.’ Recently style
pundits have been truffling their
wardrobes (or Vestiaire Collective)
for remnants of Sex and the City-era
fashion, a time when logos were
tribal signifiers – before the advent
of social media. Dior has reissued
its Saddle Bag from the period and
Fendi’s bejewelled, embroidered
or fringed Baguettes have been
swinging from the shoulders of
girls about town. At Chanel one
only has to look to the dazzlingdisplay of logomanic costume
jewellery (‘CHA’ dangling from
one ear, ‘NEL’ from the other) and
double-bags – why have one when
you can have two? – to see that
bling is back.
But it’s not just wardrobes that
have been blinged out. Society
houses are being transformed too,
as homage is paid to the gilded
splendour of Versailles by those
exhausted by the bland white-
walls-and-cheese-plant aesthetic of
modern interiors. (Which means
the Sussexes are already out of date,
with their Vicky Charles-esque ]GO FOR BOLD
Molly Goddard’s A/W 19 show at
Durbar Court in the Foreign OfficeFASHION07-19BYST-BlingisBack.indd 47 26/04/2019 15:42
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