I made the serious error of not having a photo taken until I had had a couple of glasses of wine and my hair had had a chance to go squiffy. Again I find myself cringing at my photo and placing myself on hypothetical worst dressed lists in style bibles the world over.
I have long been fascinated by this and have spent much of today thinking about what it is that makes us love things that are clearly not astoundingly flattering. I take leggings as a case in point. As a young gun I remember the leggings craze towards the end of the 80's and early 90's before I spent many teenage years dressed in bootcut jeans shunning the very idea of the legging. When they came back into fashion they were hailed by all but catwalk twiglets as a ridiculous idea, the perfect way to accentuate a large bottom and short legs. However slowly but surely they have wormed their way into our wardrobes as a staple must have. Everyone from the minute models of the noughties to the big bottomed girls frequenting local pubs have embraced the legging like a long lost friend. Whilst at the beginning of the revival I have distinct memories of wincing at women in leggings walking down the street, now I barely notice and often in fact envy the looks that have been constructed as I go about my daily life.
Personally I even own a couple of pairs although I confess I still harbour innate legging fear and rarely wear them without an extraordinarily long t-shirt. So how is it that the entire fashion world has done such a turnaround? How have items which, lets be honest, don't flatter the masses become such a ubiquitous must have? It seems alarming, arguably akin to some form of complex, brainwashing. What is the tipping point at which trends move from cat walk phenonenon to high street normality? Thinking back the legging has been stealthily making it's comeback for at least five years. Preceded by the footless tight this has been a slow burn trend helped along by such dramatic items as the robot inspired jeggings that trotted down Balenciaga catwalks in 2007 and Victoria Beckham who pioneered the look as she began to build her fashion credentials.
Balenciaga catwalk awash with $100k leggings in the Autumn of 2007.....
Somehow repeated legging exposure throughout the Noughties has delivered us into a new world in which the concept of wearing tight, unforgiving lycra efforts is entirely normal. I just don't know if I quite understand how it has happened, how the look can go from being the most heinous of fashion crimes to being applauded by endless editors on a vast array of magazines. Leggings are just one example, puff ball skirts, shoulder pads and flares are others, as are DM's, platforms, animal print and (heaven forbid) velvet. All have spent time at the top and equally at the bottom of the style stakes with nothing really to explain it. Unlike classic items like the camel trench, a neatly cut jacket and of course Chanel handbags, their place in the styleometer has little to do with the way they make people look. One year we hail these items as flattering, sculpting or indeed classy but mere months later we are slamming on the brakes, pulling a hand brake turn and bemoaning the very same items.
Such are the peaks and troughs of the fashion world that my entire wardrobe could be comitted to the sin bin by the end of the year. Although no change in fashion could have ever made yesterdays outfit ok, it is interesting to think that some years it will go down better than others.
there..i just became a stat for you
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