The trend with a chokehold on fashion
The choker necklace was one of the hottest accessory trends of last year and it seems it is not going anywhere soon. GERRY CUPIDO looks at why it’s back in style
HIGH-END fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, Roberto Cavalli and Versace recently featured chokers as part of their 2016/2017 spring collections. Singer Rihanna and models Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid showed us how to wear the accessory from catwalk to street wear to the red carpet.
Actress Michelle Williams was spotted wearing a black ribbon around her neck at the Golden Globes last month and singer Katy Perry wore one to the Christopher Kane show during London Fashion Week.
The choker has a long history, of which most fashionistas are not aware. Most think it’s a revival of the 1990s trend made popular by movies and TV shows of the time. Natalie Portman, who played Mathilda in the 1994 movie
Leon: The Professional, wore a choker throughout the movie. Uma Thurman, who played Mia Wallace in the cult movie Pulp Fiction, wore a black choker, which was a prominent feature on the movie poster. And one cannot describe 1990s fashion without mentioning punks, whose outfits wouldn’t be complete without a spiked or studded leather choker.
The late Princess of Wales often wore a classy three-strand pearl choker. Even Cinderella’s magical blue evening gown and her wedding dress were accessorised with a simple black choker.
But the history of this accessory dates back far further. During the 1800s, artist Edouard Manet’s famous painting
Olympia featured a nude prostitute wearing nothing but a flower in her hair and a black ribbon around her neck. In this era, a black or red ribbon around the neck of a woman was a signal that she may be a prostitute.
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales was often depicted in paintings wearing a wide choker made of rows of pearls, to cover scars on her neck about which she was apparently self-conscious. I would imagine this was where Diana drew inspiration for her pearl choker.
Native Americans are well known for their bone, bead and leather neck pieces, worn as part of their traditional wear. And in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, Maasai tribesmen still proudly adorn their necks with colourful beaded chokers. The women wear chokers daily and the bigger and more elaborate neck piece is a symbol of wealth.
In South Africa, married women from the Ndebele tribe wear brass and copper rings around their ankles, wrists and necks called dzilla. Local and international fashion scenes have adapted this tradition to modern-day wear.
With the popularity of the steamy movie series Fifty Shades of Grey, people have become more aware of domination and submissive sexual practice. It’s nothing new though, and fashion has been drawing inspiration from it for years. An example would be latex dresses, popular recently. The submissive in the relationship would wear a collar, sometimes attached to a “leash” – a sign of possession.
This is harks back to times of slavery. For this reason, and the historic reference to prostitution, many people are not too fond of the choker’s modern revival.
This year the trend has taken a different form. We are seeing fewer of the thick black bands popular last year. The choker is daintier and often hasmore than one strand. The trend has filtered into menswear as seen at Louis Vuitton Spring 2017 show recently.
To wear the choker you can still draw inspiration from the 1990s, but don’t necessarily wear 1990s style fashions from head to toe. Think more along the lines of punk rock chic, with black T-shirt, ripped jeans and leather biker jacket.
Don’t be shy to mix things up a bit: move away from the simple black choker and try mixing silver with gold and even pearls. Adding layers of different necklaces with your choker for an added edge.
Chokers are not only for daytime. A thin gold choker can add a modern yet sophisticated twist to your favourite little black dress for a night out.
Allow your choker to be the statement accessory to your outfit and show it off with open-neck tops. A V-neck T-shirt, off-the-shoulder top or dress, or any lowcut top works best.
Before deciding what choker you want to try this year, make sure you are comfortable wearing it. Just because it’s a choker, it doesn’t mean you want to feel you’re actually being choked. There’s nothing worse that feeling uncomfortable for the sake of being fashionable.