HAIRY FEET
HARRIET STEWART on HOW to WORK THE SEASON’S TRICKIEST TRENDS
IF YOU LIKE A SPOT OF SARTORIAL peacocking, then I dedicate this month’s column to you. I can guarantee that nothing will elicit head-turns in the street quite like a pair of hairy feet, arms or legs. People will look. They will stare.
If, like me, you love the fantasy of fashion and the sheer joy of dressing up – whether that’s mixing weird colour combinations or pairing sequins with denim, or indeed wearing footwear that looks like it should belong on the feet of a four-legged friend – then I’d be hard pushed to find a better trend for you to embrace this winter. On the flip side, if you prefer classic, timeless pieces that don’t shout look-at-me, then I would stop reading now. Trot on in your smooth, hair-less bags and shoes; this one definitely isn’t for you.
Right, so how does one go about pulling off hairy shoes without looking like you’re wearing your nana’s housecoat and slippers? After much trial and error, I’ve decided that a dress or a slinky skirt works well to elevate a furry sandal from slipper territory. I’ve always loved Birkenstock’s sheepskin sandals – they go with absolutely everything – for all of their ugly practicality (and consequently their power to subvert a pretty floral dress).
And I still regularly check Vestiaire Collective for Phoebe Philo’s furry Céline slides, gutted that I didn’t blow my entire student loan on a pair of them years ago.
Sonia Rykiel opened her AW18 show with four smiling models bouncing down the catwalk in full yeti outfits – matching coats, knee-high boots, bags and giant trapper hats. And they looked like they were having a great time. Your take-away from this? Furry bags are in. So are coats. Wear them together in complementary colours for maximum impact.
If this all sounds a bit like fancy dress, then there is a middle ground, of course. Enter, stage right, the teddy-bear coat. Seen at Dries van Noten, Preen and MaxMara, the shaggy coat (in faux fur, of course) is this winter’s answer to last year’s sheepskin aviator jacket. It’s big, it’s cuddly and, most importantly, it will keep you very warm. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a hug on a cold, grey Monday morning in the depths of winter?
The teddy-bear coat comes in many different guises. You could go printed short faux fur from Shrimps, whose now-iconic coats come in every shade, and new rose and heart prints for autumn/winter. You can even get yourself matching shoes and bags. Not for the faint-hearted. Or you could opt for a long-haired rainbow coat from Missoni. Again, shrinking violets need not apply. For days when you simply want to blend in with the crowd, Topshop has a cuddletastic, caramel-coloured number for £85 that is your childhood teddy bear reimagined as outerwear. Now what could be more comforting than that?
“HOW DOES ONE PULL off HAIRY SHOES WITHOUT LOOKING LIKE you’re WEARING YOUR NAN’S SLIPPERS?”