Bad and bougie: nail how to bourgeois dressing
class yourself as a member of the bourgeoisie, but your wardrobe might have other ideas. What started at Celine via society-girl pussy-bows and haute denim, and Chloé through chain-link chokers and louche trouser suits has now taken over the catwalks.
If you need further evidence of the trend’s influence, the personal effects of Lee Radziwill, the younger sister of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, sold for more than $1.26 million at a Christie’s auction last month. Tory Burch’s homage to the socialite, a Lee Radziwill-inspired collection of handbags, has also just launched.
The moment has been happening on television too, as The Crown returns to Netflix (the following season will feature the original Sloane Ranger, Princess Diana). This coincides nicely with a new drop of ladylike handbags, including Gucci pastel top-handles with sweet gold buckles and a snap-closure purse by Simone Rocha at Dover Street Market that wouldn’t look out of place in the show’s costume department.
A prim-and-proper mood, with undertones of old-fashioned glamour, permeated the A/W’19 catwalks. Elizabeth von der Goltz, Net-a-porter’s global buying director, says this bourgeois style of dressing is perfect for the working woman. Erdem channeled a covered-up Princess Margaret – with full skirts, pillbox hats and elbow-length gloves – while Celine invested heavily in the blouse, culottes and cardi combo. ‘It has a European preppy vibe. Very Eighties Sloane Ranger,’ says von der Goltz.
Meanwhile, Richard Quinn took the Queen’s signature, a silk scarf knotted underneath her chin, and ran with it, swathing his models’ entire face, hands, legs and feet with the same painterly floral print. You might recall that
Cardi B modelled the full look outside the Eiffel Tower during Paris Fashion Week and nearly broke the Internet.
But how will all of this translate to the closets of women off the screen and runway? Chanel’s Tribeca luncheon in New York last week is always a good indicator of what today’s ‘society’ women wear. Katie Holmes opted for a firetruck red blazer with jeans, while the actor Zazie Beetz chose a logoed knit with wide-leg tweed trousers and a quilted shoulder bag.
On the street style circuit, Lauren Santo Domingo has long epitomised the modern day version of the trend. And Veronika Heilbrunner, known for her love of Nike Air Force 1 trainers, has even been converted to the ladylike look. She credits her move to England as inspiring her to change up her style. ‘I left Berlin in May and boxed up all my sportswear. I haven’t had the urge to unpack one thing,’ she says. ‘I’ve sworn off sneakers and now feel at home in things that once felt too stuffy for me.’ Now you’ll find her in oatmeal socks with loafers or colourful corduroy with a studded belt. ‘I like to add a bit of irony,’ she says.
The high street has jumped on board: see Zara’s houndstooth skirt suit, with its pleasingly oversized blazer and below-theknee hemline. For after-hours, Uterqüe’s new collection, Look At Me, has all the sequinned jackets, crushed velvet skirts and beaded duster coats you could want.
Your finishing touch? Pearls, with a heavy dose of fashion cred, like designer Anissa Kermiche’s tongue-in-cheek ‘Grab Them By The Balls’ earrings.
‘I like having a mixture of traditional class and modern humour,’ she says.