THE BEST TAFFETA PIECES TO BUY NOW

Caroline Leaper

There are few fashion words as onomatopoeic as taffeta. The name is Persian, and literally translates as “twisted woven” – a perfect description for the scratchy, highly spun, papery silk material, and that divisive crunching noise it makes when you try to move around in it.

Despite its reputation as a Marmite fabric, designers have decided that taffeta is absolutely back for autumn 2018. It holds shape and volume better than most other evening wear fabrics and, for that reason, it’s become the sculptor’s choice for the season ahead. Party dresses will be both stiffer and puffier because of it, and silhouettes could be more dramatic and exciting than they’ve been in decades if the real-life uptake is high.

There have been subtle catwalk incarnations, as well as bold ones. In the former category, Phillip Lim and Marc Jacobs have made some beautiful crisp separates in rich colours. In the latter, young London label Isa Arfen took the fabric back to its heyday, with a collection of tops and dresses that could have worked for a Sloane

Ranger on a night out at Annabel’s.

You will naturally, at this point, be thinking of the material’s most recent history and the numerous fashion crimes that it was apparently responsible for. Its most high-profile champions in the Eighties were Sarah Ferguson and Diana, Princess of Wales, who wore it in some extraordinary cocktail ensembles. But did you know that, before them, Madame de Pompadour was a fan? She popularised the voluminous flouncy fabric at the French court. Or what about all of the incredible ball gowns that it held up in the Fifties? There was a highly successful 500-year history before Fergie, you see.

Yet the fabric became synonymous with the Eighties and was destined to die with the decade. But, I implore you, 30 years on, give it another chance. In an elegant bow or a single balloon shoulder, it falls on exactly the right side of retro. Besides, it’s quite fun to look at and a joy to dance around in. What’s all the puffing about?

FROCK OF AGES Sophia Loren sporting taffeta in the Fifties; (inset) Gwyneth Paltrow doing likewise in the Nineties

SHIRRED TAFFETA MIDI SKIRT£49.50 (marksandspencer.com)

TAFFETA TOP £32 (topshop.com)