HEAVY METAL DRESS TO SHINE
ITHINK IT is probably coincidental that, in the year when London hosts the Olympics, metallics are a huge trend, thus giving rise to fashionpage headlines about “going for gold”, etc.
Especially since gold, silver, pewter, lamé, lurex and sequins have been all over the S/S and A/W catwalks of designers such as Marc Jacobs, Dries van Noten, Pucci, Erdem, Giles Deacon, Vivienne Westwood and Christopher Kane, most of whom would not know a relay baton from a javelin, and are in any case far too focused on next season’s collection to be diverted by something as irrelevant to Planet Fashion as the Olympic Games.
I have to admit that I had been tempted to dismiss metallics as purely a trend for the under-15s. But I now concede that, if worn sparingly and judiciously — and I emphasise that “sparingly”and “judiciously” are the key words in working this trend — those over 15 (even those over 45), can make metallic work for them.
Let’s take “sparingly” first: one top OR one sweater OR one vest OR one skirt OR one pair of jeans OR one scarf is enough metallic for any single body — especially a body that doesn’t wish to look like a foil-wrapped chicken being prepared for Friday-night dinner.
As for “judiciously”, that is about the body that is going to wear the metallic item. Metallic finishes, even the more muted ones, by definition shine, thus drawing attention to the bit of you covered by silver leather or sequins. So, if you are a curvy girl who wears bigger than a C-cup bra, I would urge you to be cautious around metallics — a scarf excepted — on your top half.
In the same spirit, metallic jeans and skirts look best on those who are reasonably slender of hip and thigh. But with skirts and jeans, a tall, in-proportion size 14 or 16 could look totally fabulous in an on-the-knee pencil skirt lavished with sequins, or in a pair of metallic jeans, if said shiny garment is (a) not too tight and (b) is paired with a simple, non- shiny shirt (say a classic Equipment one) or a long, slouchy top worn insouciantly outside, thus cleverly covering hips withnon-metallic fabric.
A s w i t h most current trends, metallics are available at all