The Great Christmas Cover-Up
Forget chilly hemlines and cleavage, this year it’s all about...
You will have noticed that fashion has been distinctly ‘ covered up’ of late. Actually, scratch that, it’s been covered up for a while now.
High collars and long sleeves have been around for several seasons, as have wide leg trousers and midilength skirts. When it comes to Christmas party dressing, all that sophistication usually disappears with the first sniff of mulled wine.
It’s as though the High Street is suddenly flung back into 1990. Everything becomes strapless, short or skin-tight. The assumption seems
to be that, in December, we all want to dress like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.
But not so this year. Maybe it’s the serious nature of world affairs. More likely it’s that designers have realised they can no longer ignore the prevailing trends, but for Christmas 2017, you do not need to — in fact, you absolutely should not — flash any flesh. Really. None at all.
We got a hint of things to come this autumn when fashion collaboration season hit the High Street. H&M teamed up with Erdem, a designer who uses the young Queen Elizabeth as his muse. Beautiful? yes. Racy? Not very.
Meanwhile, LK Bennett joined forces with with Preen, a label known for ladylike glamour. Kate Middleton and Michelle Obama — neither of them women known for putting too much on display — are devotees.
Another explanation for the birth of this newly conservative spirit is that it’s the fabrics that are doing the talking. It’s hard to let that velvet sing if there’s only three square inches of it in an outfit.
The other point about this newly covered-up dressing trend is that you won’t need to buy yet another pashmina, jacket or dress coat for warmth.
In other words, if Santa was thinking of slipping a sable under the tree this year, he probably doesn’t need to bother.