Lisa Armstrong
How to do the dress over trousers trend
In theory the Dress Over Trousers look ought to win a Nobel Prize. What a brilliant, non-binary bringing together of feminine and masculine, Stepford Wife and navvy, Edwardian lady and cowboy, prom queen and dominatrix, depending on which particular combination and culture clash you go for in your dresstrouser juxtaposition. If you want to get all sociological about it, you could say this is us seamlessly embracing the multi-sexual, the multicultural and the pan-historical – all in one, unified outfit.
What could be more LGBTQ+++? Frothy tea dress over Latex skinnies? Stretchy weathergirl frock over leggings? Japanese kimono dress over Indian dhoti? Conceptually, it’s all possible. The Dress Over Trousers (DOT) could turn out to be yet another contemporary take on the suit.
In practice, however, it can look an unholy mess, as if you started out with one idea and got interrupted halfway through.
But the DOT is catching fire this spring. Given how damp it has been out there, it may be the only thing that does.
Perhaps you’re old enough to remember the DOT trend from last time around. And if you’re 20, you’re old enough – welcome to the grown-up world, where trends come around faster and faster, and each repetition adds another smear of scepticism to your otherwise sunny, open-hearted worldview of fashion. Anyway, if you do remember, you may be less than thrilled at the DOT’S revival. That’s because last time, dresses tended to be bulkier, and the only real trouser choice was skinny hipster jeans. It all looked a bit of a fudge – the kind of thing you chucked on at 7.45am because you needed to get the kids into the car and you could always finesse your clothes later, once you got to the office.
Now though, it’s sleek and fresh. There are so many options – dress and trouser wise – we could be in the wardrobe hangar of MGM, or maybe even Cheryl Cole.
You want slinky palazzos? Patterned pyjamas? Seventies flares? Skinny black leather? Slouchy tan suedes (and micro suedes)? Tick, tick tick.
The other piece in the jigsaw is the dress. It should be fluid and filmy, raise-waisted (to elongate legs) or sans waist. Meticulously fitted won’t work. There should be a certain nonchalant, thrown-on air look to this, even if you agonised… A button-through is ideal, so that you can choose how much trouser to reveal; a kimono over trousers could, potentially, be your most glamorous, memorable – and comfortable – style statement of the season, or the year, but it would depend on how much movement the kimono allowed for once you’d belted it.
Ifs, buts and provisos are part and parcel of working out any outfit, but they’re further complicated in the DOT matrix. Should your shoes speak to the dress or the trousers? Studying those who’ve gone before – probably the trousers. If you’ve got the mix right, then they should automatically work with both.
Footwear should set off the ankle – there needs to be some skin exposure otherwise things can look heavy and shrouded – 7/8th-length trousers, with a subtle kick flare will do just that. If you’re going with a slightly cropped leg, what’s the optimum length dress? In fact, length isn’t as key as fabric weight. Unless you’re aiming for a sweeping red carpet DOT (like the ones Emma Watson and Diane Kruger pulled off ), keep the dress light – the longer it is, the lighter it should be.
In the end though, experimentation, a mirror and maybe an honest broker are what’s needed: the rules can’t be hard or fast. If trial and error sound too much like actual work and you’re wondering whether the DOT is worth the bother, I think this time it really might be.
For women who’ve stepped gingerly around ruffles and asymmetric hems, while nursing a secret yearning to wear them, pairing them with some sleek, slim, dark trousers could be a way to do it, while staying within their mood-zone.
And for anyone who loves the idea of pastel-coloured capris – but not with their hips – layering a breezy shirt-dress over the top might just be the necessary bridge.
Then there’s the weather, which has a habit of knocking catwalk trends into a shape that works for real life. Right now, the DOT seems an excellent real life solution.