This week I did an experiment. For one day I had to dress like a girly girl in the daytime. This might not sound so hard, but my day-to-day style is pretty masculine: jeans, boots, leather jackets, hoodies, flannel shirts and oversize tees are the order of the day. My feminine side mostly comes out at night decked in mini dresses and sky high heels. So on experiment day, I wore five-inch ankle boots, black tights, a t-shirt dress and my trusty leather jacket.
First unfortunate event of the day: I missed my bus in the morning because I couldn’t run the 100 yards to catch it. I was freezing cold all day, my feet felt like they had been hit with a sledge hammer, and that wasn’t the worst part. I had to visit the library on the way home to get books for an essay that has been looming over my head like a black cloud. Carrying said books (eight in total) I was fighting my way through a city centre jam packed with rosy-cheeked Christmas shoppers when I slipped on a discarded chip on the pavement. Luckily, I didn’t fall flat on my bum but I did manage to slam my forearm on a traffic light button-box in an attempt to save myself. Already limping and now wincing with what I thought at the time was a fractured arm (yes, it was that bad!) I made a hasty retreat home.
Author and critic Susan Sontag once said: “What is most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in feminine women is something masculine.”
If this is so, then it’s good news for the ladies who are shunning the glamorous over-groomed look and opting for a more laid back, casual feel. The grungy girl appeal is personified in model turned jewellery designer Erin Wasson. Hair that looks styled by sea water and sunshine, honey golden skin and the simplest of outfits. A pair of denim cut-offs, an oversize tee, a pair of bashed up leather boots and the self-assuredness of a woman who knows she looks good, but more importantly feels comfortable in what she is wearing. Designers are also taking note of the “boyfriend look”, with Erin’s good friend Alexander Wang’s slouchy denim shirts, hoodies and oversize blazers. Riccardo Tisci’s salute to “le smoking” and cowboy references (thigh-high black leather cowboy boots, anyone?), and Gucci’s easy tailored suits in cobalt blue, ice white and candy apple red with a straw fedora to complete the look. As my recent experiment confirmed, I think I will leave the heels for when night falls and stick to comfort clothing for the daytime. After all, who said comfort couldn’t be sexy?
