Waists have crept up – and will instantly make an outfit look up-to-date
I would never buy anything to wear without trying it on in front of a full-length mirror. Not even a pair of earrings. Never, ever a pair of shoes. This sounds like eccentric fashion editor woo-woo but is actually the opposite. It is the most practical way to tell when a look works and when it doesn’t, because proportion is the thing that matters most. Shape and silhouette are what make the difference between elegance and ugliness, and between looking modern and looking dated.
Sometimes what nails a now-looking outfit is how the volume of fabric sits on your body. (The answer here is, and has been for some time, to avoid sausage skin-tight.) At other times, the make-or-break ratio is width of jean leg at the ankle: flare, straight or skinny. Broad shoulder pads and a darted waist were the key in mapping the inverted triangle of a power-dressing jacket. But right now, what skewers an on-trend look is how high your waist is.