If you’ve picked up a fashion magazine in the last two months, you’ve read that the 70s are back. It’s one of those blanket statements you hear from trend forecasters every two or three years — a cycle of yawning predictability.
But this year’s 70s revival has a certain kitsch flavor, complete with macrame bustiers, button-fly denim skirts and fringe… fringe galore.
Today’s post posits — “Is it possible to wear fringe without resembling a sorority girl en route to an unfortunately themed date function?”
Let’s not sugar-coat it. Fringe is slightly ridiculous, even in its classiest incarnations, making it a tough item to pull off. Not that I haven’t tried. (I’ve attempted fringe on the blog before, most notably by re-wearing my mom’s leather jacket and 12th grade homecoming dress here.)
But after I spotted this photo from Paris Fashion Week on the Barneys Blog, it reminded me that any trend, no matter how ridiculous, can be wearable if you stick to a sane color palette.
For my 70s-steeped foray into fringe, I gravitated toward this secondhand velvet number from Rodarte’s collage with Opening Ceremony. I found it secondhand (for peanuts) in the East Village, but a little Googling proved it originally cost more than $800.
I particularly enjoy this cape because it’s treading the waters between kooky and all-out tacky. The fringe reminds me of a shag carpet; the velvet brocade could just as easily be a sheet of flocked wallpaper.
I paired the fringe-tastic piece with my trusty sweater from The Row (which I’ve worn an absurd number of times on the blog), my white jeans (recently worn here) and these fairly newish Saint Laurent boots.
(If you’re looking for someone to blame for the recent 70s resurgence, you can blame Saint Laurent’s Hedi Slimane. It’s Slimane’s $68,000 babydoll dresses and $1,695 witchy boots that have catalyzed the latest craze.)
What are your thoughts on the 70s revival? Are you wearing the trend — or skipping it altogether? (I can’t blame you either way.)