The Note #5

Therein Lies The Trend

Do you remember when we all used to wear our jackets over our shoulders?

Out of all the troubles I went through to convince the world that I was a legitimate fashion creature, this might have been the most ridiculous one.

[Okay, 12cm stilettos were the most ridiculous. Wtf were we all thinking? My sister is still making fun of me telling her, “Oh, no, they’re Louboutins, as comfortable as slippers!” (Oh the things we’re able to brainwash ourselves into believing.]

But the bloody jacket on shoulders, even for me who’s been graced with Michael Phelps’ level of shoulder width—that was quite the ridiculous story. Unless you didn’t carry a bag at all (and who would have been crazy enough at the time NOT TO wear a $4500 and 35kg bag, right?) and had the innate talent to rock the gesture that would land your jacket perfectly on your shoulders elegantly, you would have to have a friend (or as we call them in fashion, an assistant) to place it perfectly there so you could achieve the effortless “I’m too busy and cool to put my jacket on like a normal person.”

That’s without counting the seven thousand times the jacket would slide, depending on your combination of fabric, silk on silk being the most treacherous one. I did suffer through the trend though, and now when I think about it, I wonder if my newfound pragmatic persona is what will bring me one day to wear sensible shoes.

Is common sense how old people get to comfort? SCARY.

Anyway. One day, designers started adding very smart suspenders inside jackets, stopping the sliding problem right there and then.

Practicality? That’s when I knew the trend was over.