A new year, replete with the promise of new beginnings, is almost upon us—finally. Prepare to kiss goodbye to 2020 in style and mute anyone who mentions the word ‘detox’, these are the only resolutions you need to enact come January.
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1. Go backless
Channel French actress Mireille Darc in Le Grand Blond avec une Chaussure Noire (1972) with a cinematic gown worthy of a 360-degree TikTok reveal. Givenchy’s Matthew M Williams’ modern answer to cinema’s favourite plunging dress (OK, closely followed by Julie Christie in 1975’s Shampoo)? Add a visible thong.
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2. Embrace duvet days
From Prada’s padded-nylon opera shawls to Fendi’s wearable quilt, yes we will be dressing up again in 2021, only we’ll be taking the comfort of our duvets with us.
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3. Match your chequerboard interiors to your wardrobe
The style genius of The Queen’s Gambit Beth Harmon is set to continue into 2021 as those graphic chessboard prints beloved by Instagram’s decor mavens reinspire our winter looks. Pin Chanel’s pre-fall collection and Spanish label Gimaguas — this is the print of 2021 for anyone who ‘doesn’t do prints’.
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4. Buy more secondhand
The secret to a successful online second-hand purchase? Know your measurements. All good sellers will be able to advise on the exact sizing details of your most-wanted preloved pieces—whether that’s a pair of Y2K bootcut jeans, or the Tom Ford for Gucci LBD of dreams.
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5. Wear all-white (and succeed at keeping it clean)
Emilio Pucci’s spring/summer 2021 collection was a very persuasive love letter to full-look white—should we consider removing the natural red wine from our monthly Oranj subscription? Tough call.
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6. If in doubt, just add earrings
Super-soft denim and upscale sweatshirt dresses—Balenciaga’s spring/summer 2021 collection was a crash course in carrying fashion’s newfound comfort into the new year, subject to one addition: the elevate-a-look-in-30-seconds earring.
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7. Make low rise a thing again (or follow Bella Hadid’s lead and roll down your waistband)
How low can we go? In the words of Larry David, pretty, pretty, pretty low, looking at the falling waistbands on Versace, Miu Miu and Balmain’s new-season runways. After a decade of high-waisted trouser silhouettes, it’s time to rediscover the belly button (as Bella Hadid has been encouraging us to do for eons, most notably with her instant-low-rise DIY styling hack).
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8. Bejewel your waist, rather than your neck
While Chanel has revived its classic chain belt (spy it cinched over everything from tweed suiting to unitards), Blumarine stylist Lotta Volkova also made the case for glittering logo adornment at waist level with added Y2K kitsch.
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9. Bring back the tube top
When Hermès showcased the bandeau top on its spring/summer 2021 runway, we knew the turn-of-the-millennium classic was destined for an ultra-luxe refit. Just add a zip-through sports jacket and a pair of the house’s sumptuous clogs.
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10. Put a 1970s spin on athleticism
Grace Wales Bonner’s Adidas Originals collab is on course to make the 1970s track jacket spring 2021’s most-wanted outerwear. Borrow a styling lesson from Miu Miu’s spring/summer 2021 runway and wear yours with a knee-grazing skirt.
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11. Wear a mini
While rumours of a third ‘summer of love’ abound, we’re tipping the 1960s miniskirt as the comeback star of 2021. There’s only one accessory to pair with it in abandon: attitude.
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12. Match the mood of Burberry’s disco-era metallics to your playlist
Stream NTS’ greatest leftfield disco playlist and give your chainmail a new lease of life.
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13. Be your own social bubble
Rewatch 2019 beekeeping documentary Honeyland, and embrace the in-built social distancing of Kenzo’s Oliveira Baptista’s veiled beekeeping bubble dresses.
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14. Make a wrist purse your new hand-sanitiser carrier
Because when it comes to everyday antiviral measures, we’re not about to quit while we’re ahead.
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15. Pull a dress on over pants
Give your favourite high-summer investment dress year-round mileage with Miuccia Prada’s favourite layering trick: black tailored pants.
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16. Wear a hoodie with a sheer dress
Did Givenchy’s creative director Matthew M Williams read our lazy-yet-glam minds? Yes, if the house’s hoodies-over-sheer-gowns styling is anything to go by. The mood of NYE 2020 has been set, Givenchy’s upscale hip flask optional (see spring/summer 2021 look 16).
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17. Never underestimate the mood-lifting powers of pink
Danish designer Cecilie Bahnsen’s springtime solution? Add lashings of pink in everything from fuchsia to washed-out pastel hues (beach backdrops advised).
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18. Invest in a shirt dress
This year’s WFH epoch is about to inspire a new era in easygoing office attire with the sinuous shirt dress (seen at Proenza Schouler, Gabriela Hearst and Hugo Boss) already holding the title of ‘spring’s most-wanted workwear’ for 2021.
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19. Take note of spring’s spooky-psychedelic references
Don’t you find fashion trends from non-Vogue media outlets have such obvious names: ‘the new tailoring’, ‘the new glamour’, ‘the new shoe shape’. Not here. We’re tipping the old psychedelia of California’s counterculture heyday (think witchy handkerchief sleeves and sunset-hue flares) to be at the cusp of 2021’s cultish wardrobe staples.
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20. Volumise
One final rule: volumise. Next year’s most covetable silhouettes are capacious, as Loewe’s beloved, ballooning spring/summer 2021 collection proves.
