On March 23rd it was impossible to predict what lockdown would look like. And not many would have predicted fashion would play a major part. After all who thinks about clothes in the midst of a crisis?
Baking, gardening, Netflix binging maybe. But shopping for clothes wasn’t exactly high on anyone’s list.
But as we settled into our new normal and embraced new home lives a few strange things started to happen. In a desperate bid to step up our stay-at-home Zoom game we started to get creative and improvise.
Here’s at closer look at what lockdown has looked like for many.
Tie dye
No one saw this coming and it’s hard to pin point down the exact moment it happened but at some stage during lock down tie dye became a thing. Fashion stylist and beauty guru @TrinnyWoodall posted an Instagram live feed showcasing her tie dye efforts and suddenly everyone was reaching for the Dylon.
Trinny Woodall featured her tie dye t-shirt as her OOTD proving with a little bit of effort the results can be surprisingly good. Maybe it was the desire for a simple DIY trend or the fact tie dye reminds of us of happier more carefree times?
All hail the midi
Desperate to find the perfect walk-to-workout dress we all turned to the humble midi for salvation. The mid calf-does-it-all-dress has taken us from Zoom calls to fixing lunch in the kitchen to walking the dog and back to the laptop. Enough said.
@Connellschain
Thanks to our obsession with the BBC’s must-see drama ‘Normal People’ Connell’s chain got its own Instagram account. @connellschain went viral amassing 106k followers and the rest as they say is history.
With the simple heading ‘We stan Connell Waldron’s chain’ the Instagram account was the brain child of Stylist magazine columnist Billie Bhatia.
For anyone who hasn’t watched it ‘Normal People’ is the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel. This modern day love story charts the relationship between the two central characters Connell and Marianne from school through to college and adulthood. It also happens to contain the longest sex scene ever aired on national television which you could argue, mid lonely lockdown, has contributed greatly to it’s phenomenal viewing figures. Oh and Connell, played by Paul Mescal, wears a silver chain. Yup, it’s really that simple.
Man jewellery is now set to the biggest trend to come out of lockdown with searches and sales of silver chains booming.
The work from home ‘suit’
Not too surprisingly as we looked for comfort in our new home lives we swapped our tailored trouser suits for the cotton coord variety, à la Mrs Beckham. Even Victoria Beckham ditched the midi skirts and heels in favour of a tracksuit officially making it acceptable attire.
Tracksuit sales have spiked to levels not seen since the Juicy Couture frenzy in the early 2000’s.
“Luxury loungewear, tracksuits and activewear have definitely become more and more in demand, which is not much of a surprise,” Tiffany Hsu, the fashion-buying director at Mytheresa reported.
Socks became the new shoes
Just because we weren’t leaving the house and wearing actual shoes that didn’t stop the majority of us putting our best feet forward. When footwear suddenly became redundant for 23 hours a day the statement sock took centre stage. Fashionable socks were already ‘a thing’ so this a trend we just ran with really. Seeing an opportunity to showcase a truly useful trend brightly coloured/designer/sporty look-at-me socks became our favourite go to lockdown look.
#homecouture
Created by George Serventi (@skindin), a London based designer, this trend swept across social media feeds and involves taking high-end catwalk looks and recreating them with bits and bobs around the house.
George’s concept was that “…quarantine queens across the world can doll themselves up, Cinderella-style, with scouring-pad ball gowns, toilet-roll palazzo pants, and saucepan fascinators.”
Using materials we all have at home like tin foil, bin bags, newspaper and cellophane the resulting creations have included sculptural dresses by Comme des Garcons and tulle Galliano couture gowns.
“Materials we all have at home like tin foil, bin bags, newspaper, and cellophane work surprisingly well,” Serventi explains, “but so do Pot Noodles and broken plates.”
#TheQuarantinePillowChallenge
Another DIY style challenge to emerge the quarantine pillow challenge started by @myforteisfashion and @stylebynelli at the beginning of April. The challenge is simple enough and involves cinching a pillow around your waist with a belt to make a strapless dress. Proving even celebs have been bored during lockdown Halle Berry and Amber Davies got in on the action.
