WORKMANLIKE chic? Now here's an intriguing concept – inevitably compromised by disturbing mental imagery of an overweight builder's derriere-décolletage.
Yet, moving swiftly along, I'm obliged to point out that workwear is suddenly both hot and haute. In fact, the baggy boilersuit constitutes an intriguing new look in cocktailwear – the radical alternative to your threadbare little black dress. Which
explains why women of style are packing away their prom frocks and bridging the fashion gap between the all-too-brief summer and the autumn of financial discontent ahead with a handsome set of overalls – albeit in a luxury fabric.
Actually, this boilersuit thing has been around for a while. Stella McCartney provided fantasy gardeners with a floral print version in her spring 2008 collection. But the idea is getting more insistent all the time. Even Bottega Veneta, a name synonymous with extreme luxury and truly beautiful taste, is rolling out a version for the (rich) man in your life, this coming winter. Who'd ever have foreseen Coronation Street's ever-overalled Kevin Webster becoming a style icon?
Our look this week is one such faux-forecourt fashion garment: Topshop's amethyst silk charmeuse version of the loose-fitting, zip-fronted, all-in-one boilersuit. At just £65, this is exactly the sort of cost-effective add-in garment that breathes new life into an existing wardrobe. It works brilliantly as an alternative to jeans and a T-shirt, under that trusty tuxedo jacket or any slender boyfriend-look tailored blazer.
Just think juxtaposition – the daredevil high-fashion thrill of an unexpected combination. But the idea is not, I repeat NOT to look as though you're about to replace a car-exhaust, fix a leaky radiator valve or paint the living-room ceiling. Which is why it's so important to partner your boilersuit with ludicrously high heels and a pile of statement jewellery, rather than safety footwear and a smear of engine grease.
The leg hems of the boilersuit should be rolled up a little to ensure no-one misses your gloriously impractical shoe statement. And if you do feel the need to add a jacket, you might want to push the sleeves up to the elbow in the manner of that 1980s small screen style-blazer, Miami Vice. Well, a nice big measure of irony is the key to the, er, overall look.
The full article contains 401 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
