Top Trend: Underwear as Outerwear

Dare to bare your underwear! Sure, one can argue that the reason they are called underwear is because you’re supposed to wear them UNDER your clothes but lately lingerie is sooo “in”….well…. it needs to be out.

From Coco Chanel wearing her silk lounging pajamas like they were couture to Madonna making music history in her cone-shaped Jean Paul Gaultier bra, the idea of underwear as outerwear is nothing new. And for good reason, there are as many chic underwear styles as there are options to reveal them. It’s now sartorially acceptable to match your fine La Perla lace bodysuit with a formal suit or show off the elastic band of your Calvin Klein boxer above your boyfriend jeans.

While some might still find it quite intimidating (and we get it), the key to mastering this trend is actually quite easy… you just have to own it ! Ask Maria Grazia Chiuri. For her debut show at Christian Dior, she reinvented the brand DNA taking its core feminine identity and giving it some outspoken feminism features, with athletic underwear having pride of place on the catwalk, worn as it was under casual romantic see-through dresses. The sporty bra straps and waist bands emblazoned with the logo ‘J’Adore Dior’ and ‘Christian Dior’ are still trending on all the millennial’s Instagram feed to this day.

John Galliano                                                                         Moschino                                                                                   Celine

Some underwear pieces have so many beautiful details and embellishments that it’s a shame that they have to stay covered up – and Bill Gaytten just gets that. In his Spring/Summer 2017 collection at John Galliano, the creative director collaborated with the Parisian lingerie label Velvette and simply had to give us a peek at their talents with silk and lace – satin triangle bras and highwaisted panties worn beneath a delicate transparent dress did the trick. Now Moschino is another fashion house that took this idea of underwear as outerwear pretty seriously, but in a totally different way.  Always fun and off the wall, designer Jeremy Scott spoofed paper doll clothes on his runway. Opening his show with a trompe l’oeil lingerie technique, x-raying his models who seemed to have been pulled out from a Victoria Secret show. At Celine, where graphic bras were worn over a simple white top, the trend was also twisted inside out, but this time with a more cerebral and artistic slant.

Alberta Ferretti                                                                       Fenty x Puma                                                                            Lanvin

Already a celebrities favorite, the slip dress is the new key piece to invest in. You can trust Badgalriri on this one – not just as a designer but as an uncontested trendsetter. In Rihanna’s show Fenty x Puma, she showcased a chocolate brown silk slip dress, elevated with high laced heels for a look that’s more modern than straight out-of-bed. One last stunning example of night dress, would be Lanvin’s floor length boudoir-style night gown, covering just enough to be appropriate. And designer Alberta Ferretti is an undisputed expert at working lingerie elements into her line up year after year.

Give the trend a try and you will see that once you start exploring your lingerie and consider it like any other fabulous piece in your closet, you will have endless options to choose from. This season, it’s impossible to keep the underwear as outerwear trend under wraps.