New Look frilly Bardot top, £14.99 Photograph: New Look Bardots – insufficient glamorously known as off-the-shoulder tops – are omnipresent on the high concourse. Topshop has 80 “Bardot” items on sale – design conductor Jacqui Markham thinks the design’s popularity ties in with mould’s obsession with the 1970s – while a search for “Bardot” on ASOS gleans 397 conclusions. At the rarefied end of the trend, Sienna Miller wore a shoulder-showing cabal by Balenciaga to Cannes, while Leandra Medine – of influential form blog Man Repeller – is a fan of Bardot designs by Rosie Assoulin and Alessandra Preposterous.
Undeniably, the Bardot is a neckline with perils – starting with your armpits. In the main part, on the enormous street, the trend is aimed at those who are keen to flash in person, so many styles show more back/torso/arm than you dominion want to in the office. The Bardot can also look downright uncomfortable – as if someone has yanked down your top and your arms are now trapped. Or a bit fancy-dress, as notwithstanding that you are recreating Sandy’s makeover moment in Grease.
The right Bardot, yet, can be easy to wear and flattering, showing off shoulders and collarbones while denying upper arms covered – think of Grace Kelly, in Educate Window, her wide V-neck black top tucked in to full Dior New Look skirt. Close-cut Bardots such as this one from Manufactures are a brilliant foil for voluminous culottes or midi skirts. Looser, frillier spirits are handy, too, bringing a touch of the Carmen Mirandas to your jeans. Add to this the really that Bardots are excellent for doing shimmies and this is starting to signal articulate like a lot more fun than last season’s infatuation with the polo neck.
