On tulip skirts

Thurley

Ashish

Amanda Wakeley

Tulip skirts are flourishing everywhere in this wintery season and they do offer a good alternative to the traditional pencil skirt, so tailored, tight an glamorous, and sometimes so difficult to walk in (if you remember my post a few weeks back).

Flared at the hips and narrow at the knees, they are one of the key looks you want to consider if you like to play with shapes and reinvent your silhouette with a twist.

The good thing about a tulip skirt is that you can dress it up or down, and take it from the office to a cocktail party without looking out of place: it is one of these passe-partout garments that you cannot go wrong with.

If you are a true fashionista, this is not necessarily the kind of garment you will be looking for though, because you are bound to be in quest for a statement piece every time you hit the King's road. However, where the tulip skirt becomes interesting is that it is not only feminine, tailored and elegant (if it is well-made), it does not only take the eye off these unnerving extra pounds on your upper thighs, it actually draws the eye on very womanly parts of your body, making you feel all grown-up in the best sense of the word.

I know I will sound bitchy, but before I go on, it has to be said: if you have wide hips and a flat bottom, it will not be a good look for you. Narrow hips is the necessary feature. You don't want to look too expanded.

Now this is out of the way, the brilliant thing about tulip skirts this season is the effort designers put into detailing: if the skirt is low waisted, it might have interesting drapes on the hips. If it is high waisted, look for an atonal or embellished waistband, if it is plain, see if the seams are double-stitched or in a different colour. Whatever happens though, avoid the assymetrical take on it unless it goes just below knee-level, it gives a squat and cheap look.

Then as you know, the more detailing, the more plain and tight the top should be. You can always accessorize the hair if you feel like you don't look quite exuberant enough.

Champagnista V