Bustiers and corsets have had a fascinating ( and painful! ) history and now it appears that they have been re-introduced into modern fashion and streetstyle again. Although they’ve never been fully away from the catwalk , I have never seen so many corset tops and bustiers hanging on the rails of so many high street stores as I have in the past 6 months or so.
I believe that the trend began two years ago when Carine Roitfeld, Editor of Vogue Paris was spotted at S/S 07 fashion shows wearing Azzedine Alaia’s white, obi-style belt over a t-shirt. After that outing other style mavens started to wear a smaller version of the belt over t-shirts ( ie Kate Moss wore a black one with a black t-shirt within a week ). Carine consistently worked the look, evolving into actual bustiers over sweaters and shirts. It is at once casual and sexy, reinforcing the curvy outline of a woman’s body.
As with most trends, it takes time for ideas to filter down to streetstyle and deemed workable for each person’s individual style and lifestyle. So below are a few examples of how versatile the bustier can be.For the easiest interpretation wear a strapless dress on top of a long sleeved t-shirt like Élisabeth Tessierain or wear one on top of a crisp white shirt for work. For a sexy, rock chick look wear bejewelled encrusted bustiers over vest tops like Erin Wasson and Rumi (of Fashiontoast fame). And if you want to have fun and are daring clash floral prints like Chloë Sevigny (with her line for Opening Ceremony).
source: fashiontoast, style.com, chloesevignyonline, garancedore, sartorialist, facehunter, altamiranyc
