The most anticipated fashion moment of the week was not the Brooklyn Beckham wedding that finally appeared on Vogue, nor the last “red carpet” at the Cannes Film Festival. No, fashion watchers were expecting something much more nuanced, more sophisticated – what the hell would Kate Moss be up to in defamation trial for her ex-boyfriend Johnny Depp this week?
During his three minutes in the witness stand using a video link to clarify that “he fell / was pushed?” question of the stairs (fell), Moss put on a bow blouse with white spots.
To an untrained eye, this choice may seem like a perfectly bland outfit. Not for Mossy and the fashion literate, though. There has always been something subtly subversive in the pussybow.
“Historically, she has partnered with women who are beginning to invade men’s spaces (the golf course, the workplace) and challenge traditional dress codes,” says Dr. Kate Strasdin of Falmouth University.
It was popularized in the 1960s by Coco Chanel, whose silk blouses offset more masculine fabrics such as tweed. But it was in 1966, when Yves Saint Laurent appropriated the tuxedo dress as women’s clothing to create Le Smoking, softening it with a silk blouse, which radicalized and became a feminist fashion statement.
“It was the first time it was paired with pants,” says Strasdin. “There was a direct femininity but it was hypermasculinized.”
The 60’s pussybow gave working women in the men’s world a soft power version of a dress and tie (your reference: those Mad Men, Peggy Olson and Joan Holloway evils). It was an iron fist in a velvet glove.
It was also a key element in Margaret Thatcher’s clothing arsenal, which she reportedly called “softening and beautiful.”
And as if to remind the world of her rebellious roots, Balenciaga opened its Resort 2023 fair on the New York Stock Exchange last Sunday with a model wearing a voluminous black satin blouse with a latex mask.
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Kate’s take was much more polite. Wearing a black satin lapel jacket, the look was very Le Smoking: “He almost recreated that iconic 1966. [Helmut Newton] image, “says Strasdin.
So what could Kate have been saying? What was he subverting?
“It evokes defiance,” says fashion historian Dr. Bethan Bide. “The bow is almost falling apart. He says he’s working harder, he’s feeling more rebellious. It’s like saying, ‘I’m not going to act for you here.’
“Kate is brilliant at the edge of this line. At first glance, she looks eminently respectable, but she has that real vibe that this rejection provides.”