2 hours ago
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It says a lot about how fashion is embedded in culture that the news that hourglass silhouettes are back in vogue – that blazers have waists again, that we are threading belts through the loops of our jeans and wearing tops tucked in – can feel a little complicated. On the one hand, the whole mannish oversized blazer look has become a little bit dull and I’m ready for something different. But at the same time, not gonna lie, the word hourglass sets off my feminist alarm bells. Clothes are how you define yourself to the world. And there is something a tiny bit Handmaid’s Tale about leading with your waist-to-hip ratio, you know what I mean?
The thing is, I’m actually very into the new hourglass look. I’m just a little bit wary of what lies beneath. There is a parallel, I guess, to the experience of living through this year’s unusually hot British summer. Waking up to day after day of warmth and sunshine, it was impossible not to be aware that the trajectory of this warming climate is very much not good news. But at the same time, it was also impossible, in the moment, not to feel blessed by the blue sky. And both of those feelings are real.
Anyway. I’ve got a bit ahead of myself, because what I’m thinking about, clothes-wise, is how to embrace the return of the hourglass silhouette in a way that feels modern. It is perfectly possible to have a waist again without turning the clock back to the 1950s. Just take a look at this outfit. The silhouette is unmistakably womanly. The waist is emphasised by a wide, cinching belt. Lightly padded shoulders and fullness at the hips add definition to a va-va-voom, in-and-out figure. High heels not only elongate legs, but also zip up your posture in a way that gives a more defined shape. But because this outfit is a trouser suit, the hourglass shape reads in a very different way.
If you are hourglass curious but tradwife wary, a simple recipe to follow is to make the shape curvy, but using pieces that aren’t traditionally feminine. An hourglass silhouette does not mean pouring yourself into a tight dress. It looks more contemporary – and, frankly, less basic – if you incorporate trousers, or a shirt, or a buttoned blazer, or some combination of the above.
Trousers and jeans look so elegant worn belted at the waist and fuller at the hip. Curvy bombshells have always known this: think of Marilyn Monroe, wearing Lady Levi’s jeans with a belt and a white shirt in The Misfits. As a generation X-er, it has taken me an age to get into wearing a belt with jeans. I grew up wearing baggy jeans that hung from my hips, and then wriggling into tight hipsters. Wearing a belt with jeans felt like a relic from the era of the Corby Trouser Press.
I am now a convert. The jeans that look modern in 2025 – look, we’ve been through this, but to recap, they need to not hug your legs – look better on me, and I think on most women, if you belt them at the waist. It helps to bring the shape into focus.
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To be clear, belting your clothes is absolutely not about yanking the belt on to the tightest possible hole. A belt is a punctuation point in your outfit, not a torture device. I’m not wild about belts worn with tight clothes because if you wear a belt over a tight dress, in order for the belt not to look redundant, you have to really cinch it, and that digging-in sensation makes me self-conscious and miserable. When you wear a belt with full-hipped jeans, or pleated trousers, or over a jacket, you get a waisted shape without the discomfort.
A wide belt worn over a jacket is an excellent way to turn it into a smart top. However, a word of caution: wearing it like this does, in effect, make it a top. Unless the jacket has belt loops, taking it off in public doesn’t quite work, so choose something that won’t make you overheat, and wear a super-light layer, or nothing, beneath. Have a root around in your wardrobe, because this could be a new lease of life for an old jacket. And there’s nothing cooler and more contemporary than a new look from your old clothes.
Model: Ellen at Body London. Hair and make up: Delilah Blakeney using Colour Wow and Mac. Jacket, £89.99, trousers, £49.99, and belt, £35.99, and shoes, £35.99, all Mango. Earrings, £9.99, H&M
