Bardot or bardon't? Take tips from Alexa Chung and Sienna Miller by bearing your shoulders

As Alexa et al opt for bolder shoulders, we explore why strapless is back in style
Shoulder stars: Olivia Palermo wearing floral-trimmed Marchesa
Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Karen Dacre26 May 2015

During the course of my adult life - and by adult, I specifically mean the section after which I moved to London, signed up for a Tesco Clubcard and began purchasing my own alcohol - I can profess to own just one item of strapless clothing.

Said item is a pale pink jumpsuit. It’s gorgeous and I feel quite lovely in it. But here's the thing... despite having unveiled my pale Scottish shoulders outside of the capital, I wouldn’t dream of wearing my jumpsuit here, in our fair city.

Not least because I’m a shy breed of fashion editor who, much like a warthog, prefers to bask in dark corners at parties and not on the limelight-drenched middle ground on which strapless clothing wearers are most likely to be found. But also because going strapless just isn’t very chic - a fact that is confirmed with every fake-tan fuelled awards season that passes.

Bardot style - in pictures

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This season’s celebrity preoccupation with Bardot necklines (see wide necklines which expose both shoulders) has the potential to change all that. The roots of this trend, like so many others, can be traced back to Alexa Chung. Stepping out to a swanky affair in New York last week, the model turned wardrobe pacemaker set a new agenda for acceptable summer necklines.

Her choice, a mid-length crepe de chine with an off-shoulder neck- line and two carefully placed straps, served as a beacon of change for strapless-shy dressers. Namely because the Bardot - which leaves a little less to the imagination than your average strapless number - offers an altogether more concomitant way to bare. Chung, whose dress is the handiwork of Bardot ambassador Alessandra Rich - isn’t alone in her quest to free our clavicle.

She is joined by Sienna Miller, who diligently complied with Cannes dress code by teaming her off-shoulder Balenciaga dress with a pair of simple black sandals last week. Of course, the Bardot as a viable way to show shoulder is not an entirely flawless one. Particularly if you bid for a Bardot that exposes your armpit.

Oversized Bardot dresses will also take you into tricky territory if blending in beautifully is your charge. Witness Olivia Palermo, who looks neither shy nor retiring in floral-trimmed Marchesa, and swim-wear model Brooklyn Decker who reminds us this is a look with potential to take us back to the Eighties.

To find a Bardot you’ve got the guts to wear in the capital, I’d suggest seeking out neutral shades - navy or black - and soft stretch fabrics. American brand The Row (the charge of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen) has a little black Bardot that is perfect for unassuming shoulder barers - wear with flats if you want it to look really effortless -while Marni has a gorgeous smocked version that’s crafted from cotton and perfectly suited to cocktail hour at Ibiza’s Blue Marlin. Truly exposing stuff.

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