From Sheer to Jorts: Trends You’ll Rate Or Hate

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Disturbed laurels for spring groundbreaking?

Oh my god, you have to do it. You live for fashion.

Hello, and welcome to Nothing to Air, the podcast that solves fashion problems and levels up your wardrobe. I'm Lee Campbell, and every week I talk to an expert who helps us work out how to get more out of the clothes we already own and tells us exactly what is and isn't worth adding to our wardrobe. Fashion moves quickly, and it's not just because of fast fashion. From the latest trends emerging in the fashion capitals to what the quote unquote it girls are wearing on the streets, to

Yeah, I'm so excited to get into it and give the listeners a little taste of our group chat.

Leeb So let's do it.

I love it. Let's go. What have you got for me?

Alexa Chung is everyone's style news again. Kate Moss has a collection with Zara. Ciena Miller is all over your Instagram Feedly it's twenty ten again.

What's happening? I know it is like the return of the brit Girls.

I think it is impossible to explain the choke hold that these women, these British style icons had on me and a whole generation of women, millennial.

Women specifically, back in the mid.

Noughties, right, And it's so interesting to me that they're all back in the fashion zeitgeist. At the same time, it's like the Chung aissants, the Alexa.

Chung upon us.

That is very cool.

When I was a fashion writer back at Grazia magazine in the early twenty tens, the amount of stories I wrote about Alexa Chung's wardrobe. So to hear now and to see all over my socials that you know, people are calling it millennial core. So referencing someone like Alexa Chung's wardrobe if you're not across her, or maybe you are a younger listener and you weren't around to kind

Right.

So my prediction is that we're about to get a new reverence for the look that she made iconic, and this whole cohort of British it girls made iconic.

So things like skinny.

Jeans mallet coming back, aren't they cropped leather jackets, little mini dresses with big statement collars.

Yes, yeah, I remember that so much. It's funny you say that because I was a picture editor in a magazine when Siena Miller was everywhere and she was the Boho, and when she attended the Chloe Show a couple of months ago, and when she came out with the Marks and Spencer collab, I was a bit like, hang on, did I get in a time machine?

Right?

Because but it also felt so comforting. And I happened to be overseas for work when the Siena Miller Marks and Spencer launch hit store, so there was billboards everywhere, and I was just like, this feels like home. It's like watching reruns of Friends.

All. That's so true.

It is.

It's like our fashion history is coming back, but in the not to haunt us. It's like, in the nicest way possible, it does feel yeah, comforting.

I liked that these brands, like particularly Marks and Spencer, bringing Sienna back to do that. It's not, you know, on a younger version, and she's doing sort of the lace in the Boho and the chunky boots and Chloe had her at the show as well. So I think it's nice. I just don't know if the younger generation, well, I guess it's not ironic, but they don't have to have experienced it the first time to enjoy it. But we're like, wow, this is this is a flashback.

Back, and you know, talk about a flashback. So do you remember when Kate Moss did a collection for top Shop back in the day and she modeled in the windows of that iconic London top.

Shop store RP top Shop. It used to be huge.

But now she's just done a collection for Zara and it references her wardrobe and all these iconic Kate Moss looks, and so I really do think that we're getting this renewed interest in these women. And to your point, they're in their forties and fifties and living, you know, they're living different lives now, but there's still these eternal muses.

So I love that that's come back.

I agree. I love the trend. Gosh, you're observant. Well, Mike's pretty I'm not going to say basic, but pretty everywhere. But then I realized that everywhere is subjective because my algorithms are not your algorithm. Everyone has got a different set of whatever meta the and the social media serves them. But I've seen all of this in stores and all over my Instagram and my Pinterest. I'm obsessed with Pinterest. I mean not always have been, but I've gone.

How good is Pinterest again?

It's like you forgot that it existed and now you're like, oh my god, it's the entire fashion universe.

In photos, I used to do a lot on my phone, but now I'm trying to not be on my phone so much around my husband and my son, and so I do it on my desktop and you can see more anyway, pictures, pretty pictures, more and then I actually save them onto a pin instead of screenshotting them, and

That's right. Trans Air of transparency.

Yeah, embellish skirts with you know, some sort of chuwel or sheer. It's everywhere and I'm into it for a few reasons, and I wanted to give a few tips. So I've bought a bunch of sort of lace skirts or even a few sheer skirts. I'm attempting to wear one to an event this evening, but I haven't worked out what to wear underneath. But I do have some tips. So I bought the Lululemon bike shorts. They come in a bunch of colors and they they're kind of like,

Oh nice, Okay, you need because this is required right for the sheer look. You need good underwear.

You need good underwear unless you're happy with the slip. But as Mea taught me, she cut a lot of the slips out of hers because of the slip kind of made it look a bit cheap and then she's kind of crumpy.

Yeah, Like the look now is to really actually put your wear on. Yes, play through the sheer it's like, yeah, that's why the undies need to be considered, or by shreks to.

That point, right, And look, that's not for everyone. So I found this really great cotton slip. It's from a brand called Combono, and it's a cotton slipskirt, but it's a mini and it's one hundred percent cotton. So summer is hot and sweaty, and oftentimes shears and laces aren't natural fibers, so a cotton air is good. Or I have done a body suit. The Skim's bodysuits, their classic

Do you agree it's about blocking out your outfit, isn't it. It's why we're seeing a lot of sheer skirts or sheer flare pants back with oversized tops to sort of hide.

I mean it's in one way, it's hiding the evidence of.

Your bottom, yes, and I get that, because you don't necessarily want to show your whole bum. No, But it's also that sort of laying look of you've got the texture of the show and then you've got this sort of.

Block yes, the top, the juxtaposition. So for me, I just like that because I don't want cleavage if I'm doing sheer up top. And I also love it's just the classic bonds crop barlette, thin straps, adjustable, but gives you more kind of coverage in the middle area. Well obviously link to that too. I think it's a skims rip off, but that's so good. Otherwise you can just wear a singlet if you don't want to, you know, get your tummy out again, depearing on the sheerness of

That's what I've been doing.

I got some lace flares recently from a brand called king Axilla. I think that's how you pronounce it. She's an Australian design. Well it's an Australian label, I shouldn't say. And I'm playing with wearing those with my big oversized teas. With the lace flares. It's such a cool day look, but it's elevated still, I.

Agree, and unexpected, that's it. So I always kind of go, Okay, my skirt's quite sheer and maybe dressy. I'll wear a tea or I'm wearing a lacey top, I'll wear it with really baggy jeans. So I unless you are going to you know, a cocktail evant, I like that. So only one sheer or lace items kind of my rule of thumb, and then I oftentimes prefer it with flats because the item itself is generally dressy. I love thrifting

Yeah.

And it was eight dollars. I think.

So you're so clever.

I love that you're actually altering the clothes rather, I mean, keep these things in the cycle of wear. That's what we say. It's a much more sustainable choice if you're buying lace. Hey, they used to wear a lot of lace. Yes, I don't know, like the nineteen hundreds exactly.

Look, you're not getting the nineteen hundreds for Viney's. But this is just an old show pow dress that someone's sold.

Maybe the eighties, maybe the nineteen eighties.

Yes, exactly. When I say altered, I've literally just cut it. But I'm wearing it with a baggy tea so you won't see what's happening at the waist. I'm in too that all right, what else have you got for me?

My fashion friend, I'm calling this one. My husband is a surfer, so he's going to be amused that I'm like borrowing from his culture.

Okay, I like it. We live by the beach, well.

Yes I do.

I'm a coast gal, always have been, and this is a trend that's been bubbling away for a little while.

Now.

I'm calling it surfer chic.

Okay.

But the TikTok creator, I'm sure you've heard of her. She her name is Alison Bornstein. Yes, she came up with the wrong shoe theory and find your three words theory about kind of understanding your personal stuff. She's an amazing creator. I love Allison. She called this trend quote unquote surf and Nephew and surf and Nephew.

That's going to be everywhere in a minute.

Well yeah, no, she actually coined it back in July for the American summer because she has US based, and I'm surprised you didn't catch on in a bigger way. I think the trend is called on maybe not the term, but the reason she called it that was because remember when everyone was referencing the coastal Grandma and then it was like the modern Artie Auntie or something like the

Yeah, totally, And that's it.

I think it's about borrowing the vacation pieces and esthetic and remixing them into your wardrobeerhaps it's your corporate wardrobe. And if that sounds like a lot of a reach, I know. But let's take the rap skirt for example. So instead of wearing a pencil skirt to the office or a structured mini you might take, you know, you might consider a rap skirt still gives you that towel like feel. Yes, And when I say towel, it's sort of like serng printed. Yeah, we're going to see a lot of those, I.

Think they call them. Am I going to butcher this.

Pereos or they do overseas, which is when I was searching for sarongs before I went overseas, I was like, no one sells them, and then when I found that word, I was like, right. I bought a bunch of skirts, well not a bunch of two from Mango, and it's looks like it's wrapped, but it zips.

Up like a normal Yeah, isn't that so clever.

I'm going to walk to the office and his skirt falls off.

That's right, Well, this is the thing.

You don't want to maybe flash too much legs, so you get one that's pre built. But then you might wear that back with a sort of unbuttoned oversized shirt or denim shirt off top, or even just a plain white tea a wrap skirt with a with a.

Hint of print.

And then think with the footwear, referencing beach style footwear. So maybe it's a heeled thong. I know that sounds like they are everywhere. Yeah, it's a healed thong, Or it's a strappy sand or that still is giving that kind of beachy foot vacate sort of style. Or maybe it's a statement earring that's in the shape of a shell yes or something.

Or even sort of like a woven bag, like I feel there everywhere as well, and that feels very beachy. But you can definitely do that in the city.

So some local brands that are tapping into this vibe. Zulu and Zephyr is a really good one that has that coastal vibe down Nude Lucy one of my favorite Australian brands. They do a lot of easy wearing coastal inspired piece of Sabo is.

A really good one online.

But at the higher end we've seen brands like The Row borrow from this sort of surf culture in their footwear or that rubber foot where they've done and then recently Tory Birch showed a runway collection for summer that was totally surf inspired. If you really want to get the surfy look, you could just wander into your go back to its origins, wander into your local surf shop.

Why something from Billabong?

Okay, tam funny you say that I just did when the sales are on a surf dive and ski order. I haven't looked on surf dive and Ski. I got the most amazing swimsuit from Roxy. I got a little dress from Billibom that other brand RSVC or something. It sounds like a child's coffee.

See, there you go.

I honestly surf brands because they also make really great, really affordable little cotton dresses. But you know, they're better quality than some of the mass you know, really mass brands, but they're not expensive. It's sort of your country roads. I'm back into the surf shop.

It's such a big part of our culture as well.

I love that they're having their moment and their Australian made a lot of them come out of there's you know Talkie near out near Geelong. Shout out to to Talkie. That's where the origins of those surf brands. Yeah, they're still going, so it's good to support Aussie.

Honestly, I could just recommend everyone jump on, you know, a surf brand or if you're going away or there's a surf shop, because I often don't go in the shopping center to the surf shops. I used to, Oh my god, Like when I got my first bell Crow wallet, I loved it.

Well, bel Crows back too, So there you go, isn't it.

But the price is still really good in the quality is phenomenal, so don't discount your little surf shop, all right. My last one could not be more all over my Instagram feed, and that is because I've started to become obsessed sol summer. I dipped my toe in a Bermuda short. I bought one pair that were heavily heavily discounted from Oroton like. They were down to under one hundred dollars. Never would I normally pay full price oortin also for a short that hits at my knee.

I do love Roton, but it's on the spendy side.

My Instagram obviously knows that I'm jawt curious or Bermuda short curious, so I am getting so many amazing style tips. So a jats are essentially a long denim short. They usually fall just above the knee, but you can get sort of varying lengths or Bermuda shorts oftentimes, like my ones are a silk, I think, but then there could be a linen or a cotton and they are again.

There's a good side of that and then so good side of that, but.

Right exactly, so for me, I'm just like, I don't really want to wear really short shorts anymore. Not because I don't like my body, but I am perimenopausal. I'm hot, so a jort to the office or even to an event is great. But then just you know, bending over picking up toys, you know, at the club with my son who's playing soccer. You know, I just want something a bit longer. Sure, I love a mini, but I am not gonna wear a mini to you know, up the road for a quick barbecue. So they're really good

Yeah, do you know what? I need your tips, Lee, because I'm not on board. Okay, not on board yet.

I need you to convince Ham.

I'm gonna send you my Bermuda short Pinterest forward. That's how you'll get on board.

Be useful because for me, as a short person.

With I'm surely I'm short and I have no ankles, so let me help you.

Honestly, I find this look really challenging because generally for me, the shorter the shorts or skirt, the longer my legs look. Are used to thinking that way, I tend to go for elongating silhouettes. Okay bottom, Yeah, so it's still a no from me, so I need you to convince. Okay, So if that's how you feel, I do recommend you can wear a tank because I've got like I'm wearing them today but with an oversized denim shirt and so they're kind of loose.

This is kind of loose. So I do have a heel on and the heel doesn't have an ankle strap because I don't have ankles, so that kind of gives me the lane short. But if you want to do a really chic flat, then you do a little tank and a belt. So a white tank with maybe a tan short or I love all black because the eye it kind of just looks like a dress. The coolers, you've got a tank, black Bermuda shorts or denim shorts and a little black belt, black sandals. Very cool.

It's very like ladyde Sports where that's it what it's giving.

And if you do want to wear it to the office or something a little bit more dressy, a kitten heel's great. You can do ballet flats if you are you know, depending on where you are in Australia. It's pretty hot everywhere, but it's still cold in Tazzy. I love it with a tucked T shirt and a belt if you do want that bit more of a shape,

Oh, that's cute. It's kind of like a suit, Yes, summer suit.

It's so cool. I do think a belt's are key if you can see the waistband. I recommend wearing a belt because it just looks more purposeful that you've tucked or that it's obvious.

Yeah, it's a statement short, rather than just an accident. You know that you didn't quite correct accident. That's not I know, it's a statement.

Yeah, you like, look at my shorts because they're great. And I even saw a woman wearing this wonderful sort of strapless ruffle boom schooby top with hers and heels and it was just great.

It's our eyes just getting used to them, isn't it. Give it a few months and will be so all over this, Like my eye just needs to adjust.

Now it's getting there.

I'm getting you know, I'm getting served a lot of jawts. I'm still seeing a bunch of like gen Z versions with you know, all power to them. But it's a lot of long Gan shorts. It's a lot of that Adam Sandlers. Yes, Dad, And I'm like, that's not really the look I'm going for.

And you know what they're also good for is travel and trends seasonal because you can dress them up or dress them down. You do a tank and a blazer, a tank and a bomber is so cool. I honestly just jats on my new life and.

I'm edging me across the line.

I just and look, everyone's doing them. There's heaps on asos because h and M, Dish, Witchery Dotty have some amazing ones. I would go for either white, beige or black or denim.

I guess there's.

Also power in saying that a trend isn't necessarily for you, as in, they look so chic on these women, and I appreciate the styling tips. I think they look fab, but I think you've also got to know your body and know what you've want suits you and what you feel comfortable. I'm going to try a few on and see if they feel like me, and then I'm going to politely decline if it's quite working.

Well, honestly, if everyone just liked all the same trends, how boring that would be.

Exactly?

Yeah, it's very expensive, how hundred? All right, let's do bougie and budget. I have bought obviously a pair of permuter shorts and then a something sheer. But let's start with you, my friend Sam, what have you got? Let's go your budget?

Well, as a coastal gal.

I had to do the surfa chet trend for this, so I've got some fines that are ripe for summer.

So my budget.

I found these very cool flats from Ruby at cotton On. They've got a black soul and then the top of them is it's a red rope. It's a striped red and white rope. It's kind of like a surfboard leash. I don't know, I feel like I'm reaching, but it's sort of The rope back with the shoe is sort of nautical.

Oh, I love it.

Okay, I'm very hard to describe, but you'll have to trust me.

Really, I guess I'm just looking online and obviously we're gonna pop them in their newsletter. They're very cool. Do you think they'd be comfortable?

No?

Okay, good. They're thirty bucks, so they you go.

That's it.

I think with a cheaper shoe, with an affordable shoe, you have to kind of there's always going to be a trade off, and often that is comfort.

So this is more of a.

But not always I reckon, you know, because obviously there's always a little section of Ruby within your cotton On. Go and try them on.

If there's go and try them on.

Yeah, they might not be super I do have some ropey heels block heels that are not comfortable at all, but I wear them if I you know, there's a specific outfit I want to wear them with. So I'm not going to be walking around in these all data would my birkenstocks. But if I'm going on holidays and I'm going out at night and I'm wearing like a slip dress maybe or short back yet potentially shorts, we'll see, then I might put this little flat on with them.

Yeah, all right, I've got some great Bermuda shorts from Zara. They called the Darted Bermuda Short with belt. So I love when there's a belt that you can either choose to add or not, because just like getting two things for free or two things for the price one sixty nine ninety five. They come in like an oyster white, a tan, and a black. The belt's kind of raffia.

Oh beautiful.

Yeah, it's good, but it gives very holiday vibes I would probably wear a white leather belt with white, a black leather belt with black. I would just kind of, you know, mix it up there. But they're really great. They fought well. The model's probably extremely tall, and they fall ten cimeters above her knees, so they fall just above my knee.

That sounds like a good proportion, right.

But also on the Zara website, they've got good search terms. I find some websites you can't search well, but if you go on to Tzara and just type Bermuda, they've got so many options. But they also have their kind of wacky photo shoots whereby you might get some styling ideas. You don't have to buy them from there.

Maybe you might get an upside down model hanging off a chair. Correct, and it's like, where's the product, you know? Oh, you're like, oh, it's the bra.

But they do tend to kind of put in a bit more creativity than just your dotty website. The dotty ones are great, but I wouldn't style it that way. So just go to Google and type in Bermuda shorts. So what's your bougie?

My bougie is from a brand I mentioned earlier called Zulu and Zephyr. They are an amazing Australian brand. I would say they are on that on that more expensive side there that what i'd call like a mid tier Australian brand, which is where I get most of my pieces from.

Ye.

So you it's not a huge splurge, but it's it's a significant amount of money.

Let me get to the point.

I bought a cotton wrap skirt from Zulu and Zephyr recently. That's actually more like a sarong, but I will be wearing it out. And I just was browsing, I was surfing, if you will, their website and I came across a mini style called the Marine Stripe Organic Cotton Blend Mini skirt.

Give me anything cotton, right, It's so it's this very you Actually.

It's a cream and blue striped mini, but it really looks like you just threw a cute little cotton towel on after swim in a fashioning.

Well, we mean my effortless when you put in a lot of effort.

That's right, yes, but it's an easy just to put back with. Yes, everything from a bikini to a great tank or a big big shirt. And it's so it's two hundred and twenty dollars. But I do feel that they they're fabrics and they're designs.

And all nutural fibers.

You know that's right, generally organic cotton. I mean, you'd have to search, but you have to have a closer look. But they work with beautiful materials and their styles do last.

So I can't do this with you too often. I'm spending more money than normal.

I know. That's why our group chat is a problem. I have to mute you.

I love it. So my bougie is a pair of pants. It sounds a little bit like your lace pants. They are the cause sheer, straight leg pants and they have sort of built in well not built in shorts sort of. They're long pants. They're black. They are like think of like a wide leg office pant, but they share from like the the top thigh down. We're gonna have to like them, but is that kind of what your lace pants are. They've got like a little built in shorties, you know what.

Mine have no builty in shorties, and I wish they did because I really have to wear something right all the way down to my mid thigh.

This is genius.

These are so goodutiful I'm obsessed with them. So they're kind of like, you know, I'm going to a wedding or an evening thing and I don't want to wear a dress and a board of dresses. But it's hot, and so it's they're one hundred and seventy five dollars or tea. Like they're black, but you could wear them with a white tea or a printed tea. You could make them so cool. They're a really good way to kind of get that suiting vibe in summer when it's just too humid to wear a full on, you know,

Really accessible way to do the shear trend.

I love, isn't it. And yeah, you don't have to go buy undies or worried about all that. I mean, wear undies unday pants obviously, but no one can see them because there's kind of like a linen up until past your.

Badge if you said badge, you know.

Whatever you've got on going on under there. They are so good hundred and seventy five dollars. I'm gonna favorite them and hope that they go on sale in the boxing day sales.

They're beautiful find.

Will you come back next month? Should we do this monthly?

No?

I love to please have me. You know the todd the life. It's wonderful, but it gets a bit groundhog day.

I need this to Yeah, you need an adult fashion too, that's right.

Yeah, I would love to come back anytime. You'll have me, always happy to chat about fashion yabber away all day.

Toy, I love it. Lock it in and we'll see you then and in the meantime, Thank you so much for your incredible wisdom.

Oh, thanks for having me.

Thank you for listening to Nothing to Wear, And don't forget to sign up to that wonderful newsletter that Tam writes. There's a link in the show notes if you want it in your inbox. And if you loved this episode, we've had Tam on the podcast before. Last time we talked about micro trends, so if you want to hear that, we have popped a link in the show notes too. See you next week. This episode was produced by Grace Roufrey with audio production by Lew Hill. This podcast is