Boho, Boho, Its Off To Fashion We Go

Since I am defs too old to be having Brat Summer, can I please have Boho Summer instead?

There was a moment in fashion 20 years ago, somewhere between Kate Moss Of The Nineties and Kate Moss Of The New Millennium when Sienna Miller reigned supreme. Not just in my head - although definitely here too - but in the consciousness of fash fans across the globe.

She was fresh-faced – as in new on the scene and barely a slick of mascara and gloss. She was tousle haired – as in I just woke up like this, Cosmo eat your heart out – and dating Jude Law, who was it his Talented Mister Ripley Hotness Zenith. You cannot argue this point. Talented Mr Ripley Jude Law is canonical. The Mediterranean tan, the sparkly green eyes, the brain-searingly white grin, the open linen shirt. Delicious.

And then there was Sienna Miller – insouciant, boho girl about town. She’d hit the streets of London in a black skirt so long that it skimmed the dust in her wake. Did she care? No obvs. I tried it. I kinda cared. She’d throw on the slimmest of flat sandals with a dash of crochet and fringing, accessorized with a ginormous, beaten studded belt and maybe a large-brimmed hat and be off.

Fork it, how I tried it. Generally – and I can tell you this for free - traipsing around Sandton’s after-work Friday drinks crowd in 2004 in a swirling skirt, studded belt, crochet and a hat was not… a lewk. It was more of a Marion + Lindie matching pants suit scene. I pressed on though because Early Naughties Fashun had boho nailed. And the then-burgeoning paparazzi street style culture was only just starting and the young celeb set served boho so well that we all thought we could do it.

Also, at the time I was working between Heat magazine - the celebrity weekly - and Style magazine - SA’s local answer to Tatler - so it was something of a work KPI to be pouring over celebrity street style images on the daily.

Nicole Ritchie was another boho cohort in her giant vintage sunnies and skinny, skinny scarves that she wore as headbands, positively clanking in bangles and ballooning sleeves.

And – as always – Mossy rolling into Glastonury 2005 in a gold lurex dress so small it would be a top on most people, but slung with a big belt so – you know – we’d know it was actually a dress. You know you’ve seen that lewk – and it was worn five years before Insta was even dreamed into being. That same belt was looped into a pair of her tiny hot-pants and worn with a waist coat and studded bag and pirate boots too. It was layered under a tee-shirt, two jackets and her boyfriend’s hat. Sigh.

Layering was where it was at… Nicole Ritchie quotes layering as her top ‘how to get my look’ tip saying that she adds a bed jacket underneath her leather jacket to give it more softness. I took notes. So did everyone – Kate’s waistcoat combo is still peak festival style two decades later. And Nicole and Paris are filming a new reality series.

Diaphanous slithers of fabric, frills, layers, fringing, peasant blouses, boots, clogs, studded bits, long scarves. It was a thing to behold. Good news - or possibly disastrous news because that is how mercurial boho can be… It is back! Yes, here we are again, thanks to Chemena Kamali’s vibe-shifting debut as creative director of Chloé, where the label is exploding in sheer ruffled layers and a cute, barely-there-faced FROW.

“For me, boho is about a woman who travels and picks things up along the way, mixing and matching. She knows her tastes. Kate Moss is a great example. When she puts things together in her own way, it’s about freedom. I do feel like, at the time, I was a leader in this kind of movement. It’s how I’ve always dressed myself.” - Isabel Marant, designer

So here’s why I am back to loving boho and its not just because the sheer fabrics and slashed necklines are so excellent for managing hot flashes, nor that the colour palette generally looks good on everyone. Nor that the shoes dictated are comfortable (in the grand scheme of things, you understand… this is till fashun).

It is also not because boho relies heavily on personal style and lots of good accessories. Nor that boho means you don’t have to blow-dry and flat iron your hair. Boho means bare legs and lip balm. And flat shoes. And layering. And it is feminine but not cutesey, so you can feel a little rock ‘n roll. To overuse a phrase that is overused to death and beyond: it’s very demure, very mindful.

Better still is that Sienna Miller - yes, of course she’s still Team Best O’ Boho - stepped out this week showing all us mere mortals who have grown up alongside her that there is a way to wear boho when you are older and wiser that doesn’t make you look like a complete and utter moron. Or worse still misidentified as tannie. This was at the Chloe show.

The outfit in question paired the softest blush pink trousers - high-waisted and ever-so-slightly bell bottomed - with a silky slither of a blouse and a balloon-sleeved pale blue jacket. The jacket is like a cropped pea coat with neck fastenings and cuffs but also puffed-up shoulders and gathered pleats. She looks like a very hot cloud or the sugar plum fairy if she got herself a stylist and went to Paris Fashion Week.

It is accessorised with gold pendants, a turquoise cuff and loose hair. I know that the devil is in the details. A version of this ensemble is probably walking through Pretoria’s Menlyn Park as I sit typing this newsletter, but the details are so, so achingly good. If this is what grown-up boho looks like - and I daresay it does - then sign me up.

PS For Boy Boho but mainly because I want to wear this or just wear Andrew Scott. Here is Andrew Scott aka Hot Priest in a bit of a ruffle. The flames are not just because menopause. I swear. Forkin’ hell.