On the second day of Christmas Yuppee gave to me two turtle-necks (and a Partridge in a Pear Tree). Yes – think Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face, all gamine in skinny trousers and ballet pumps, and French women in trench coats ambling down the Left Bank, that’s our vision this Winter.
The ole’ turtle-necks got a bad rap there for a bit; worn mostly by stuffy lady prepsters with pearls and men’s sweater vests. But their ability to add a chic mod sensibility to any look has been noticed by the likes of Phoebe Philo at Celine and Raf Simons at Jil Sander, who’ve reintroduced the turtle-neck this fall using the stark staple as the latest way to layer, giving a rest to the ladylike blouses that have infiltrated fashion.
More recently, Alexander Wang, Phillip Lim, Missoni and Erdem each artfully styled the almighty turtle-neck under a leather staple, jacket, dress and trench, respectively, to utterly chic results. They experimented with colour, pattern and texture, leading us to believe the smart look might just be here to stay.
Yes – on this second day of twelve we offer you two ways to wear your turtle-neck this Winter.
(Outfit includes: Two-tone turtle-neck, £400, Missoni; Asymmetric collarless jacket, £180, Reiss; Vamp shoe, £39.99, Zara; Tweed pencil leg trousers, £345, Phillip Lim; Black and Red Clutch, £40, Yoru).
(Outfit includes: Stripe seamless turtle-neck, £28, Free People; Dress, £890, Missoni; Lightness long socks, £23, Henrik Vibskov; Knotted PU waist belt, £16, Accessorize; Dume Roma leather block heeled buckle calf boots, £145, Dune).
-ZB