It was, incidentally, a look that defined the women’s liberation movement in the ’60s. Now, it’s all the more a look that evokes the same effect, what with the season’s unapologetically statement-making, knee- to thigh-high kicks.

There’s no way that this eyelet-patterned fabric will ever not look feminine – it was used to make sweet, innocent-looking women’s underwear in 19th-century France. But when Hypebeast has become a fevered aesthetic, and winsome It girls from Kaia Gerber to Dua Lipa prefer street wear over demure dresses, pretty alone doesn’t always cut it. A refreshing, of-the-moment proposal from the likes of Loewe and MSGM (pictured here): Dye it in trendy highlighter hues, fashion into not-so-demure pieces (note the exaggerated sleeves here), then complete with accessories you’d usually wear with tees and jeans.

The couturier Paul Poiret (whose label is incidentally being revived next season) made it de rigueur to wear one, while strong, idiosyncratically glamorous women like Greta Garbo and Nina Simone made it part of their look. Less fancy-weird, Royal Ascot-style millinery; more sculptural, artistic renditions of classic headgear, their romance is being revived with the likes of Marc Jacobs’ jewel-toned silk turbans and these oversized straw bows from Delpozo. And in this era of turmoil and too many slogan caps, romance is exactly what we need.

This story first appeared in Female’s April 2018 issue.

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