Whatever Happened to Shoulder Pads? Spoiler Alert: They're Kind of Feminist

Shoulder pads: You either love them or you hate them, right? JUST KIDDING, OF COURSE YOU HATE THEM. Who likes shoulder pads? Oh, you’re “kind of into them”? Geez, I’m sorry… I just thought we were all sort of on the same page here.

Sure, the shoulder pad is one of those items that’s intended to convey all the right things: Power! Capability! Confidence! Unfortunately, in real life, the shoulder pad often looks like all the wrong things: Clunky. Unflattering. Totally ’80s. But no matter how many awful fashion mistakes have been made with shoulder pads in a starring role, there’s one thing they have going for them. Believe it or not, shoulder pads have something of a feminist history — in that they’ve always been used to help women keep up with the guys.

Technically, shoulder pads were invented in 1877 by a Princeton football player named L.P. Smock. But shoulder pads for sports are so different than shoulder pads for fashion — unless you’re wearing that jacket with the padding to protect yourself from injury? — that’s it’s pointless to compare the two. The Fashion Shoulder Pad sprung to life, fully cushioned, in 1931, championed by designers Marcel Rochas and Elsa Schiaparelli. A year later, when Joan Crawford wore a massively shoulder-centric dress in the movie Letty Lynton, the verdict was in: the shoulder was the new EVERYTHING.

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As World War II came crashing through the annals of history, shoulder pads became more than just a fashionable look. They became a confidence-booster, a way for women to signify that they were leaving the home and going to work and doing it all for their country. Suddenly it was hipper than ever to dress courageously, defiantly, boldly, and what better way to signify boldness than the mannish silhouette of the shoulder pad?

After the war ended, the shoulder pad’s time was up. People no longer wanted to dress the way they had during wartime, and Dior’s “New Look” of 1947 celebrated all things anti-shoulder pad: slinky silhouettes, drapy fabrics, and sweeping skirts. “We were emerging from the period of war, of uniforms, of women-soldiers built like boxers,” wrote Dior — referring, we can only assume, to the ubiquity of shoulder pads. His New Look was all about the ultra-feminine, and shoulder pads have always conjured up the man (just like “broad shoulders” is always compliment when referring to a man, but can be an insult when used to describe a woman).

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Shoulder pads fell out of mainstream fashion for a couple of decades, and when they resurfaced, it was once again to help women assume — or overcome — the role of men. It wasn’t pretty, but prettiness was the enemy. The ’80s power suit, shoulder-padded within an inch of its life, was an embodiment of the “dress for success” mantra, and during the ’80s, dressing for success meant dressing like one of the guys. And what better way to convey power and in-charge-ness then a silhouette with broad, strong shoulders?

Like women smashing through the glass ceiling, shoulder pads no longer felt confined to the suit, either. They leaped onto dresses, blouses, and casual jackets, making everyone in the ’80s look a bit more broad-shouldered. No one was safe.

Post-’80s, shoulder pads fell back into oblivion in in favor of, uh, anything else. But you can’t keep an odd-looking piece of shoulder jewelry down, and the trend is making a third comeback, of sorts, today. Stars like Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, and Victoria Beckham have all been adopting the powerful silhouette, and decorated shoulders — that’s epaulettes, FYI — are also fairly popular these days as a sort of shoulder pad-lite look.

Why now? This time around, shoulder pads aren’t designed to bring confidence in wartime or masculinity to the working girl. What do they bring, today, to the women who wear them? Hard to say exactly, but my money’s on outer space. The shoulder pads of right now are studded, twinkling, and a little bit sci-fi. Until now, shoulder pads have been a weathervane of the times, embodying women’s fears, aspirations, and futures. Maybe the first person on Mars will be a woman, and maybe shoulder pads are telling us that right now.

Your New Wardrobe Staple Is Hanging in Your Boyfriend's Closet

I will admit that I looked like something of a crazed bag lady. It was around 11 p.m. on Sunday evening, and I was digging through heaps of mangy cutoff band tees at my boyfriend’s apartment, attempting to find a shirt suitable for the office Monday morning. The reason for this last-minute race to create some sort of bootleg, work-appropriate ensemble? My boyfriend and I live in different boroughs (which in New York is comparable to living in different states) and with the lull of the weekend still hanging over me, I was way too lazy to make the trek back home. The challenge: The only clothing I had with me was a bleach-speckled oversize tank and a pair of blue skinny jeans. The only semisuitable garments he had? A pair of button-downs in white (complete with coffee stain) and faded denim. Even though I don’t feel quite confident that I’ve yet mastered the art of denim-on-denim, I picked the latter. (Desperation drives people to do crazy things.) And yet, the next day at work, two editors complimented me on my outfit, with it’s air of “undone chic.” Little did they know how undone: I had scrapped the prized quasi-rag out of a closet of dog fur–covered, beer-splattered, once-worn pile of laundry.

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And I’m not the only person who creates makeshift looks out of my boyfriend’s clothes. Comedian Chrissie Mayr has a bit that relates to one-night stands (also applicable to those in committed relationships who neglect to plan ahead): Her solution? Open up a store that sells women’s workwear at 5:00 a.m. And Mayr, if you’re listening, I’d invest: When I blasted a social media message out asking if any women wore their significant other’s shirts to work, my inbox was flooded with responses. A banker pairs her boyfriend’s collared shirts and sweaters over trousers while a designer wore her father-in-law and husband’s button-ups with skirts. One of my acquaintances wore a full suit pilfered from her boyfriend’s closet. Their reasons varied: One mentioned that they enjoyed blurring gender lines, another that she enjoyed the comfort and looseness of a men’s fit—they all mentioned being often short on time. (But long on style!)

There’s more to infusing your wardrobe with your beau’s leftovers than efficiency. Take a cue from the French street-style stars who have mastered the look: Every Fashion Week, Vogue Paris editor Emmanuelle Alt is seen in a loose-fitting men’s button-up tucked into skinny jeans, topped off with a pair of heels. The key to making the look “your own,” according to Vogue Market Editor Kelly Connor (who, it bears noting, was wearing her fiancé’s shirt while we spoke) is to focus on accessorizing. “The boyfriend shirt should be worn buttoned a bit lower with a great gold necklace,” says Connor. “I think a bit of wrinkle gives it personality, and also a good roll to the sleeves and pushed up around the elbows,” says Connor. “Otherwise the silhouette can overwhelm.”

And for those without sticky fingers (or male love interests with a lenient lending policy), there’s no shame in investing in some great menswear pieces for yourself. It’s the perfect laissez-faire late-summer staple. And trust us, the look isn’t going out of style anytime soon.

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The one food rule you should adhere to

Count kilojoules, always eat breakfast, don't eat carbs after 6pm.Whether it's public health advice or conflicting opinions in the media about nutrition, we hear a lot of messages about what and how we should eat. But there's one message that needs to be louder, says Gabriella Heruc, an Adelaide-based Accredited Practising Dietitian - listen to your body's hunger signals.

According to Heruc, who specialises in eating disorders and disordered eating, tuning into your body's inner appetite signals is more useful than observing external food 'rules.'

"People often get fixated on counting kilojoules, for instance, but learning to count kilojoules doesn't teach you to listen to your body," she says. "One characteristic of people who have a healthy relationship with food is that they eat more intuitively and are more aware of their appetite. They rely on internal hunger and satiety cues to know when it's time to eat and when it's time to stop - and their reasons for eating are physical, not emotional."

But ignoring your body's hunger and fullness cues, eating for emotional reasons, eating mindlessly or having your eating choices dictated by food rules that demand you avoid certain food groups may be clues that your relationship with food isn't healthy, she adds.

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Why do so many of us develop troubled relationships with food?

"The reasons are very individual and can include perfectionism, low self-esteem and poor body image. But they can also include the home environment, especially if there are frequent discussions around weight, appearance or diet in the home," she says.

"Non-hungry eating is very common and the availability of so much food is one reason. But we also know that emotions and thoughts can override our physiological appetite signals - research has shown that stress can increase hunger and food intake in some people - although it can decrease hunger and food intake in others."

Nutrition information - and misinformation - in the media may also be playing a part. In the past 10 years Heruc has noticed an increase in the number of clients whose disordered eating is driven less by concerns about body image and more by anxiety about particular foods.

'I've seen many people who've had mild gut symptoms and who then self-diagnose a problem with wheat, gluten or dairy and cut out these foods - and even if the symptoms persist they still continue to avoid them because of fears that their symptoms would get worse if they went back to eating them," she says.

"So many people are cutting out carbohydrates from their diets thinking that they're 'bad' - yet carbohydrates are the body and brain's primary source of fuel. They're also an essential source of fibre that helps lower cholesterol, regulate blood glucose levels and optimise bowel function."

Fat is another target, says Heruc recalling the client whose father had died of heart disease and who avoided all types of fat as a result.

"Fat is one of the most misunderstood nutrients. Yet fats are essential for optimal brain function and nerve signalling in the body, as well as hormone production - including production of hormones that are important for sending fullness signals from the gut to the brain."

How can we nurture a healthier relationship with food? Eat mindfully - besides making you more aware of what you're eating, it makes it easier to pick up your body's hunger and fullness signals.

"So many of us eat in front of TV, at our desk or while talking to others, and don't pay attention to our food - most people have experienced looking down at an empty plate and being unable to recall even eating the food that was there," she says.

Sometimes, but not always, the seeds of future eating problems are sown in early childhood but there are ways to help prevent that.

"It's good if we can keep emotions and food separated so that food isn't seen as an answer when someone's upset," she says. "Teach children to listen to their hunger signals as well as to love and trust their bodies."

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Lynn Yaeger Travels to Provence for a Fashion Master Class with Creatures of the Wind at SCAD

Fashion writer Lynn Yaeger joins Creatures of the Wind designers Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters in the rolling hills of Provence for a master class in fashion at Savannah College of Art and Design Lacoste—and a vintage shopping adventure.

Day One

It is 9:00 p.m. at the Café de Sade in Lacoste, it is still blazingly light outside, and Pierre Cardin, who is the unofficial mayor of this village in the south of France, is at a corner table. I am nursing a glass of rosé, awaiting the arrival of the Creatures of the Wind boys, as everyone calls them, who have just tumbled out of the SCAD van. They scramble up the stone steps, order drinks, and stare in stunned wonderment at the view.

We’re at the Provencal campus, nestled in a medieval village so idyllic it is almost ridiculous. (The Marquis de Sade, who once lived in a castle overlooking the village, liked it here, too.) The Creatures are in town to teach a master class to fashion design students; I am tagging along and mostly begging everyone to take me to brocantes, the flea markets that fill the streets of local hamlets.

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Day Two

In SCAD’s glorious sixteenth-century Maison Basse, an atelier that was once a silkworm farm (there are still holes in the walls where mulberry leaves resided) Gabier and Peters meet the students. It’s an all-female group, organized into seven teams of two. The Creatures guys give a brief history of their brand—the name comes from a Johnny Mathis song—and then move on to their main topic: the unleashing of creativity; the pursuit of your influences; the task of opening your mind, regardless of whether this leads immediately to the clothes you create. This kind of deep thinking is a challenge to the students, and as Peters reels off the line’s recent influences—Conan the Barbarian, hokey sci-fi epics, the outsider artist Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, star maps—the kids looked frankly stunned. “A collection is about emotional nebulousness,” Gabier tells them. “In the end, it’s greater than the core of components you bring into it.” Peters adds: “Fashion is an idealized version of your world.”

Day Three

Every time we pass a highway sign advertising the Cirque Landri, I turn into a demented seven-year-old screaming, “Circus! Circus!” So on Tuesday night, we go to this one-ring affair in the middle of a field near Coustellet—the juggler, animal wrangler, and rope-trick artist are the same guy; the aerialist and doggie trainer is the same sullen young lady (am I nuts, or did I see this wench wrapping her legs around a rope in a similar act a few months ago at the Box in Dubai?); the clown is also the stagehand; the bird lady sells cotton candy during intermission. At the sight of recalcitrant pups jumping through hoops, Peters laughs so hard he cries. In any case, everyone is in a very good mood tonight because earlier in the day, on a visit to L’Isle sur la Sorgue, we discovered a Valhalla called La Fripe Chic, an unassuming vintage store with (not lying here!) Balenciaga frocks for 60 euros, red leather Marni coats for 50, Margiela pullovers for 20, and Rick Owens cardies for 15.

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Day Four

We’ve settled into a pattern, and it is insanely pleasurable. We spend mornings at the brocantes and vide greniers (French for garage sale)—today the fair is in Bédoin, where Creatures find a pair of vintage Rochas sunglasses in the case for 20 euros that they plan to gift to their friend Liz Goldwyn. A dealer gives me a silvery bracelet when he finds out I am American (maybe something about my French tipped him off?) in thanks, he tells me, tearing up, for the allies who arrived near here 60 years ago and saved France. In the afternoon, we stop at the studio and see how the class is coming along. The Creatures’ recommendations have apparently sunk in—the students’ boards, once crowded with sunny pics of Grace Kelly and lavender sprigs, have become darker, more abstract, more mysterious, more personal—dreamy views of the countryside have been replaced variously with smoking nuns, menacing cicadas, Pina Bausch, and mad houses.

Day Five

Can this be our last day in Provence? How quickly the time flies when you are hanging with cool students, banging around markets, and gorging on poulet fumé. Gabier and Peters look approvingly at the students’ work and the progress they have made. “Never worry about how perfect something is,” Peters reminds them. “Explore what’s special, what’s close to you!” he says, as the Provençal light streams through the windows, and the supermoon, not in a hurry to leave—and nor am I!—still faintly visible in the morning sky.

Alessandra Rich on going west, long hemlines and never having enough denim

Alessandra Rich has been into long hemlines well before it became one of the biggest trends in fashion. In 2010, she launched her namesake label, the majority of which is made up of sheer-and-lace dresses that skim the ankles. With her capsule collection for Net-A-Porter launching today, Rich talks to Vogue about fashion’s ‘more brains, less legs’ motto and her muses from the 70s.

Your approach to formalwear is incredibly modern, while still being reminiscent of a time when women dressed up more frequently. Do you believe we have lost the art of dressing up?

I don’t think so. Women today are more self-confident. I think there is a link between what a woman thinks about herself and what she chooses to wear. It’s not about how many long dresses you have in your wardrobe but about your attitude. A clever woman knows how to mix modernity with tradition, without being nostalgic.

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It seems like everyone in fashion is adopting longer lengths now. Have you noticed a shift towards length since you launched your label?

Fashion changes fast, I try to be out of the trends but sometimes ‘being out of the trend’ can become a new trend. I noticed a shift towards ‘more brain, less legs’ in fashion. I think fashion can be clever and funny, in the same hemline.

Despite being long in hem and sleeve length, your dresses still reveal the body beneath through lace and fit. What tips do you have for layering undergarments beneath your dresses?

I love transparency and lace is essential to make it; it’s super feminine. I really cannot do without it. I don’t like to give too much advice; I think each woman knows how to feel good in her dress.

Where did the Western vibe come from for your Net-a-Porter collection?

My Western vibe comes from Western movies. I thought of Charlotte Rampling’s fabled look, Lauren Hutton’s smile, everything belongs to a 70s energy. I imagined an elusive muse, femme fatale and tomboy, fresh and wild.

What pieces in your wardrobe are on high rotation now?

My wardrobe is very basic, even boring. But in the rotation now there is a chambray body shirt from the capsule collection.

What is on your fashion wish list at the moment?

A new pair of jeans, because I can never have enough.

If you could dress anyone in the world, who would it be?

Going back to the past, Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar.

What have you learnt about fashion since you started your label?

That fashion must be fun.

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Alice Fisher on style: the magnificent 70s

You don’t often get to quote serial killers in fashion columns, but Hannibal Lecter was right when he said that we begin by coveting what we see every day. My start was in the 1970s, and I am besotted with the decade’s style. Not glam or disco or decadence, but the fashion I saw every day on the streets of Derby, where I grew up, and on the telly we watched every night.

Thinking about what it means to be a grown-up woman still triggers a Flipagram in my head of Meryl Streep in Kramer vs Kramer, Linda McCartney singing “Mull of Kintyre”, Margaret Thatcher becoming leader of the Conservatives, Angela Rippon, Ria from the sitcom Butterflies, and my mum. They’re the women who first made me aware of work and power, feminism, environmentalism, the news and, you know, made my tea. Though my mum did that after finishing her full-time job and before she got her Singer sewing machine out, as she made her own clothes. What a star. Their look, a very muted glamour, will always be dear to me.

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This sort of 1970s style is a subtle influence this summer. Full calf-length skirts, slim-fitting shirts with cuffs, aviator shades and vivid-patterned dresses teamed with clumpy-heeled sandals or platforms are dotted through spring/summer collections ranging from Hermès to Etro. American designer Michael Kors’s whole show was a linen, khaki, leaf-printed paean to the 1970s all-American woman. Matthew Williamson – best known for his 1990s boho chic dresses – had a big dollop of 1970s fashion in his show, too. He said it was because the Williamson woman is maturing and needs clothes that reflect that: “She has kids, a job and responsibilities.” He’s the same age as me, and I can’t help but think that’s why he equates the 1970s with grown-ups.

If you’re looking for something closer in price to the original 1970s versions, & Other Stories has shirts with the right buttoned-up feel. They’re silk, which beats the polyester my mum had to wear. Most British stores have a classic beige summer mac at this time of year, and the best I’ve seen is a double-breasted one by Marks & Spencer. Super cheap. If you have money to invest, buy a brown bag. It’s suitably 70s, and there were loads of brown handbags at the autumn/winter shows, too, so it’ll make you feel fashionable until about this time next year.

You’d think that the clumpy sandals and platforms would be the easiest part of this look. They’re everywhere, from Office to Asos. I tried some wooden-soled clogs, my mum’s favoured footwear once her work shoes came off. These were Swedish Hasbeens, a label whose designs are based on original 70s shoes found in an old Swedish clog factory, and they defeated me. I hobbled like I had bad pins and needles or really needed a wee. So please wear them for me. It makes me so happy to see 1970s women back on the streets. Do I sound a bit obsessed? Well, don’t worry. I promise not to eat you.

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Amy Sedaris Dresses Like a Scarecrow, Looks Good Doing It

Today on Style, Amy Sedaris, author, comedienne, former Strangers With Candy star, and bona fide rabbit expert advises readers on how to care for their fashion bunnies. But when I spoke with Sedaris in her cozy Greenwich Village apartment, she had some fashion tales to share, too. For instance, last year, at her good friend Adam Selman’s debut presentation, Sedaris made an onstage cameo as a photographer (left), directing models as they posed in their silk shorts and swimsuits on set. “The other photographers thought I was a real photographer,” laughed Sedaris, who met Selman while the pair was working on a Dolly Parton video. “So they were mean to me—you know, pushy, bossy, aggressive. One photographer asked me what I was shooting for, and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s no film in this camera.’ Cuckoo!”

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Selman, who made Sedaris’ late rabbit Dusty a custom awning to sleep under, designs a number of the actress’s dresses. “He’s great, and he’ll help me pick out shoes,” she noted. While her custom Selman wares are decidedly more demure than that infamous fishnet-and-crystal number Rihanna worked at the CFDA Awards, Sedaris insists that she wouldn’t shy away from a similar ensemble. “I’d do it for a laugh,” she chuckled. “I’d just wear it out every day. To the gym even. Everywhere.”

That would be a bold move (and one we’d fully support). But Sedaris admits that the other night, while preparing for an evening out on the town, she was at a loss for what to wear. “Adam was here, and I was being restless, so I Googled how you’re supposed to dress when you’re over 50. And it was, like, stuff I would never wear in a million years! Not ever!” So how does Sedaris, who at this particular moment was donning some Junya Watanabe-esque patchwork jeans and a white T-shirt, describe her personal style? “I usually dress like a scarecrow,” she deadpanned. Well, Ms. Sedaris, if that’s the case, it’s working for you.

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Growing Up With Chanel: The Stylish Ascent of Franco-Spanish Actress Astrid Bergès-Frisbey

“When I work on a film, I pay attention to the way my characters dress, because it’s a big part of the creation process,” says 28-year-old Astrid Bergès-Frisbey. The Franco-Spanish model and actress, whose first English language role was the mermaid Syrena in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, often imagines a thread weaving through her assigned ensembles. For her turn as Sofi in this summer’s molecular-biology thriller I Origins alongside Michael Pitt and Brit Marling, she and director Mike Cahill focused on pink, blue, and orange set against a black silhouette. “I’m not going to tell why,” says Bergès-Frisbey, “but we wanted something recognizable and special,” though subtle enough to notice Sofi’s spirit, and not her outfit. “It’s always a delicate point . . . finding the balance.”

Bergès-Frisbey’s daily uniform is unostentatious as well: a T-shirt (her sister, and roommate, teases her about her ample collection of white tees) under a tweed jacket, jeans, flats, and a hat. She explains, “When I’m in between shoots, I need to feel [like] myself . . . and [not] think, ‘Is this right or not?’ in the morning.”

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Despite her sought-after gamine style, she marvels at New York City women. “Probably the most beautiful thing about New York is [that] it’s a city with four seasons, and there’s something very playful about [that] . . . Right now, you can dream of the day that you will put on a winter hat,” she says, dubbing Paris “a city where everybody dresses kind of the same.” She avers Parisians are critical of those who are bizarrely attired—or too done-up. “[In] New York, people accept one another. How you dress doesn’t matter; it’s who you are and what you do, and [whether] you’re good at what you do.”

Being at ease is paramount even on the red carpet (“You can find haute couture that is supercomfortable,” she insists) and allows for the actress to present herself apart from the silver screen with a sense of effortless chic. “Half the time, I live under [the guise of] my characters, so if I start to create an ‘official character’ for myself, it would be exhausting,” she sighs. She remains loyal to a small group of designers, mentioning Maxime Simoëns, and Rupert Sanderson for his feminine shoes, and of course, Karl Lagerfeld, for whom she has modeled—a professional relationship she came by honestly, thanks to her mother, a Chanel employee.

“I know pretty much any branch of [the] brand and I love to be able to see the couture salon [along with] the back of the shop where my mom works,” Bergès-Frisbey says. “I’m just impressed by how Karl reinvents Chanel again and again and again, and for so long, using the same codes, but reinventing it [for] fashion now,” she continues, noting that she was photographed for The Little Black Jacket book. “I have such respect for him. He does [everything] with the same eyes and the same energy as a kid.”

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Summer Friday: How Two Top Music Publicists Spend Their Afternoons Out of the Office

Like the George Gershwin song goes, “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.” Especially if your workweek is cut short thanks to “Summer Fridays.” The extra hours go a long way in making every weekend seem like a holiday. If you’re short on inspiration for your own Summer Fridays, just look to our new season-long series in which we ask industry people with cool jobs to share how they’ll be spending their free afternoons.

Chances are at least one of your favorite bands is repped by Press Here Publicity. Linda Carbone and Chloë Walsh, who started the full-service public relations company ten years ago, have worked with everyone from full-fledged icons to up-and-coming artists. Their current roster includes Blondie, Yoko Ono, Depeche Mode, Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bat for Lashes, The Kills, and Blood Orange, among others. Since the duo work out of opposite coasts—with Chloë based in L.A. and Linda in NYC—they shared with us two very different takes on how they’ll be spending their Summer Fridays.

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Chloë: I’m still in awe of the variety L.A. has to offer. From the office it’s about a fifty-minute drive to Topanga Canyon. It’s my favorite of all the canyons because it’s the greenest and reminds me the most of Europe, where I’m from. Looking down at the ocean, surrounded by olive trees, it feels very Mediterranean. There’s far more foliage on the hikes there, so it’s possible to walk mostly in the shade, unlike the other canyon hikes. Topanga is just a few minutes’ drive from Malibu and the best, wildest beaches. I’m always impressed by the surfers, and after a long week in the office, there’s nothing more relaxing than watching the sun drop down beneath the water.

Linda: Starting around 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, I shake off the stress of the week and take a wild ride with my silver slip of an Italian greyhound, Lulu. I shut down the office, turn off my phone, jump in the car with the windows wide open, turn up the volume (old vocalists Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, swing, Benny Goodman, Django Reinhardt), and breathe in the great gushes of sea-salty sun-drenched air.

A rabble of good friends and dogs unbundle at the house in East Hampton, and it’s bespoke margaritas, Marco Polo in the pool, and food. Lots and lots of good food! Grilling organic salmon, local handpicked veggies, and homemade Key lime pies by the dozens. After morning brunches and afternoons of shopping (often spending too much money), we arrive home to find the dogs waiting for a game of catch. Some evenings we meet up with friends at their houses, or go to dinner on the water and watch the sunset. Sometimes we head to the beach at dusk to sit on the rocks with a few bottles of wine, to tell stories under the moonlight while making plans for the future. Many evenings are spent falling asleep to old movies with the wind rustling in the trees above us.

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Emma Balfour on "daggy" style, Kate Moss and why she said yes to Ellery

Emma Balfour in conversation with Vogue.

Emma Balfour exchanged the life of a 90s supermodel for the one of a mother when she returned to her homeland at the end of the decade to raise her children in Sydney. However, fashion still beckoned and at times Balfour returned to modelling, always accompanied by the inevitable ‘comeback’ headline. Lately, she is “trying to say yes more often”, which for Australian label Ellery has resulted in her fronting their pre-fall 2014 campaign. Here, Vogue chats to Balfour about backstage beauty tricks and writing poetry.

How would you describe your style?

“In real life? Daggy, a bit arty, a bit dippy and practical. Sad but true.”

What influences your style?

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“My contrariness. Trying not to look like everyone else.”

Everyone keeps saying the ‘90s are back. Do you agree?

“They seem to be. It’s terrifying when your own era haunts you again so soon!”

How do you think your style fits in with the Ellery aesthetic?

“I think the uniqueness of Kym’s pieces really fits with me. They are clever, bold and different.”

You seem to be quite selective with your work. Why did you decide to do this Ellery campaign?

“Her clothes are great, and she’s the real deal; full of energy and ideas. I respond really well to people who are passionate and authentic.”

Is there a fashion job or person you could never say no to?

“I’ve been trying to say yes more often lately. It’s a bit of an adventure and I’ve been travelling a lot more as a result, which I love again now that my kids are old enough to barely miss me. I have luckily worked with almost everyone on my wish list, but I’d love to work with Juergen Teller again.”

Who is your favourite model?

“I’ve always had a soft spot for Kate [Moss] but I find Julia Nobis a bit fascinating these days. She looks so cool and above it all.”

What is the best beauty tip you picked up backstage or on a shoot?

“Mixing lip balm and eyeliner to make a great messy smudgy eye.”

You’re also a poet. Where is your favourite place to write poetry?

“In bed. Or on a plane. I seem to actually write best when I’m away from home with my fresh eyes in.”

What questions are you tired of being asked in interviews?

“Current designer questions. Cause seriously, what do I know? I rise horses and look after kids for most of the time!”

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How One Ukrainian Designer Is Winning the Hearts of Soccer and Fashion Fans Alike

It didn’t take much for RCR Khomenko’s pants to turn my head. And to be fair, they turned everyone else’s too. “Yo, mami, I love your pantaloooons!” a leather-clad biker screams to me as I walk to work in the cartoonish, cropped trousers. “Thanks, man!” I call back. A few blocks away, a young tourist asks to take a photo of me—specifically, my legs—and I cheerily strike a pose. I’m halfway to my desk when two of my colleagues leap up, pointing at my lower hemisphere with exclamations of sartorial love and desire. When I go to pick up lunch, one of the salad bar employees cheers, “I love that team!” pointing to the emblazoned logo across my ankles and making a hockey-stick swinging motion. I skip out like a child, practically beaming.

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First, keep in mind that my preferred trouser shade varies along a gray scale. These pants are anything but gray: quasi-motocross-inspired, similar to the bad-ass, logo-heavy trousers from Marc by Marc Jacobs for fall 2014 these are red, white and blue and regularly mistaken for promotional garb from The New York Rangers hockey team, largely due to a grapefruit-size Rangers logo at the hem. Much to what I imagine would be that salad bar employee’s chagrin, the pants actually have their roots across the Atlantic: Their colors and insignia are from the Rangers Football Club, a Glasgow-based soccer team. The Ukrainian designer Yasya Khomenko created the trousers out of children’s sheets and curtains procured on a trip to London. After showing them at London Fashion Week in her spring 2014 collection, a photo of the runway look quickly ended up on message boards for soccer enthusiasts. Responses ranged from one user’s succinct “WTF” to another’s calm retrospection: “That is made out of a Rangers bedspread. My wee boy has that set.”

A few months later, more than 1,800 miles away from Glasgow, I visited Khomenko’s apartment turned showroom in Kiev. Khomenko, whose collection was inspired by children’s play clothes (“I just wanted to make costume superheroes from home textiles,” said Khomenko) discovered the sporty curtains at a London bazaar. They were loud. They were reminiscent of an infant’s pajamas. They were very far off from my uniform of black skinny jeans and gray tops. And yet? I had to have them. I bought the trousers, took my first step out of a monochromatic wardrobe box, and I haven’t looked back yet—sometimes, all it takes is the right pair of trousers to make wearing something out of the ordinary mere child’s play.

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Twin Dressing: Urban Bush Babes's Cipriana Quann Shares a Photo Diary of Two Sisters' Style Evolution

Are you twins? (Yes.) Are you identical? (Yes.) Who is older? (I am.) Do you always dress alike? (Well . . . sometimes.) These are the type of questions that would shape and mold much of my and my sister’s childhood.

From a very young age my twin, Takenya, and I would partake in a nightly ritual of watching our mother choose the matching outfits we would wear to school the next morning. We then looked on as she delved into her own extensive wardrobe, planning what she would wear to her job as CEO of a major medical company—she favored office attire such as button-down blouses, high-waist slacks, and two-piece pinstriped suits.

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Growing up in the suburbs of Baltimore in the eighties and nineties, my sister and I were always fiercely passionate, whether through writing, reading, drawing, painting, or fashion. By the time we reached our teens, we were constantly borrowing clothes from each other, she would borrow my long skirts while I insisted on wearing her jumpers and customizing as we saw fit by cutting, sewing new hemlines, or creating something different altogether. Let’s just say, when the borrowed item was returned, it was unrecognizable . . . much to the other twin’s dismay.

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Of course, now through an older perspective, I can see how those little storms of rebellion against each other were simply ways to establish our own individuality. Though our lives would eventually enforce that individuality, diverging into very different paths—today, Takenya is the electronic singer and songwriter TK Wonder, currently on tour in Europe and Brazil, while I am editor in chief and cofounder of the lifestyle website Urban Bush Babes—we found common ground in our own creative niches. Here is a look back in photos of how our shared genes, heritage, and influences conspired to forge two very distinct expressions of style.

Warsaw, an undiscovered fashion hotspot

From bespoke tailoring houses such as Zaremba, which remained a favourite during the Communist era by stashing outlawed "bourgeois" fabrics for clients, to newly graduated designers, Warsaw has a surprising diversity of fashion talent, both old and new. My recent visit to Poland coincided with the graduation of Warsaw Art Academy's first ever fashion diploma students, a talented bunch, including womenswear designer Kasia Skórzyńska, whose vivid prints, inspired by the films of Wong Kar-Wai, showed accomplishment and international appeal.

Also in early June, outside of any official week or season, national (fashion) hero Robert Kupisz drew an impressive crowd to a vast warehouse space across the river from the city centre, for a show that was deliberately commercial and relaxed in style, the soft denims and especially the oversized flannel shirts pushing Kupisz's design into more high-fashion territory through tactile fabric treatments and proportion.

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Another of Warsaw's most-established designers is Ania Kuczyńska, whose beautiful boutique at Mokotowska features minimal though supremely elegant designs for men and women, accessories (including a unisex bestselling bag inspired by a trip to Shanghai, over 3,000 of which were sold last year) and housewares. Kuczynska's aesthetic is very distinctive, revealing often mystical yet subtle inspirations – evident whether you are looking at a beautifully draped shirt or pair of trousers, a simple bag or a gorgeous ceramic plate.

Some of the most covetable designs I encountered were by Mariusz Przybylski, a designer with an appealing minimal aesthetic offering clothes at Zara-level prices but designed by the man himself and produced in Poland (in a factory known for producing brands such as Burberry), beautifully cut and using high-quality materials. His pared-back separates for men and women (this season's menswear included light wool/moleskin cotton biker jackets, chunky cotton knits and texturised sweatshirts and joggers) is best experienced at his boutique, located in one of the chicest neighborhoods in Warsaw to stroll in.

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As with many cities, Warsaw's fashion community forms a branch of its wider artistic network; many of the graduate designers cited films as their main inspiration. While I was there the Zachęta National Gallery of Art had an exhibition of work by legendary Polish graphic designer and poster artist Henryk Tomaszewski, whose designs have featured in menswear by Comme des Garçons.

If you find yourself on a weekend break in Warsaw, besides eating outside at one of the city's al fresco dining spots (residents are well provided for, thanks to the city's long hot summers), I recommend checking out the city's fashion boutiques and independent stores. There is a growing sense of excitement about the city's design, building on Warsaw's history of producing fine artists and film-makers.