If the dreamy Picnic At Hanging Rock has taught me anything, it’s that nothing is sexier than a good dose of mystique. Miranda, the heavy-lidded dreamer of the piece, is one of the most alluring conundrums I have seen on film. Floating languidly and nonchalant throughout, she immediately becomes mistress of any domain she enters, her aura permeating the wild landscape even after her curious disappearance. With her stiff cotton dresses buttoned to within an inch of her life, her only concession is the folly of some frills. We long to see beneath the enigma (and the frock).
The same can be said of Chloë Sevigny’s prickly Nicolette in TV’s Big Love. She may be difficult, stubborn and too-much at times, but there’s little doubt there’s a lot hiding beneath that starched polygamist collar. And with her buttons all the way to the top and hair perennially in a low plait, it could be said that Nicolette owes more to SS10 Miu Miu than the Book of Mormon.
Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Miu Miu
Thus, staid has become seductive. The functionality of a high neck and the classic romance of frills have met with hemlines slashed at the thigh and cheeky sheer fabrics. Innocence clashes with impudence in delicious incongruity.
The whimsical high collared frocks of Australian label Lover are the perfect mélange of prim and luxe. Long sleeves and buttons tracing their way right up the neckline would not look out of place on any of the Little House on the Prairie girls, were they not made from such lush fabrics. Pop on a dab of coquettish nude lippy, make like Miu Miu with a slick of liquid eyeliner and a messy low-slung braid, and finish with a pair of shoes Laura Ingalls-Wilder would deem obscene. Prairie practicality goes provocative.
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