Necks are the new cleavage! Not remotely true or accurate, but they are overdue a look-in, having been buried beneath our (albeit on-trend) polo necks all season. This is where chokers come in. One of the most resilient accessory trends of recent decades, they peaked in the 1990s, flooded the 2004 catwalks, came back again in spring/summer 2012 and popped up last winter, last spring and again this season.
There are no rules with fabric or material. Victorian velvet is a classic but really, why stop there? Laser-cut leather, rhinestone, pearly, dog collars and – like this one at Isabel Marant – a stethoscope, it is all fair game provided it is tied tight enough to count. Undeniably chokers work best with a low-cut top or something Bardot-y – anything that covers your collar bones would just look weird – but despite potentially hypersexual undertones, they can make anything revealing feel a little less naked.
Silk scarves, in the vein of Hermès et al, work too. American Apparel has even launched a line of tops with built-in chokers to save you time, a prevalent look at the AMAs, where Kylie, Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid all wore dresses with built-in neck pieces.
For some people, chokers will always be linked with fetishwear – an association that rarely reads brilliantly in real life. Even on celebrities – aside from the odd flourish of latex on Rihanna and Gaga – it feels a bit “look at me” or, worse, a bit “fashion designer’s edgy graduate show”. Chokers, however, are the acceptable face of this reference. Plus wearing something round your neck makes you hold your head up high, which is good because enforced dignity is very necessary in the run-up to your seventh Christmas party.
