When I was a teenager, I had a lamé shirt that I wore death. It didn’t help that it hailed from C&A and I shared it with my best friend, but it eventually disintegrated, or turned into a kind of gelatinous lump with the texture of just-discarded chewing gum. So far, so 1990s C&A, but my affection for lamé, fuelled by memories of drunken nights out, has never really died. Sequins and Lurex are great, but, for me, the cheap thrill of lamé’s sheen is priceless. See Kate Moss at the Met Ball in 2009, or Marilyn Monroe at the Photoplay Awards in 1953.
Which is useful this season because lamé – the fabric one accent away from “lame” – is most certainly back. Catwalk designers, possibly also former clubkids, have pledged their allegiance. JW Anderson had ruched lamé dresses in his own label – very 80s social club barmaid – and as part of a sort of lab-assistant chic at Loewe, where lamé shirt dresses were worn with trousers underneath.
And then there’s the pleated lamé skirt – to the knee and a bit twirly – that is now the party skirt of the season. Alexa Chung wore the gold Gucci one (very Marilyn) with a striped Gucci jumper and looked like she might have been in a nightclub queue circa 1997, necking back a pre-mixed vodka and orange juice.
Christopher Kane’s, worn underneath one of his erotic dresses for the show, has already sold out on matchesfashion.com and been worn – again with a sweater – by accessories designer Sophie Hulme at events.
As you might expect, the high street is pretty good at lamé, too. Topshop Unique’s Livonia dress has also sold out, but the skirt (very JW) is still around, while Asos – the home of the party girl – has a whopping 254 metallic dresses, some of them very fetching versions of lamé. Expect to see a few of them dotting the venue of your Christmas party.
Ultimately, the appeal of lamé now is the same appeal it had when I was staying out till 5am on a school night – it’s unapologetically disco, razzle-dazzle and a teensy bit trashy, but in a really good way. The floppy nature of it makes it much more louche than, say, brocade (a bit high-school prom) or sequins (too Strictly). It’s sort of racy, the kind of thing that, say, the Duchess of Cambridge wouldn’t be seen dead in. It’s Bucks Fizz, Farrah Fawcett, Kate Moss, Marilyn Monroe, Alexis Carrington, Amy Childs. These are lamé girls. Join them on the dancefloor – or wherever, really – this party season.
