The cold-shoulder top is the summer trend that point-blank refuses to die. The world has been in geopolitical turmoil for a whole year, yet this shoulder-revealing top has not faltered for one moment in its quest for domination. Frilly, milkmaid-ish, white lace versions commanded last year’s holiday wardrobes; sultry, slinky ones monopolised Christmas party wear.
The 2017 update is the spec I like the best so far: this summer’s version is a crisp shirt with shoulders exposed. This is progress, because until now daytime iterations of the look have flirted with a bucolic, daisy-chain vibe which, while adorable, is wearable only on the one Saturday in the year when it’s your goddaughter’s first birthday party in the park. And even then it works only if it’s hot and sunny, because most cold-shoulder tops are hopelessly uncomfortable if you wear a jacket on top.
A crisp shirt is all business, an exposed shoulder is pure smoulder –though I’ll leave it to your discretion whether the mashed-up look is office-appropriate. It may be just the thing to cheer up (awful expression) hump day, but that depends on your office, and your tolerance for jokes about your shirt missing bits, haha.
When the look certainly works, however, is weekend mornings, with all the optimism this implies: that point in the day when you’re filled with good intentions to make a green juice and go to that gym class. Before you know it, it could all go south, starting with the moment you put on a lolz slogan T-shirt, and then you’ve ordered a cronut with your coffee and you’ve missed your fitness slot. Wear this shirt, on the other hand, and you bring a certain crisp snappiness to your weekend wardrobe, without feeling you’re back at a desk.
The trend is also more proof of how the shirt, once mere wardrobe-filler, is now a trophy item. You are not just showcasing your collarbones; you’re showing off your on-trend shirt collection. Power dressing in 2017? No jacket required.
• Jess wears Shirt, £30, next.co.uk. Trousers, £27.50, marksandspencer.com. Leopard heels, £80, dunelondon.com. Jewellery, Jess’s own.
Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Sam Cooper at Carol Hayes Management.
