In Defense of Off-the-Shoulder Tops
Have we reached peak [fill in the blank]? Who the f*ck cares! If I like it, I wear it and that proudly includes Adidas, chokers, even Vetements if I could afford a damn pant leg. I understand sites that focus exclusively on fashion ask these questions from a well-meaning place, but I find these types of stories don’t sit well.
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How bad might a reader feel if she just bought herself a brand-new trending piece, only to be told by her favorite website that it’s “over”? Or that her cute new choker is now a staple of Bible-Belt sorority girls (as one site graciously brought to my to attention). I get writers are trying to do their loyal readers a solid, but I think the unintentional cattiness of proclaiming a popular trend dead doesn’t serve a genuine purpose, other than to imply “we’re better than this.”
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One particular item of clothing that’s apparently hit its unfortunate peak, according to a certain sector of the web: the off-the-shoulder top. Are they absolutely everywhere? Yep. Did they make their way back into fashion-girls’ sightline months before becoming the unofficial summer 2016 uniform of every single woman on earth? Certainly. But so what? The fact remains, it’s a cut of clothing—a cute, easy, flattering cut of clothing that looks reliably chic while pinch-hitting nicely when you want to embrace the season and show a little skin without resorting to skimpy summer clothes.
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Around our office, you’ll probably see at least one editor styling an off-the-shoulder piece in their own way on any given day—with Levi’s and sneakers, with wide-leg trousers, with denim cutoffs, as a dress with lace-up sandals—and I think they all look cool and very much like themselves. So, yeah—we’re endorsing the style wholeheartedly, so wear ’em if you like ’em—no shame here.
Oh, and click through the gallery above to see how dozens of stylish girls are wearing their off-the-shoulder-pieces for summer, along with links on where to buy some of the best.
