And we’re back with the last edition of our styling hacks shark week, where Vogue Runway editors José Criales-Unzueta and Laia Garcia-Furtado test straight-off-the-runway styling trends to figure out if they can be worn in real life. We saved the best for last, that much maligned Y2K trend of wearing pants under a skirt or a dress, made iconic by the early aughts red carpet appearances of Ashley Tisdale and Anne Hathaway. The truth is, when done right, this can actually make for some pretty advanced looks—see any number of outfits from The Row, Collina Strada, or Eckhaus Latta. Let’s see how we did.
José Criales-Unzueta: I gave this an honest try, but I can’t make any of the dresses and skirts in my closet work for this.
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Laia Garcia-Furtado: I get it. I was sort of overwhelmed by the prospect so I went with the first thing that came to mind and this was it. I think most of my skirts are very structured, and you need something soft to go over the pants. Also a problem? I don’t own a lot of pants, lmao. These are from the Zara collabo with Harry Styles’s stylist. They’re the only soft, and I was going to say narrow but what I really mean is least-wide, pants I have. I think the ideal formula for skirt over pants is that they’re both soft and straight. I sort of like these colors and these shapes together but what I’m struggling with is, does the skirt feel superfluous?
JCU: I actually really like this. The color is very good, and I think the structure of everything makes it interesting. My problem is that all of my dresses are too long to make this work, and my skirts are too stiff or wide, so it’s just a lot of fabric. I think it does feel superfluous, but maybe that’s what we just need to embrace. That’s why the yellow works—the color makes it… necessary? Or at least welcome, lol.
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LGF: I really love this J.Crew skirt, it’s a coated linen in a bold shade of what can only be called lipstick red. I love the combo with the sheer trousers which are Paloma Wool—the brown and red and the different textures work. Also the little blue velvet Venetian flats… I love the bottom half of this look. The shirt, I think, is fine, but I could find a better top if I thought about it more
JCU: I love this skirt of yours too. The length of the skirt really works for me. And so does the shirt. It’s a good choice because it simplifies the whole thing. It gives it the laid-backness that this styling hack needs, otherwise it’s just a lot of stuff going on. I like a tee, but I wonder what else could work.
LGF: “Laid-backness” is exactly right. I think that’s what I was hinting at with the first look, like the colors look good and the shapes look good but there is something about it that feels too… extra. It needs to be a combination that simply could not exist without one of its components.
JCU: I forgot about this, but I did try this once and succeeded, with, I realize now, a dress you own. I borrowed this Collina Strada look for Vogue’s pre-Met Gala party. I really loved this, looking back.
LGF: Oh, DUH! I forgot about it too. It really is the perfect fit. The colors are good, the dress has a built-in universe of interesting features, so all that’s left is… a pair of jeans.
JCU: Sometimes that’s all you need.
