Last Week, Stars Went for Corsetry and Confidence 

For most of us, party season means a few amusing holiday get-togethers with eggnog and the like. For the world’s most stylish, party season entails birthday spectaculars, store openings, runway shows, awards season pregame hustle, and, yes, the odd trip to the punch bowl. So many reasons to dress up! In New York last week a new strategy took hold with winning effect: tailored wear-anywhere basics with a sexy, “after five o’clock” skin flash. For example, Imaan Hammam took Jonathan Anderson’s two-tone denim for a spin at Loewe’s Greene Street store opening with bare abs and an oversize jacket. Katie Holmes, similarly, made a black suit by Wardrobe.NYC party-worthy by swapping the trousers for leggings and keeping the top cropped. The trick to looking modern and cool while baring one’s torso is to wear something generous in scale (here, the jackets) and something else well cut and eye-catching (here, the bottoms). The clothes need to be on point to allow for such midriff cheekiness.

Dressier occasions require other red carpet trickery: easy hair with high-froth haute couture (Margot Robbie in Giambattista Valli’s lavender gown with silk flowers and ribbon detailing), fairy-tale flourishes (Lola Kirke in a flowing cashmere cape over a richly detailed Chanel cardigan with scarab beetles and hieroglyphs), and flowing silk calibrated to perfectly match one’s skin tone and hair (Florence Pugh in champagne Chloé).

Elsewhere, there was corsetry galore. When Jorja Smith took the stage with John Legend at the Royal Albert Hall, she did so in made-to-measure, rose-patterned Vivienne Westwood. Meanwhile, for Diddy’s 50th birthday celebration, Kim Kardashian West also turned to Dame Vic. In a vintage cream satin evening dress, rigorously laced, the reality mogul was at her sultry, confident best.