Boho style is back! Here's how to do it in a modern way
Swing your skirts and let down your hair because the boho look is back. I am not April Fooling you. Other fashion editors may be rejoicing at the return of the suit or the comeback of logos, but I am enjoying the re-entry of a trend that runs to a more alternative beat. Can you hear the distant sound of hippy drums?
On trend or not, I’ve always been a sucker for a floaty dress with a spriggy print. I blame Jane Austen as much as Stevie Nicks but even in rainy Manchester in the late Eighties you could spot me dragging a long floral skirt through the puddles.
In my twenties I bought vintage Indian cotton dresses by the dozen at flea markets in London, New York and LA and had a collection of white ruffled trimmed underskirts to make my look longer and more bohemian.
Now in my forties I’ve reined in the vintage habit (who has the time?) and the Little Bo(ho) Peep touches and you won’t find me in quite so many prints. It’s quite possible that I may have grown up. But I have to admit that recent additions to my wardrobe include a mid-length, waisted silk chiffon dress by Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini, which I could feasibly wear to an audition for Fleetwood Mac and a voluminous black Tibi dress - a gorgeous sack with a frilled high collar - that only needs a tambourine tied with ribbons to complete the look.
Forget the heavy accessorizing of years past - resist the urge to break out the embellished belts and slouchy boots from the back of the wardrobe
Fashion is backing me up here. For some designer labels - Chloe, Etro and Isabel Marant among them - the boho-hippy vibe is a perennial signature. They serve it up in different guise each season. This spring Chloe has delivered big blousy dresses in powdery retro florals, while Marant has given Liberty-esque paisley and floral prints a sportier silhouette with her puff-shouldered parka coats. Newer labels like Ulla Johnson, Zimmerman and Masscob are also doing their own modern takes on boho. They’re all very good sources for the useful mid-length dress.
Katerina Makriyianni fan earrings, £130, Browns Fashion; Prada leather-trimmed, wicker and canvas bag, £1100, Net-a-Porter; Floral skirt, £135, Ganni.
The trend also runs to quilted or kimono-style wrap jackets, faded wide legged jeans, patchwork effects, ruffles, tiers and printed silks, all summoning up the ghosts of Stevie Nicks or Janis Joplin or that Noughties boho pin-up, Sienna Miller.
Lisa Aiken, retail fashion director at Net-a-Porter, sees the appeal. “That carefree spirit of dressing gives a sense of escapism that we often look for, particularly in summer months,” she says. “And longer lengths can be really comfortable for a lot of women. It’s quite a flattering silhouette - a dress with a defined waist but a loose skirt lengthens the silhouette.”
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For Kim Hersov who grew up in California and founded her luxury resortwear label Talitha around a ‘boho’ ideal, it’s a look that’s never been off trend. This week Hersov opened her first bricks and mortar lifestyle store in west London selling homewares alongside her garments - she now also does winter outerwear and trans-seasonal pieces as well as beachy apparel. “Yes, that softer silhouette has been more amplified on the catwalks this season,” she says. “But I always think it’s a matter of personal style rather than a trend, all those elements of romanticism, vintage and nostalgia.”
But if boho still speaks to you, will need to move it on. Forget the heavy accessorizing of years past - resist the urge to break out the embellished belts and slouchy boots from the back of the wardrobe. “If you’re doing an easy-breezy maxi dress this time you want little to no jewellery,” says Aiken. “It’s about toning everything else down and letting that one piece do all the work. The seasons are so seasonless now and anything with a dark based print that you can layer over boots or throw a military jacket over. If you’re not doing a dress you can try a robe jacket or coat over a camisole with a pair of jeans.”
It’s still too cold for sandals so a block-heeled ankle boot in coloured leather (olive green, burgundy, light brown) or suede gets you out of winter black. I like the lace-up boots by new footwear brands byfarshoes.com or aeyde.com. “A backless slipper would look good with wide legged jeans [we’re not wearing skinnies any more, remember?] and a robe jacket,” says Aiken.
It’s still too cold for sandals so a block-heeled ankle boot in coloured leather or suede gets you out of winter black and marks the change in season
A bag is where you can have fun too and here it’s all about a new urban take on the provençal basket - although there’s nothing urban about Sophie Anderson’s wicker chicken basket, which I’ve become quite besotted with. Prada’s boxy ‘Miollino’ is a little less kooky, trimmed in canvas and leather with a long shoulder strap. Sienna Miller carried a similar bag with stripes at the recent Berlin International Film1 Festival.
Certainly Miller, who’s been out promoting a spate of new films recently, is testament to to how to move your inner-boho with the times. She’s now a 35-year-old mother and perhaps less carefree than in those pre-Leveson days. Her style has grown up accordingly. But the boho sensibility still runs in the background.
She favours longer lengths and might wear a soft, oversized knit over a dress by her friend Matthew Williamson - the epitome of the boho designer - or a leather biker jacket over a glossy silk slip. At the Dior fashion show in March she wore a voluminous floral long dress under an embroidered black coat with pointed high heel boots. And to a recent premiere she sported two micro plaits in her hair - a good example of how to grow up and maintain your personal sense of style. And your sense of fun.
