Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: how to do hourglass without the tradwife overtones

<p>That nipped-in silhouette sets off my feminist alarm bells, but it is possible to embrace it in a modern way</p><p>It says a lot about how fashion is embedded in culture that the news that hourglass silhouettes are back in vogue – that blazers have waists again, that we are threading belts through the loops of our jeans and wearing tops tucked in – can feel a&nbsp;little complicated. On the one hand, the whole mannish oversized blazer look has become a little bit dull and I’m ready for something different. But at the same time, not gonna lie, the word hourglass sets off my feminist alarm bells. Clothes are how you define yourself to the world. And there is something a tiny bit Handmaid’s Tale about leading with your waist-to-hip ratio, you know what I mean?</p><p>The thing is, I’m actually very into the new hourglass look. I’m just a little bit wary of what lies beneath. There is a parallel, I guess, to the experience of living through this year’s unusually hot British summer. Waking up to day after day of warmth and sunshine, it was impossible not to be aware that the trajectory of this warming climate is very much not good news. But at the same time, it was also impossible, in the moment, not to feel blessed by the blue sky. And both of those feelings are real.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025/sep/24/jess-cartner-morley-on-fashion-how-to-do-hourglass-without-the-tradwife-overtones">Continue reading...</a>