Balmain Spring/Summer 2009 as seen on Style.com
We wore shoulder pads in the 80's and thought we were Kim Basinger in Nine and a half weeks. In fact one of our former flat mates was so obsessed with them, she even put some in her dressing gown!! They were the 80's equivalent of today's super high heels; they empowered us and made us feel like we could stand shoulder to shoulder (literally) with our sometimes sexist males counterparts.
But things have moved on for women, our workaday outfits have become much more relaxed, along with our need to prove ourselves as equals. But according the recent Spring Summer designer collections, shoulder pads are back. For today's 20 somethings they are new and exciting, but how do we 40 somethings feel about them. Do we really want to go back to looking like Alexis Carrington?
Gareth Pugh says the new shoulder pad, “evokes power. The inverted triangle is a strong, anti-feminine silhouette – when shown on a female body, it creates an interesting friction between two poles. It’s the mixture of masculine and feminine within one image that fascinates me.”
Haven't we been there before, or are we missing the point?
