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Sun, Oct 04, 2009
Urban, The Straits Times
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Shoulder season
by Karen Tee

Shoulders have got bolder. But do not shudder.

There is no need to fear padded, boxy jackets, topped off with frizzy hair and too much matte make-up.

It is not a 1980s Dynasty shoulder-pad revival, when soap stars like Joan Collins ended up looking like an American footballer.

Yes, the strong shoulder has been hailed as a key silhouette for fall/winter 2009.

But it has shrugged off any hint of 1980s fashion disaster.

Victorian-inspired puffy sleeves give a romantic feminine twist to shoulders. Wear tops with such shoulders to add volume without overpowering narrow shoulders.

'It is not about exaggerated shoulders but more a reaction against the slouchy-shouldered, sloppy look perpetuated by designers in the not-so-distant past,' observes fashion show producer Daniel Boey.

It all started when French designer Christophe Decarnin for fashion label Balmain sent structured jackets down the runway for his fall/winter 2008 show.

It girls around the world such as pop diva Beyonce and actress Lindsay Lohan, caught on quickly and were photographed in Balmain blazers.

STAY SLEEK

Fast forward to fall/winter 2009 and the look is shouldering its way onto runways everywhere, from Marc Jacobs to Martin Margiela and Balenciaga.

The key to making the new bold shoulder work is to keep the rest of your outfit sleek and streamlined.

Boey suggests lengthening the legs by wearing tight skinny pants or leggings and grounding the look with chunky heels.

Local fashionista Georgia Lee, who was spotted rocking a Balmain structured jacket at the Celton Wish Ball last week, adds: 'The bold shoulders should be styled to look effortless. My hair stylist, Ryan Yap of Passion Hair Salon, advises either a sleek hairdo or an 'out of bed' look.'

Still, it is easy for Dr Lee, who is lanky and skinny and can therefore pad with panache.

If you have sloping shoulders, try padded shoulders to square them out. Padded shoulders also make your waist look small in comparison.

Boey quips: 'Women who are short and rotund, like Kelly Osbourne, or tall and ample like Queen Latifah, should avoid this trend as adding pads to their shoulders would be more power puff than power suit.'

Besides padded jackets, there are other ways to draw attention to your shoulders. Picking tops with embellishments like sequins, for example, can emphasise shoulders without adding bulk.

Urban, with the help of cover girl Nora Ariffin, shows you five ways to wing it with big shoulders.

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