First, a quick recap of the modern history of necklines. A long time ago, when cleavage was A Thing, the primary function of the neckline in womenswear was as a showcase for hoisted breasts. Then, cleavage stopped being A Thing, and in its absence the neckline became about filling the visual gap left by the absence of hoisted breasts. To this end we had statement necklaces, slogan T-shirts with arcs of pretty French words, jewelled collars, and the collar of a contrasting collar shirt pulled over your crew-neck jumper. And then things moved on again, and the polo neck took over. The polo neck is all blank severity, an uncompromising nothing-to-see-under-the-chin-here message.
And now the deep V neck is back. It can go over a polo neck, over a crew neck, or over nothing at all. (But even over nothing, there’s no cleavage. It’s all done with underwear, in case you were wondering.) At the most recent Paris fashion week, the Chloé catwalk featured black silk dresses and blouses plunging almost to the navel, with nothing beneath. This is very charming and can go on the moodboard for, say, a beach lunch in Ibiza, but is not enormously helpful as a day-to-day sartorial reference. Céline, on the other hand, showed ankle-length tunics with a deep V neck layered over polo necks. Which is fabulous in a Jedi-knight way, but in its deliberate awkwardness not much more appropriate for real life than the ribcage-baring version.
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