Here are 19 of the trends that defined 2016
The most influential outfit of the year featured no clothes at all. When Kim Kardashian posted a hotel-bathroom nude selfie on Instagram back in March, she kickstarted a row over how this peculiarly narcissistic form of self-expression squares with its advocate’s self-proclaimed feminism. Should you doubt the impact this image had on our fashion psyche, consider this: shopping site Lyst reported a 400% rise in searches for black bandeau bikinis that would recreate the effect of the black censorship bars. Yes, censor-bar chic is a thing. At Paris fashion week, a few weeks later, Kim’s sister Kendall wore a minimalist black bandeau top that echoed Kim’s look. With it, she wore a black ribbon choker, a trend that has been worn by every female celebrity under 25 this year, and is now all over the high street. If you are a teen girl, you are so getting a Claire’s choker in your stocking. Which is odd, because a choker is as rude as jewellery gets. The meaning of the choker is, basically, nudity: see Manet’s Olympia.
Related: Retail to runway: what happens when clothes are sold direct from the catwalk?
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