Hello, Open Thread. Happy last newsletter of the year. Between the Olympics, the election and the tumult in fashion, 2024 was quite a year. And I expect those three trends — sports and fashion, political image-making and the remaking of the designer landscape — to pick up even more steam in the new year. Indeed, just as the fashion nuttiness began to calm down for the holidays, there was a whole kerfuffle thanks to what some commentators interpreted as a “new look” from President-elect Donald J. Trump. In case you missed it, he appeared at Mar-a-Lago after a golf game with what seemed to be a sort of slicked-back mullet rather than his usual elaborate swirl. The internet immediately got overexcited about it (Harris Faulkner, a Fox News host, called it “the winds of winning”), but it’s unclear if what was on view was actually a new look or merely old hat head, the result of wearing a MAGA cap on the green. Relatable! It just goes to show how deeply the Trump silhouette has been imprinted on the national psyche. If just one afternoon in a baseball cap can produce a raft of style conspiracy theories, imagine what is going to happen when he actually takes office. Something to look forward to. Speaking of hat head and other communal issues, I want, for my final missive, to highlight the three dressing questions that were most popular with readers in 2024. They are, in order of popularity: The skirt query didn’t surprise me, but I can’t get over how many people were apparently wondering about the eyeglasses issue. If you haven’t, I recommend going back and reading the comments on each piece, which always make my day — and reflect on just how many thoughts, opinions and memories we all have about even the most seemingly innocuous items in our wardrobes. Clothes are one of the (increasingly rare) things that unite us — maybe because they are some of the few things no one can avoid. Except naturalists, of course. On that note, thank you again to everyone who takes the time to write and respond with their own stories (and even photos). I really appreciate them. And please take the next two weeks to think of any burning fashion queries you have for the new year. Email them to me so we can start 2025 with a bang. For some other distraction, consider how Gisèle Pelicot became the face of courage around the world, catch up on the last big trend of the year, and check out an unexpected (and feel-good) initiative from Hermès. I am off to the woods of Canada, there to walk around in a snowsuit so noisy that it scares away the wild turkeys, but this newsletter will return on Jan. 10. Until then, have a joyful holiday. Rest up and drink your green juice — 2025 is going to be a doozy. Make someone’s day and forward this email. Share your feedback on Open Thread by email. Check out our full assortment of free newsletters.
Your Style Questions, AnsweredEvery week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or Twitter. Questions are edited and condensed.
I’d heard there was going to be a trend to more realistically shaped models. Yet recent ads from even mid-market fashion sellers and outdoor brands still feature extremely skinny, long-legged women. What would have to happen before all women are given a part to play in the fashion world? — Dianne, North Adams, Mass.You are correct in thinking that one of the worst trends of the year was that, after a lot of talk about the importance of diversity of all kinds on the runway and in fashion ad campaigns, we saw a major case of backsliding this year — at least when it came to size. Which was actually a continuation of the backsliding that had begun in 2023. According to the most recent inclusivity report from Vogue Business, of the 8,763 looks in 208 spring 2025 women’s wear shows (the ones that took place in September and October), 94.9 percent were shown on models who measure between a U.S. size 0 and 4. Of the rest, less than 1 percent of models were plus-size (and most of them were probably the same three women), and just over 4 percent were “midsize” (whatever that means). Those are pretty terrible stats. They aren’t good for either those looking at the runways or those walking on them. Especially because my guess is that most of the non-teeny women were cast in the Ester Manas show, the Paris collection specifically, and wonderfully, dedicated to women of all sizes (including, yes, size 0). Chioma Nnadi, the editor of British Vogue, partly blamed Ozempic for the trend, telling the BBC that it had skewed our perception of desirable body types. But of the seven models on the recent digital American Vogue cover, which featured the headline “Fashion Gets Real,” only one could possibly be categorized as midsize. And even that would be a reach in any world except fashion. So I don’t think we can simply chalk it up to the new semaglutides. The truth is fashion has always loved a skinny model. The party line is that less flesh makes the clothes hang better and that is more aspirational, though increasingly I think that’s a false premise. Not surprisingly, however, when left to its own devices fashion will predictably revert to form. This is especially true on the runway, where clothes are created in standard sample sizes and models cast at the last minute. The whole system would have to change to accommodate a variety of sizes; it would essentially have to reverse, to start with the woman. And it would have to be individualized, since it’s not having a barbell of body types on display (super skinny and very curvy) that is most effective, but having all of them, from 0 to 20. That’s entirely doable, especially by big brands with big budgets and casts of 60 or more models. One of the reasons Ester Manas can do it is the way the clothes are based on stretchy materials and construction, so they are purposefully made to accommodate almost any body. But it would require real commitment, which seems to be in short supply. The only successful way to force this kind of paradigm shift is via public and consumer pressure. Brands do, after all, hate a bad look, and this is not a great one. We saw it with the Black Lives Matter movement, which did result in real, and I think permanent, change in the racial makeup of the runways after years of tokenization. (The executive suite is a different, and still problematic, issue.) Yet one of the lessons of that change is how much more interesting clothes look when they are shown on a cast of individuals who reflect humanity in all its many glorious shades. Which, to me, suggests that this may be only more true if they were shown on individuals who reflect humanity in all its many glorious shades and shapes and ages. For that to happen, however, it will take unrelenting focus and discussion from the media and the public. I’m game for it if you are.
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