It’s a great season to buy a “personality skirt”; the kind that puts pep in your step. This summer , it’s with minimal irony that we welcome back the Uptown frou of Serena van der Woodsen’s early Aughts wardrobe. Specifically: the bouncy, leg-baring joy of the puffball skirt—a hallmark of the incoming Bubble Girl look.
East London-based designer Aaron Esh, a rising star of the capital’s fashion scene, is backing the mood. His muse wears a polished grey wool skirt suit with cherry-red mules, and a wash of pale grey eyeshadow. Bally’s new creative director Simone Bellotti, Kiko Kostadinov, and the king of clever, cloud-like volume, Louis Vuitton ’s Nicolas Ghesquière, are all on board with this season’s revisionist preppy look, which speaks to the squeaky clean lifestyle cues that are currently lighting up our IG feeds.
During decades gone by, clothes gave away their wearer’s job or taste in music. Today, the way we dress communicates the finer details of our optimal lifestyle choices. A Vogue editor worth their salt will be able to detect your retinol percentage, whether you’re a Bio Sculpture or Dior Nail Glow girl, and how long you’d be willing to queue outside Buns From Home, all on the basis of your Vestiaire wishlist.
The Bubble Girl aesthetic is pinned to a fresh faced Rosalía wearing a Paloma Wool dress and athletic ballet flats in Los Angeles, a mostly empty cup of ice tea at her feet. She’s Iris Law during a creative recharge in Tokyo w.
