Fashion faux pas(s): Dressing up like grandma

31 Jul 2017

In an imagined conversation between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada in the 2012 Met exhibition Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: Impossible Conversations, Prada says, “I hate the idea that you shouldn't wear something just because you're a certain age,” and New York Magazine's The Cut and the fashion world seem to be in agreement.

The Cut suggests that you don’t have to wait until you are a grandmother to dress like one, and fashion houses have been leaning to including more eccentric pieces in their collections.

Gucci's eccentric grandma-like styling.

Vogue recently stated that “your grandma’s crochet is actually wildly in fashion", Who What Wear credited grandma as the inspiration for the 2016 spring/summer trends, and the NY Post indicated that there had been a surge in the sale of vintage Gucci items ever since Alessandro Michele brought his eccentric aesthetic to the fashion house as its creative director.

Oversized and overstuffed is the order of the day with many fashionistas channelling their inner Iris Apfel with over-the-top sunglasses, fluffy slippers, clashing prints and colours with quirky rings, and brooches.

So, why not don your ideal pair of 'pretty ugly' shoes, the chicest knitted cardigan ever saw, and head on into the world as the coolest non-grandma eccentric dresser the world has ever seen.

Maroefah Smith

About Maroefah Smith

After studying media and writing at the University of Cape Town, Maroefah dived head-first into publishing. Going on to write more than 50 pieces in digital (Bizcommunity) and print media (Seventeen Magazine). While her primary interests are beauty and fashion, she is incredibly adaptable and can take on any topic - from AI to zoology.