We’ve seen them on the red carpet and on runways- It’s official peplums, those dresses with so much 80s swag are back. Peplums are a flared ruffle or piece of fabric attached to the waistline of a dress or jacket or blouse. This isn’t relatively new trend, it is a retro style made famous in the 50′s and 80′s. The early peplum was not attached to a jacket, but was merely an extra overskirt flounce sewn onto, and dropping from the waist.
Betsy Johnson’s peplum dress 1980′s
Instead of being a long overskrit, the modern has became shorter only covering to mid stomach. So for all you ladies who have been worried about your waist area- worry not because the peplum has got you covered. Peplums are great because they accommodate every body type and they give us that glass hour shape we all love.
You’ll be glad to know that the modern peplum comes in different forms like as dresses, skirts, jackets and tops. I spotted a nice grey peplum dress in David Tlale’s collection at the Mercedes Benz Joburg Fashion Week last weekend, other international designers who have followed the trend are Micheal Kors, Vera Wang and Stella Mc Cartney.
David Tlale’s Collection
Here are few tips on how to wear peplums:
Peplum Dress : Because the peplum style puts a lot of emphasis on the hip area, a waist-cincher is a must. Get it right with a sleek chain link belt. It can be the same colour as the dress but if you want it to pop use a different color belt.
The Peplum Top: Peplum tops look great when paired with a simple pencil skirt or straight leg pants. If it is a printed top keep the bottom as simple as possible to achieve the porsh, sophisticated lady like look.
The Peplum jacket: With the peplum jacket you can get away with anything, no need to accessorise just wear it as it is. Wear it with a pair of jeans, skinny pants or jeans. Better yet, get a biker’s peplum jacket and that will definitely turn heads.
Palesa Matlebyane is a lifestyle writer for JucyAfrica. She loves fashion, writing and traveling. She is the shy type but can be loud! You can follow her on twitter here: @palesama
