So now that we’re talking about updating those old winter clothes that have accumulated in your cold-weather stash, here’s a question:
Have you finally gotten rid of all those old big-shouldered jackets and coats? After all, fitted, natural shoulders and high armholes have been the norm for so long that only the uber-clueless would be caught dead in anything with a structured shoulder these days, right?

Well, okay, only the uber-clueless AND the fashion superstars who have the authority to declare It’s Been Out So Long It’s In Again.

Yes, Darlings, it’s true:  There were some big-shoulder sightings in—where else?—Paris last fall, most notably on the superlatively chic Paris Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld (at a Rock & Republic function) and at Yves Saint Laurent’s Spring 2008 runway show.

( The epitome of French insouciance, the rocker-hip Paris Voge editor Carine Roitfeld is a modern-day fashion icon.)

   

We didn’t think much of it at the time—because, honestly? It was more or less a French thing, and when it comes to fashion, the majority of the weird stuff that happens in Paris (thankfully) stays in Paris.  Since we didn’t see a lot of shoulder emphasis from American designers in the Spring 2008 collections (which were shown last September in New York, remember?), as far as we were concerned, it was still just a blip (or, as the French say, “le bleep”) on the radar. 

But now that we’re digging into our winter jacket/coat archives and finding a few beefy old-school shoulder-padded pieces, we can’t help but wonder if we should hang on to one or two, you know, just in case…

    Because who knows when an old Dynasty might come back into power again?

Sigh. So much for weeding out.