'Doesn't she get dreadfully hot?' said one colleague, when I excitedly thrust a picture of Man Repeller demoing the revised rules of double leather in a leather skirt and trousers.
'Well, it is snowing in New York right now. Plus, who cares? She looks so sleek', I retorted. (Don't you just love The Debrief office chat?)
As you may be able to tell, I have a lot of time for Leandra Medine, the hugely popular New York-based blogger behind Man Repeller. First, we share a love for neckerchiefs and chokers. (Both not exactly easy to wear). Secondly, she's more likely to do a groin thrust or a clumsy plié in her blog pictures than a traditional blogger pose. And thirdly, like Gulliver, she's discovering a whole new world: namely, [double leather.
](http://www.manrepeller.com/2014/01/i-could-be-that-girl.html)
You feel a bit blindsided, right? I mean, you were* about t*o get on board with a leather biker jacket and leather trousers (done well here (and not so well here, Kanye)). You might have been tentatively considering the whole skirt-over-trousers thing. And now you've been thrown a curveball, where you're faced with the option of merging two already-not-exactly-easy new trends.
Well, don't be scared. Like the bustier-over-the-tee thing, if you're not into unexpected layering this isn't for you. And that's OK. Step away from this article. Try this instead. It's also obviously pretty easy to get wrong. The leather (or faux leather) trousers need to be* super* tight and the skirt needs to be short and flared, to give the desired lampshade effect. As Leandra proves here. Silhouette-wise, it will flare out nicely over the hips, covering all number of sins you may want covering whilst showcasing the slimmest bits of your leg. So go on… do your worst.
Follow Pandora Sykes on Twitter @pinsykes
Pictures: Courtesy of Man Repeller
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.