‘I love your shorts’, I yelled over The Strokes as I spilt my WKD Blue on the carpet of my friend’s student halls. It was my first year at Sussex University and it was December. As I swayed to the roaring music, I didn’t think twice about the fact my legs were also clad in shorts and outside there was snow on the ground. Why? One word: tights.
The proliferation of maxi dresses, the rise of thigh-high boots and the growth of the fashionable sock have all conspired to eradicate hosiery from our sartorial vernacular. But, at Paris Fashion Week, Alexa Chung was a one-woman campaigner for the making tights and shorts relevant again.
To be fair, what Chung wore outside the Miu Miu show wasn’t much different to what we wore nearly a decade ago. She had on a pair of micro leather shorts with low denier tights and a pair of booties. Where once our tights would have featured ladders (because, indie) hers were pristine. And, where we would have worn a band tee and a MySpace fringe she had on a cashmere jumper in a warm oatmeal colour (very on trend, right now) and a soft balayage bonnet.
Curiously, this might be the most convincing way to winter-proof your summer wardrobe. Editors talk of adding roll necks to wrap dresses and wearing leggings under maxi skirts, but this has more practical potential. That is if you like shorts enough.
A lot has changed in the past eight years - cough Brexit, cough, #MeToo - but happy to see Chung’s taste in winter shorts remains the same.