2 weeks Ago By Daniel Rodgers
Sienna Miller not long ago unveiled a second collection with the high-street retailer M&S, drawing inspiration from her own extensive archive of party fashions and Studio 54. Chevron-sequined dresses recalled the gilded Burberry mini she wore to the Met Gala after-party in 2006; fuzzy jackets came strapped with pirate-boot buckles; and lace-trimmed slips were built on the second-hand dresses she is known to find on Portobello Road. These were photogenic clothes designed to inject a sense of occasion into Britain’s most middle-aged of wardrobes.
“There’s no one that does undone, relaxed chic like the Brits,” Miller said to a small handful of gathered press at the time. “I think it’s something to do with the irreverence and the English sense of humour.” To wit: the actress was last night photographed at a Carolina Herrera and Frame Denim event on Madison Avenue, wearing double denim and an Adidas bucket hat with a diminutive Prada bag clasped at her side.
So much for all those velvet blazers and tiger-striped waistcoats and thigh-slit goddess dresses that make up her M&S collection...
Miller will be dressing down this party season. This might be the most successful approach to festive dressing. I loathe an oppressive dress code, and find all the sequins that proliferate at Christmas time to be among the most offensive style diktats.
There is power in making a little less effort than is expected. Dressing not as a flashing LED ornament but (and bear with me on this) a person. The image of Miller in a Trefoil bucket hat reminds me of the moment Lee Alexander McQueen turned up to the 1997 Fashion Awards in nothing fancier than a denim jacket and a polo shirt.
He was named British Designer of the Year – but looked like he was at the pub..
