fashion

The Going-Out Top Is Reclaiming Its Place In Our Wardrobes

31/05/23

Author: Divya Venkataraman

DOCUMENTED BY: EMMA PANCHOT, UMLAUT & LUCAS DAWSON, ST. AGNI

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The noughties staple has been reinvigorated for a new era.

It can be backless, halter-necked, or meshed and ruched in every which way—the going-out top has always been less about a specific aesthetic quality and more about a feeling. Call it sentimentality, but given its popularity in the noughties, it will, for many of us, be associated with the aftertaste of cheap wine in tumblers, sipped while getting ready with a gang of girls crowded around the same, smudgy sharehouse mirror. Or with the brisk chill of walking home in the early hours of the morning without a jacket, because allowing anything to impede your freedom of movement on a sticky dancefloor would be a crime and foresight is for older people and you promise you’re not that cold, really. It’s the feeling of anticipation, of excitement, of fizziness. It’s the sartorial distillation of possibility.

Deva Top

Umlaut

Deva Top

Umlaut

Deva Top

Umlaut

Deva Top

Umlaut

Deva Top

Umlaut

Deva Top

Umlaut

For the last decade or so, though, the combination of a ‘fancy’ top and a simple pair of trousers was shelved in favour of more complex outfit formulas: halternecks in all their sparkly glory tossed to the back of the wardrobe along with low-rise jeans and all the other (mostly revived) trends we vowed never to reach for again. But like all good things, it has swung around again. Part of its appeal? Undoubtedly, its simplicity. The going-out top hoards the attention so that the focal element of an ensemble is squarely on the torso of its wearer, allowing the bottoms to become almost an afterthought. Jeans? Jersey bottoms? Cargo pants? Anything goes. Just make it comfortable—your top half is strapped, wrapped and working, and you don’t need that on all fronts. 

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Documented By: Lucas Dawson

In 2023, the going-out top has evolved into something reflective of its time. While in yesteryears, it may have been about sequins and embellishment, now, structure is key. On the runways at Australian Fashion Week, the play was clear: eyecatching on top, and louche bagginess on the bottom. At St Agni, ’90s minimalism reigned, and models forewent fabric on their upperhalves for metal breastplates, created by New York-based jewellery designer Agmes. Meanwhile, on Instagram (and Cannes Film Festival) the likes of Umlaut is proving the French, too, can be daring with its coveted cropped Deva Top and on-trend bustier. Like its original wearers, the style has grown up.

But its most distinct difference is a little less tangible. This time around, the resurgence of the going-out top (which, as Evan Mock in a sheer Saint Laurent crop at Paris Fashion Week proves, isn’t just for women) comes at a time where sustainable consumption is more front of mind than ever. In 2023, it’s more than a frivolous purchase to wear once on a night out; it’s no longer a use and dispose model. It’s about still finding a piece that allows you to express the fun, silly, flirty version of yourself, but in a way that you could see yourself loving for a long time. A consideration for all new purchases, of course—but especially those that speak to a mood or a fleeting moment. 

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Dot Top

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Ina Bodice

Van Der Kooij

Deva Top

Umlaut

Deva Top

Umlaut

Neve Silk Batwing Wrap Top

Van Der Kooij

Deva Top

Umlaut

Ling Top

UNIKSPACE

Ling Top

UNIKSPACE

Louie Crop Black Washed Linen

Dominique Healy

Odessa Cross Over Top

Esse Studios

Valentina Silk Top

Olga Joan

Signat Silk Scarf

Esse Studios

Dot Top

Fredric

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