Visible Undies

I'm sure most of you have seen the photos of Leighton Meester in a lace body with her bra visible below by now [if not scroll down]. The look would have made the Hit and Miss of the week but the images came out too late. When I first saw the photos my immediate reaction was bad. Lets be honest, those are not the best trousers to pair the top with. I really admire Leighton for experimenting, but I don't think this look worked as well as she hoped.


Visible underwear is always rather hit and miss, and annoyingly (or not - if you're Lady Gaga) it's a big trend for S/S 10. The problem with bra-flashing is that you never know how it's going to turn out until your boobs are on show and it's too late. You're far more likely to end up looking like Leighton than you are Carrie Bradshaw, no matter how much work you put in.


Carrie is the queen of the visible bra, and 9 times out of 10 her visible bra looks worked, because of Patricia Field's genius. In the book Kiss and Tell Patricia says "A bra is underwear, but a T-shirt used to be too. Before 1950 no man or woman would have worn a T-shirt out in public because that was underwear. Once James Dean and Marlon Brando did it the T-shirt became the most common form of top for everyone. I see the bra the same way. It is not something that needs to be hidden."

And hidden it is not. Bras and briefs are visible everywhere at the moment. At Dolce & Gabbana the lingerie was the clothing, while Marc Jacobs took into account the fact it might be rather cold to wear underwear only - so he kindly dressed his models in cotton shirts with satin bras on top.


I think the most subtle way to work this look (apart from merely flashing a colourful bra strap) is to work a lace top - Stella McCartney style. She sent her models out in halter neck lace tops tucked into denim skirts. It's casual but still flirty, and slightly more foolproof than flashing your bra.


What do you think? Do you like Leighton's look? Does underwear work as outwear?

images from thefashionspot.com and style.com