Bye, bye boho?
It is autumn. Long slow evenings have given way to early mornings and deliciously lethargic indolence has been replaced by the grim resignation that only the phrases “reading list” and “two essays a week” can provoke. All this is par for the course; we accept tutes and tiredness as part of a comforting cycle. But this autumn the cycle has been jolted. An unexpected change has been wrought and it is not just summer which has come to an end.
This autumn, a mode of dress, a form of expression, indeed, an entire style of living, has slipped through the catwalk cracks. The obsolete realm of “the unfashionable”, thus far populated by such follies as the tapered jean and the gypsy top, has opened its doors and admitted another cast-off. This autumn, the demise of bohemia is upon us.
But, one may well ask, how can bohemia ever die in a city such as Oxford? For it is a place where elegant minimalism and intellectual bohemianism wage a constant stylistic war. Here, the crisp lines of the Rad Cam and the Divinity School are at glorious odds with the twists and turns of Queens Lane and the chattering bustle of tiny pubs like The White Horse is a world away from the subdued mutter of conversation and clinking crystal in the Morse Bar.
Elegance has the upper hand, but bohemianism runs triumphantly through the veins of the student population. Is it really any wonder that “boho” was the staple of Oxford student life long before it was embraced by Sienna? How then will the fashion world’s decree that “boho is dead” actually affect the style of the student population of Oxford? The lace and kook and clutter of high street faux-bohemianism can hold no attraction for an adherent to the precepts of elegant minimalism.
Those of you for whom the phrase “boho” suggests artistic pretension (all too often unaccompanied by artistic talent) and a hopelessly disordered incoherence in personal style will feel right at home this autumn. Ladylike, hourglass, trim, tucked, tailored: these are the catch-words and the rallying cry of devotees to the unassuming fashion which defines this sartorial season.
The best part is that this is an understated ness which will easily adapt to any of the multifarious stylistic occasions thrown up in the course of student life in Oxford. A Victorian-necked blouse to lectures, cinched in sharply at the waist; demure, yet figure-hugging cocktail dresses in the vein of Derek Lam and Roland Mouret to Freuds; and opaque tights, empire line belts and dark-toned headbands to tutorials.
Keep your Jimmy C’s and your Mannie B’s sky high, but a Chloe Paddington on the arm in the Bridge? Not anymore. This autumn, embrace your inner Audrey Hepburn because a classic framed handbag is essential. And black is back with a vengeance. We already wear it to formal hall, to matriculation and to exams. Now it’s time to bring it out onto the streets of Oxford.
All of this is a good start, but is it enough? Elegance is not fad for fashion victims to adopt at their leisure; it is a way of life. Perhaps it is time we began to forego Georgina’s in favour of the Grand Café. Instead of rummaging frantically through the musty wonders of Unicorn, should we perhaps opt for a decorous browse through Agnes b? Who can tell? All that is certain is that this autumn is the time for subtlety, for sophistication and for grace.
Let us lead the way in these turbulent times of fashion revolution and cast off our pseudobohemian garments and fripperies. When we style ourselves this autumn, let’s do this supremely elegant city some justice. It’s time to really give the tourists something to take a picture of.
3rd Nov 2005