SHEER STYLE

When it comes to the “visible underwear” trend, there’s a combination that works for whatever level of coverage you’re comfortable with, writes Samantha Murray Greenway.

Ablack thong was all that came between Kate Moss and the golden dress that she recently wore to an event at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. And just how minimal and streamlined those knickers were was evident because her Saint Laurent dress, with its carefully draped hood and goddess silhouette, was completely sheer.

Moss has a history with sheer dresses worn off-duty. The 1993 party picture of her – shiny-faced, hair pulled-back – wearing a translucent silver dress with black knickers shining through became an image that iconified grunge and the slip-dress. This time round though, sheer looks more grown up – just like Moss. Come 2022, the styling is part and parcel of the recent “naked” (see-through) dress trend and the increasing use of translucent panels and cut-outs that reveal not only the body beneath but the underwear, too.

In between the 90s slip dress and last month’s gold dress, there was a moment when a bra or pants on show might have looked like a sartorial misstep. But no, Moss’ recent black knicker outing looked strident and remarkably modern. Why? For a start, no apologetic shapewear entered the picture. Nor the pretence of skin coloured underwear, which rarely manages to look invisible. But also important is the graphic simplicity of that thong: Moss’ knickers are not prettied-up – they are utterly lace-free.

This is not a look that centres on old-fashioned notions of sexy. Chloé Julian, whose underwear company Videris specialises in underwire-free bras and smooth knickers in natural fabrics that pack a colour punch says, “Traditionally, lingerie has been about how it makes you look with more focus on dressing for someone else, that showing your underwear was provocative. Today, the modern woman dresses for herself not others and knows that if she feels comfortable and confident in herself then that is her power.” And that’s exactly it. Moss in her barely there knickers doesn’t look coy. She looks in control.

How will this trend work away from the red carpet? While putting your thong on show might require the kind of confidence that is the lot of the supermodel, on the catwalk not all the visible underwear was tiny. At Molly Goddard the knickers that went under a sheer lemon skirt with a frilly hem were big and striped. And when Prada went sheer the preceding season, the underwear on show verged on sportswear: a pair of black gym knickers and a pale blue vest. It looked more like an exercise in layering rather than revealing. So, there’s a combination that works for whatever level of coverage you’re comfortable with.

“I wear a lot of shirts during summer and some of them need a camisole under them if I'm to have any dignity at all, or more importantly to feel comfortable in my own skin when I step outside the front door,” says Anna Ronberg, whose Wellington-based lingerie company Two Squares launched earlier this year. “That doesn’t have to mean boring (I’m thinking flesh coloured stretch fabrics that are meant to contain our wonderful shapes) or scream ‘look at me’, with their over-detailing bits of lace and trims.” Two Squares’ silk slips and camisoles come in some beautiful colours and feature what has evolved to become the brand’s design signature: easy to spot, contrasting black straps.

The way to make visible underwear look current is to keep it simple. “It is essential to opt for streamlined and seamless,” says Rachel Mills, whose company makes stylish, sleek underwear. “Our azure silk styles are a luxurious option, and the shapes are so flattering you will want people to see them.”

Wearing underwear that’s colourful is another way to play it: “At Videris we love seeing our bright and intentional underwear colours visible as part of an outfit,” says Julian.

Since this underwear is meant to be seen, why not revel in it?