Maybe you noticed it on runways at New York Fashion Week. Maybe you glimpsed it on the heads of some “Swans.” Or maybe you saw it at the Grammy Awards, on Miley Cyrus, who paired all five of her outfits with a leonine mane.
Big hair, it seems, is back. Models in the recent Marc Jacobs show were each wreathed in a nimbus of spun-sugar hair, and on the runway at Christian Cowan, they were given artfully back-combed updos. For Mr. Cowan, it was a winking homage to ladies who lunch — a caste that figures prominently in the TV mini-series “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.”
Ms. Cyrus’s cascade of voluminous waves at the Grammys was meant to channel an amalgam of Raquel Welch and Barbarella, said Bob Recine, the hairstylist behind the look. He used visible teasing to give her superhero coif a punky, modern edge, he told People magazine.
Of course, for many, towering manes have never gone away, thanks in part to Dolly Parton — Ms. Cyrus’s godmother — and her puffed-out ringlets and supersize wigs. The style’s latest incarnations seem to blend aristocratic authority with a hint of feline aggression. Big hair, the celebrity hairstylist Guido Palau has said, can signify power. It certainly commands attention. And space.
An Installation of Showstopping Corsets
Today it’s not at all surprising to see corsets on the streets, whether worn under tailored jackets or layered over T-shirts and dresses. They are a key component of so-called coquette-core, a social media-driven aesthetic that mingles flirtatious femininity with the elegance of old-time British aristocracy.
But long before corsets took over TikTok, the torso-gripping garments that historically served as underpinnings were seditiously paraded as outerwear by Vivienne Westwood, whose namesake British label has featured corsets in collections since the 1980s.
A selection of those richly embroidered, vividly patterned, and often pearl-encrusted pieces is the focus of Vivienne Westwood Corsets, an installation on view through March 10 at the brand’s store in New York before moving to Los Angeles.
Styles on display include a pink silver-embroidered corset from the label’s spring 2012 collection; a black-and-white, jet-beaded corset from its fall 2012 line; and a Renaissance-style, pearl-embellished corset from its fall 1996 men’s wear collection. That piece was developed by Andreas Kronthaler, the husband and creative partner of Ms. Westwood, who died in 2022.
Jacob Elordi Not Included
It has been months since the release of “Saltburn,” and yet some people still can’t seem to forget the film’s infamous tub scene, when Oliver (Barry Keoghan), an interloper in a world of privilege, laps up the dregs of bath water after his wealthy friend Felix (Jacob Elordi) finishes a soak.
The moment is both erotically charged and weirdly transcendent, as if Oliver were slurping holy water. But it proved neither too sacred nor too profane for Lush, a maker of bath products, to allude to in its marketing. The company, known for its bath bombs — colorful pellets that fizz on contact with water — recently introduced a limited edition Saltbomb, which, according to promotional copy, delivers “salty, milky bath water fit for stately splurge.”
The product’s blend of sea salt and coconut powder may well be suitable for aspiring aristos, but not everyone will get to find out. For now, it’s exclusively available through Lush’s British website and app for the less-than-patrician sum of five pounds (or about six U.S. dollars).
An Alternative to ‘Project Runway’
From time to time, even Nicolas Ghesquière, the artistic director of women’s wear at Louis Vuitton, suffers bouts of insecurity. When he is unhappy with certain collections, he is apt to brood. “You always want to do it better,” Mr. Ghesquière, 52, tells the actress Emma Stone in “Nicolas Ghesquière: Shaping Fashion,” a new video produced by the luxury brand.
Their conversation, out this week on YouTube, is the first in a series of talk show-like videos celebrating the designer’s 10th anniversary at Louis Vuitton. The chat, which is moderated by the writer Lynn Hirschberg, is mostly a mutual gush fest. Ms. Stone and Mr. Ghesquière reminisce about, among other things, their first encounter, at the 2012 Met Gala, where they were introduced by Alber Elbaz, who was then the creative director of Lanvin.
Mr. Ghesquière, who got his job at Louis Vuitton the next year, has since proved his staying power in an industry known for its churn. Last year, amid rumors of his impending dismissal, the company renewed his contract for another five years. In short, as the designer tells Ms. Stone, flicking away any remnant of self-doubt, “I’m still here.”
