The New Coat Trend Replacing Shoulder Robing

published 9 September 2016

The only way to wear your coat this autumn

If you haven’t invested in your new winter coat yet, fear not, because: a) We’ve saved you from the slog around the shops and have edited down the best coats to buy now. And b) There is a new trend that may dictate which style you choose this season.

Threatening to knock shoulder robing, quite literally, off its perch (the trend whereby you balance your coat across your shoulders just-so) is a look that demands the total opposite. Perhaps it’s come off the back of the summer’s hugely popular ‘off-the-shoulder’ or ‘cold shoulder’ trend – it seems we're not quite ready to put our clavicles into hibernation just yet, as this new style requires you to slide your coat down your shoulders so it sits just south of your collarbones.

Yet to be given it’s own catchy little neologism, here’s the how-to: 1. Zip or unbutton your coat halfway down. 2. Peel the top half off your shoulders. 3. Use mind-power to hold it in place. 4. Should this fail, flaring your elbows out slightly from your waist should do it.

We kid, this style is actually remarkably easy to style out, and far more practical than robing, where the actual benefits are close to none. The slightly cumbersome balancing act required to keep it in place results in a hunched and apprehensive half-crouch, for fear your coat will go flailing off with a gust of wind. Taking phone calls becomes tricky as we T-Rex our way through life, arms poised in mid-air. And your coat invariably meanders over to one shoulder, which is not the desired look at all.

The root of this alternative trend points back to Vetements’ head designer Demna Gvasalia – the puppet master behind most trends right now – who debuted this blasé styling hack at his AW16 Balenciaga show in March. Now, it’s trickled it’s way down to the street style set who are eagerly adopting it’s perfect nod to off-duty nonchalance; see Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Hailey Baldwin for a tried and tested how-to.

Names that have been floated include the slouch, the slump and the shrug. The latter seems the most appropriate as it captures the simplicity of just shrugging your coat off your shoulders, but we can’t see it catching on as it’s long been claimed by those cropped ninties boleros you may have worn but have since banished from memory.

Whatever name the fashion lexicon lands on, we’re giving this look two thumbs up – because we finally can without risking our coat dropping off.