Equine items seem to float in and out of style and jodhpurs have often been seen in high fashion. Really it seems like almost every fall some form of the jodhpur comes back into vogue.
So my question is this Jodhpurs: fashion do or fashion don’t?
Did Some Checking
I did a little research and got conflicting views, so I thought I’d share them and maybe get some feedback from genuine horse people. You know, those of us who wear jodhpurs for their original intended purpose (although practical, modern britches are a far cry from the couture version of them).
A Do
I found strong pro-jodhpur arguments from Guardian Unlimited, and Telegraph via Myspace news. Although most of the pro-jodhpur arguments came from the UK, even American style icon Sarah Jessica Parker wore them on the cover of Elle Magazine. (Granted you can’t see much of them).
The trend was brought back this year by the Balenciaga label with their fall/winter line. Big names that hopped on the trend like Harvey Nichols and Selfridges had waiting lists for their jodhpurs. People were buying them before anyone had even held a pair.
A Don’t
On the other hand, the The Fashion Police have a different view of Balenciaga’s adaptaion of the useful riding britches. Their argument is what most women will think when trying poofy pants on, ‘why on earth would I want to make my hips look wider?’
The way I see it is this: it is easy to pull off jodhpurs on a runway and on a horse. But in normal life, there is very little practical use for poofy pants.
Good in Theory
Despite the common sense of the big hip argument, the idea of jodhpurs seems to have taken off. People are actually on waiting lists to buy them.
What I’m waiting for is to see if they make it onto more ‘best dressed’ lists or ‘worst dressed’ lists.