Play school

Swishy skirts and belted sweaters have their charm, but by midyear, swamped in homework and post-deadline papers, they stop being feasible. The perfectly put-together outfit at the perfect time is all well and good, but at seven in the morning, while listening to a droning lecture on the merits of B movies from a demented professor with black nails and a pomade-drenched ‘do, it can get a little annoying.

If there’s anything grouchy students detest, it’s a perky lowerclassman all dressed up in an amalgam of all the trends. Huge waisted belt? Check. Nautical accessories? Check. Peep-toe pumps? Check. Leggings? Check. Over-compensating personal style reeking of bad taste? Two checks.

Down-with-it designers have been celebrating an anti-aesthetic of late, heavy with portents of baggy, dark layers and light on the fluffy romanticism that’s been popular of late. Burberry’s Christopher Bailey looks towards the offbeat style found on British streets, a style he relates to "that sloppy way of wearing things only young British girls have." The trades were fussing over Marc Jacobs’ fall collection, a selection of oversize and baggy silhouettes many claimed tipped its hat to his career-ending, grunge-tinged, seminal collection over at Perry Ellis.

After the heaviness of rococo and baroque details from the likes of last year’s Balenciaga and Victor and Rolf or the ‘80s-inspired sophistication of, say, Gucci, the paired-down yet not quite minimalist shapes coming down some runways had all the intimations of a Gallic shrug, as though to say: forget the pinched, uptight shapes and loosen up.

And that’s exactly the undercurrent making its way through downtown streets and uptown cafes, where sartiorialists have been making a distinct lunge for the floor-sweeping fustanella, extra loose pants, sweaters making their raggedy way to the knees, tanks that move away from the torso instead of hugging it, and shapeless jackets that hang loosely.

If seasonal collections leave many reeling from the shock of the erratic about-face of some labels, making the zealous overeager pupil in prim pastel twin sets ubiquitous and de rigueur one day, and the slouchy, indifferent dropout the usurper of major trend titles the next, know that this 180-degree turn has been on the make since last year. With gothic elements an inevitable offshoot of medieval-inspired looks and richly textured, darkly opulent themes making its rounds the past year, this low-key send-off is simply part of the natural progression between the overwrought and ultra luxe to the scaled down and low maintenance.

"Sloppy is good," claims Bailey and he’s right. A catalyst against the perfectly proportioned contours designers have been looking to, the concept of the disheveled louche youngster – OK, urchin might be more appropriate – which some refer to as hipsters circa mid-‘90s, has come about organically, drawing inspiration from films like Gus Van Sant’s Last Days and the rise of Kim Gordon in the fashion scene.

Kids have captured the essence of the style perfectly, making a play of loose proportions with nothing to nip it into shape. Imagine baggy jeans paired with a loose tank and an oversize cardigan. If that attire seems too much like slumming it, the dressier option is extremely oversize pants with a long-sleeved dark blouse.

High street label Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, the British imports known for churning out the latest looks even if they’re still under the radar (credit the label for releasing long, loose skirts before the boho trend could even muster a sonogram), have already been stocking up on the essentials: long-sleeved striped shirts in a breezy cotton steeped in a contemporary collegiate style, sweater dresses in muted camouflage, long, thigh-grazing tanks in mod-esque stripes, T-shirt dresses in subdued prints and jackets in taupe with built-in, worn runs creating a feeling of age.

If there’s anything to praise about the latest trend, it’s that nothing about it is artificial. Students who are late to bed and early to rise won’t have to bang around the closet to find a skirt with the right hem in the wee hours of the morning. Instead, a sleepily-attired coed can come to school in a comfortably worn loose shirt and jacket and won’t be called to task by some style nazi. And if they are, what then? At least they won’t be mistaken for the teacher.

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Topshop is located at Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Place Ermita, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Glorietta 2, Alabang Town Center, Power Plant Mall and The Podium; Dorothy Perkins at Robinsons Galleria, Power Plant Mall, The Podium; and Topman at Robinsons Place Ermita, Power Plant Mall, The Podium. Students with a valid ID get 10 percent off at all Topshop and Topman stores until June 30. A new Topshop and Topman store will be opening at SM Mall of Asia today.