I went through a phase where I owned four black bardot tops at once, all slightly different, all bought because I convinced myself the last one “didn’t quite do the shoulder thing right.” My friend Priya finally called it out at a barbecue in 2019, looked at what I was wearing and said “isn’t that the same top as the one from the wedding,” and honestly, she wasn’t wrong, they’d all started to blur into one very expensive lesson.
Because here’s the thing about a bardot top, the whole point of it lives or dies on the shoulder line. Too tight and it pings down every time you lift your arm, which is how I spent an entire hen do doing a strange one armed hover over a prosecco tower. Too loose and it slides about and you spend the night hitching it back up like you’re wrestling a toddler. The good ones sit properly off the shoulder without needing constant management, usually because there’s some actual structure in there, a bit of boning, elastic that isn’t doing all the work alone, seams that hold the shape rather than just hoping.
Fabric matters more than people think too.
A stiffer cotton or a proper ponte holds the neckline where a floaty jersey just won’t, it collapses inward and suddenly you’ve got a boat neck situation nobody asked for.
Once you’ve got a decent one, styling it is genuinely the easy part. Tucked into high waisted trousers or a leather look skirt for anything after 6pm, left slightly loose over denim if you want it to feel more daytime than event.
It’s brilliant for the bit of an occasion where you want your shoulders doing the talking rather than a big statement sleeve or a plunging neckline, subtle but you still know exactly what you’re wearing it for. Jewellery wise, this is the one time I’d say let a bit of collarbone and a decent necklace share the space, it earns it.
Where it actually shines is anything with a bit of ceremony but no strict dress code, engagement drinks, a birthday dinner somewhere with tablecloths, a wedding where you’re not the one anyone’s looking at. Just maybe don’t buy four.
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