Lacing Into Our (Almost) Lost Dignity

By Magda Pescariu

This time around, the summer cool-down feels more like a sobering intervention. Or an awakening of sorts, but not the starry-eyed kind we expect from spring. Jolting us out of our summer-dreaming haze, this fall hits like a reality check, and not a merciful one whatsoever. It has the adult lucidity to make us realize that the planning-and-hoping time has already come and gone; and it’s high time we decide whether to make the most of what’s left of the year – or throw in the towel.

In my cinematic mind, I picture this feeling like a movie scene, paraphrasing a line I hold dear: “So, what happened there between you and your dreams for this year?” asks the shrink with ill-masked blasé. “What always happens in the course of any relationship? Reality.”

The reality of a year marked globally by a crass hyper-vanity fair – of epic shitstorm proportions – is that a call to wake up from our navel-gazing imposture and reclaim our last shreds of dignity is no longer optional. It’s a sanity check.

Tuned to reality as always, fashion adapted to our collective crisis before we could even articulate it. Amid ever-shifting policies, wobbly budgets, wavering buyers, and dying loyalties, designers stopped chasing every craze, swaying between narcissistic ambition and enforced austerity, and narrowed their focus to what truly matters: the customer. Us. Or more precisely, saving our soul just in time for the autumn equinox – and with it, our mind and dignity.

Accordingly, the dominant moments from the 2025 Fall catwalks were timeless, showing a strong movement toward enduring elegance, poise, self-confidence, and true-blue character. You could argue that the inception of these trends began long before the February fashion shows, back when the world’s current ugly metamorphosis was barely conceivable. But let’s not forget – designers, like all artists, are deeply intuitive. And so, here we are: power-dressed to the nines, ready to tackle the second half of this convoluted year.

Lace swept the runways – crowned queen of all trends. A fabric as complex and intricate as the year it dresses, lace is personal and all-encompassing. It defies any stereotype. It is whatever we need it to be, anytime, anywhere. Lace lets us become – by wearing it – whoever we want to be. It caters to our bright and dark sides with equal intimacy. And just like that, with a firm move, this fabric – which still can’t decide if it’s angel or devil – shifted the season’s aim from form to feeling.

Lace’s presence is so powerful, that it permeates all other Fall/Winter trends: the elegant pencil skirt (or suit); chocolate brown as the new black; barely-there revealing dressing; leopard print; even faux-fur and cape coats – it pairs seamlessly with all.

Originally a symbol of absurd wealth when it first emerged in 16th-century royal courts from Venice to Flanders, lace was a visual shorthand for power, privilege, and status. So coveted, it was once smuggled across borders. Back then, lacemaking was an art. Fast forward to the early 20th century – thanks to the sewing machine, lace goes mainstream. The experimentation with lace’s dual personality and many hidden faces goes wild. Lace becomes an industry, ever-evolving with fresh cuts, patterns, uses, and fits.

Saint Laurent

Zimmermann

Saint Laurent

Blumarine

Today, lace is one of the most complex fabrics on Earth—and the only one capable of such wildly divergent impressions. It may suggest the innocence of angelic newborns on their way to baptism or the excitement of a girl trying on her first (heavily padded) lace bra. It gives us the emotional backbone for weddings, motherhood, heartbreak – and yes, for life’s last goodbyes too. From boho whimsy to sultry divahood, lace grows with us. It becomes us. Depending on light, time of day, hairstyle, makeup, shoes – or most of all, the look in the wearer’s eyes – lace can be perceived as sweet or naughty, pure or temptress-y, aloof or intense.

It plays with our senses – touch, sight, and ultimately psychology – so deeply that wearing lace can alter our whole behavior. And it does it so subtly that we barely notice – until that change is reflected outward, visible in our energy and special vibe.

This Fall, lace isn’t just an aesthetic, it’s a full-fledged world. A vision of dignified self-worth and sensual maturity, literally worn head-to-toe. From delicate head-pieces (bandanas, scarves, veils) to sheer blouses layered over nothing but confidence; from high-neck lace blouses, billowing sheer gowns, sleek lace slips, crochet lace dresses, and lace-trimmed separates, to power-shouldered suits, pencil skirts paired with sculptural blazers, sweeping maxi skirts with scalloped-edge, and daring lace bottoms – be them leggings, tights, Capri pants or sheer trousers – we wear this very ladylike trend in unexpected colorways and quiet neutrals alike.

Besides the headline-making return of rich chocolate brown, lace is now embraced in blues, greens, yellows, burgundy, pastels, and even neon hues.

Dark and moody in black; soft and sensual in blush and cream – lace this season took on a polished, elegant air. Knee-grazing dresses tucked into sumptuous faux-fur coats. Ethereal maxi dresses layered with ruffles. Lace slips peeking beneath satin hems. Corset dresses styled with lace-up boots. Sweeping lace ball skirts worn with leather bomber jackets or vintage stoles.

Coco Chanel’s take on lace, by comparison, was far more prim-and-proper, employing the house’s classic accessorizing codes of bows, ribbons, and pearls.

Let’s admit it – our relationship with lace is generationally complicated. Ask a baby boomer to picture lace, and she might flash on Grace Kelly’s bridal veil, or Sophia Loren’s most risqué black lace nightgown 1960s ever saw onscreen. A Gen Xer could remember Kate Middleton’s exquisite bridal gown at her Westminster Abbey debut – or Monica Bellucci’s sultry widow locked in a tryst with James Bond (hmm, sullied black lace at the hands of Daniel Craig, unforgettable indeed).

Millennial or Gen Z? Maybe Zendaya’s memorable black guipure Oscar de la Renta 2022 gown – or Kendall Jenner’s vintage black lace 1992 Mugler at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscars bash. Gen Alpha? Lace means H&M micro-shorts every teenage girl covets or saucy leggings that cross class divides without blinking.

Carolina Herrera

Dolce & Gabbana

Giorgio Armani

Kendall Jenner in Vintage Mugler 1992

As for me (and I accept that this might carbon-date me) lace will always bring to mind Jacqueline Kennedy in two unforgettable ways.

First, her Secret Service codename: ‘Lace’. Chosen from a list that had to match her husband’s (‘Lancer’), it was the perfect metaphor for her elegance, grace, and quiet power. Given that JFK’s administration was often compared to the legendary court of Camelot, the codename selected for the President was certainly apt. But ‘Lace’ for First Lady Jackie Kennedy, the epitome of poise and dignity? Of all the names in a million, none could have fit better.

Second, Jackie walking behind JFK’s flag-draped casket, veiled in black lace. A Givenchy suit. A shattered, stunned world. Her choice of that veil – described by BBC at the time as the “quintessence of elegant widowhood” – wasn’t just about tradition. Or only a reflection of her status as a 34-year-old widow, or the expression of her insurmountable grief. It was privacy. A whisper-thin line drawn between unbearable sorrow and the world’s insatiable scrutiny. A moment of incomparable dignity.

Is it really a surprise that we embrace lace again, now, in a season when reality overwhelms imagination with such fervor and ruthlessness?

This fall, we need armor. Preferably one that’s stylish and diaphanous – one that says remarkable composure and dignity, without giving up sensuality or mischief.

The power of the unseen marries the barely-there. Definitely worth it.