Engaged in the clothing industry for 20 years.
Runway to Retail: The bouclé or tweed micro suit
What is the difference between tweed and bouclé?
Bouclé (derived from the French term for ‘ringed’ or ‘curled’) is
woven from a specific type of looped wool yarn. Bouclé is softer,
coarser and has naturally larger slubs than tweed. On the other hand,
tweed, which is also made from wool, is a little more durable and
sturdy.
The bouclé or tweed micro suit, a jacket with matching shorts or mini
skirt, has trended in recent seasons. The fabric is versatile enough
to be suitable for year-round wear; with micro suits showing up in
both spring and fall runway collections.
Fall/winter 2022
At Chanel, Virginie Viard provided an update to the traditional bouclé
suit showing a long line black, white and red plaid jacket over short
shorts. Accessories included a satchel, thick knit thigh highs and
Wellington boots with the Chanel logo.
Resort 2023
Spotlight
New York designer Frederick Anderson showed a jacket and matching
short shorts in blue and gold tweed.
Spotlight
At Philipp Plein, look 24 consisted of a jacket, bustier and short
skirt in pink and black plaid, trimmed with pink fringe. Accessories
included a pale pink croc print bag and matching slides.
Spring/summer 2023
From London designer, Bora Aksu, a very detailed ensemble: lemon and
lime-colored shorts suit in tweed over a cardigan in the same colors.
A white shirt with a black sketch design and a lemon dickie bow, was
shown underneath. A lime and grey colorblocked crossbody bag, white
hose and knee-high boots completed the look.
At Chanel, a sky-blue bouclé jacket and matching short shorts shown
over a white shirt and pink v neck embellished with Chanel motifs was
shown. A white crossbody bag and white sneakers accessorized the
outfit.
From Paul Costelloe: a broad collared jacket and miniskirt in red and
yellow bouclé was accessorized with red hose and strappy metallic
sandals.
On the street
At Paris Fashion Week, an attendee was snapped wearing a Giambattista
Valli ensemble from ss23. A lemon and beige tweed jacket and mini
skirt was embellished with braid, black bows and gold buttons. Black
high heeled ankle boots completed the look.
Retail options
Customers shopping for a micro suit, either in-store or online have
plenty of options at the retail level.
The Alice & Olivia ‘Renae’ black and white windowpane check tweed
jacket and matching mini wrap skirt are available through the Neiman
Marcus website.
From Self-Portrait, a jacket and matching slit front mini skirt in
ivory bouclé, both trimmed with pale blue braid, black buttons and a
black velvet dickie bow.
From Mango, a jacket with a matching bustier and shorts in a red and
white check tweed is available on their website and in their stores.
Available on the Bloomingdales’ website, the Maje ‘Vitalo’ jacket and
matching shorts are rendered in ecru and black plaid tweed.
From Ted Baker, the ‘Cremla’ cropped bouclé jacket and matching zip
front skirt in ivory is embellished with cargo pockets and silver
buttons.
