Altuzarra, Altuzarra, 3.1 Phillip Lim, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Sonia by Sonia Rykiel SS17

The peplum hem skirt floats in and out of style quite regularly and for SS17 the wind has turned in its favour again – and caused it to crash head on with the frill skirt. Should you care? Well, yes. It means there’ll be lots of them in the stores come next spring/summer.When does a frill skirt become a peplum hem skirt? It doesn’t really matter. The point is that a pencil shape with a flippy hem is key for SS17.

Sonia by Sonia Rykiel, Ulla Johnson, M Missoni, Michael Kors, Michael Kors SS17

At its simplest it’s a gathered frill stitched around the hem on crisp cottons, a curved frill on stiffer materials such as snakeskin or curved seams cut in dense silks. But take it further with multiple frills to the flippiness quota (and add to the sex appeal), or make it softer and sweeter with frills working their way down the body of the skirt to explode into a giant peplum at the hem.

It’s a great solution for the big careerwear dilemma (how to update/add interest to office clothes without contravening dress codes), for summer occasion wear and for holiday dressing. It can even work as a casualwear piece, interpreted in denim rather than the luxe materials we’ve seen on the runways.T