Over the weekend, Kylie Jenner wore a strapless denim tube dress that read as a jean midi skirt pulled up to her armpits. Around the same time, across the pond in England, Dua Lipa seemingly styled a T-shirt into a skirt for her Glastonbury performance.
The star took the stage on Friday with a series of costume changes—lacy corsets, leather micro-minis, glittering unitards, and the aforementioned shirt-skirt. The white bottom was shaped like a typical large unisex Gildan tee, dotted with rhinestones, flipped upside down, wrapped around Dua's waist, and secured by a black-and-silver bedazzled belt. She paired the skirt-slash-shirt with a matching tank top, layered under a black mesh bralette and then folded up and tucked into its neckline. The set was custom-made for Dua by Acne Studios.
But Dua and Kylie aren't the ones responsible for the style. A new trend is upon us—trickling from the runway into celebrity closets—shirts are skirts, skirts are dresses, and dresses are jackets. Stick with me here. Balenciaga's Fall 2024 Couture collection relies heavily on the recycling theme, including a pile of puffer coats sewn together and modeled as a quasi-ball gown, athletic shorts fused and fashioned into an off-the-shoulder number, and a bevy of branded belts transformed into a slip dress.
Charli XCX recently wore a black halter dress that looked like a button-down shirt hanging from her neck from the brand's Fall 2024 Ready-to-Wear collection. The RTW line featured similar dresses made out of trench coats, blazers, and leather bombers.
Last week, Emma Chamberlain wore a white button-up, but the shirt didn't go over her head, it was tied to the front of her body. The avant-garde archival look comes from Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2003 and can be understood as clear inspiration for the trend, and more pointedly for Balenciaga's designer Demna. And lest we forget Julia Fox, who made headlines for wearing a denim waistband as a top before it was cool.
