Voluptuous models like Yana Gupta have become the flavour of the season

IN fashion circles, the seventies shall be remembered as the decade when trousers gained legitimacy and the accent was on long legs. In the eighties, attention shifted to the hips and during the nineties, navel obsession became the done thing.

Two years into the new decade and the action has shifted still higher. All of a sudden the neckline is on display, shoulders are dramatised and collarbones exposed as the new look signifies a huge leap upward for a bigger, fuller and more feminine body.

"The move from bottom to top can certainly be called a dramatic shift in fashion," exults style consultant Simran Singh. "And like all dramatic shifts, it will lead to psychological obsolescence. People everywhere are going to change their wardrobes to be in with the new bosomy look."

Designers have already coined a term to describe this trend — Umpire (pronounced Oompeare) Line. It essentially suggests a shift in bias from hip towards the bust with appropriate cuts, folds, frills and fussy embellishments. Or does it work that way?

The waif-like Kate Moss look has lost its appeal

A contrasting view suggests that the Umpire Line does not work in India as the lower waist and hips continue to demand attention. Market reports also indicate that hipsters are more popular with the youth than bustiers and low-cut blouses.

"Revealing the cleavage is still not taken kindly by the Indian society," opines Seema Poddar, a Mumbai-based designer. "Any kind of exposure of a female’s upper body sends negative signals. Yet for some strange reason, society is more tolerant when the waist and hips are emphasised. You can see this from the attitude of film censors...."

Counters Nilesh Sawant, a fashion writer: "Full-bodied models like Shivani Kapoor and Yana Gupta have become the flavour of the season. The waif-like Kate Moss Look is now history. Even Bollywood is succumbing to the fresh and feminine look."

Concurs former Miss India Gul Panag, a self-confessed size 34-D: "I have always had people tell me to underplay my chest, giving me clothes that would take attention away from it... to the extent that I began to hunch and became convinced that something was wrong with me."

Today, she is getting desperate calls for photo shoots and ramp shows and says that everybody wants a Pam Anderson-type of look. "The coat-hanger look is great in the abstract, but it is not for real women," Panag says victoriously.

But then, designers are not necessarily getting into the "dare-bare" mould to draw attention to the bust. Aparna Chandra, for instance, achieves this by providing gathers to her dresses just below the bust, which accentuate the curves.

Manish Arora works with a change of colours (often with a plain strip of cloth) starting just below the bust line to give it a "distinct prominence", while Malini Ramani makes it thrust out with embroidery marking out the area that covers the bra.

Much of the inspiration comes from the sensuous Gujarati chania-choli or the flattering angarkha worn by kathak dancers, in which the pleats begin just below the bust line. Less popular versions can also be seen in certain tribal or folk wear (particularly among the gypsies of Rajasthan) as well as classical court wear.

Indian designers would, of course, cite a foreign reference point with Gucci’s head designer Tom Ford being credited for introducing the milkmaid (otherwise known as the "peasant") line last year. Although the originals were in opulent silks, the bosom accentuated gathered tops are now available at mass outlets in cotton, chiffon and georgette.

Observes Sawant, "For a look to rule, fashion demands that it is typecast by A-list celebs. In the fifties, it was the glamorous Marilyn Monroe. Fifty years later, it is pop goddess Jennifer Lopez and the bronzed Shakira, who have tossed the anorexic look for the full-blooded body."

Stylists Jojo and Yatan add that the look now has turned much more relaxed: "For instance, the straight, ironed hair of the last few years synchronised perfectly with the clean, tidy image that went with the androgynous look. The idea was to take away attention from the body and turn it to the clothes. Today’s stringy hair does just the reverse. It is the closest we have got to the real woman." (MF)