Feathered friends: plumed evening wear is tickling our fancy

Feathered dresses and posh plumes are having a moment. Surgically remove yourself from your sweats and embrace the flouncing form of feathers

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Feathered friends: plumed evening wear is tickling our fancy
Top, price on request, by Roksanda. Tights, £35, by Wolford. Fashion: Jason Hughes
(Image credit: Dougal MacArthur)

After months of shuffling about in our slouchiest separates, lazing in loungewear and tootling in track pants, we’re eyeing up ensembles with a little more oomph. Feathered eveningwear was a focus on the S/S 2021 catwalks, as labels shirked the dressed down sartorial slump of 2020 in favour of optimistic and more attention-seeking style. Bring on the sequins and shimmer.

Embrace attention-seeking style in a feathered dress

Jumpsuit in black by Saint Laurent

Jumpsuit, £2555; belt, £565, by Saint Laurent bt Anthony Vaccarello

(Image credit: Dougal MacArthur)

Brands including Saint Laurent, Roksanda, Numberoventuro and Salvatore Ferragamo, also adorned evening looks with delicate plumes, whether they swathed skirts and slip dresses or frothed from a skinny sleeve. This fine feathered evening wear recalled the froufrou of a Twenties flapper girl and the sweep of a 1960s starlet.

Numberoventuro's Alessandro Dell'Acqua created Jazz Age-style embellishments by pairing plumed skirts with pared-back chunky knitwear and men's shirts, while Saint Laurent's Anthony Vaccarrello found particular inspiration in the latter era, drawing on archival pieces which felt both easy and extravagant. 

Spring’s plumed looks bring a lighter-than-air uplift to dressing, but they also provide required comfort too. Pristine white pieces evoke the solace of freshly laundered layers, while feathers swathe the body and recall the soft, enfolding fabrics we relied on during lockdown. Roman label Fendi even paired a plumed pencil skirt with a padded coat that resembled an enveloping duvet, for the ultimate in down and out-out dressing. Pack a punch with these protective dressing options, for when we can finally flock together.

Feathered eveningwear: dress in maroon and black by Salvatore Ferragamo

Top, £1510; skirt, £2030, both by Salvatore Ferragamo

(Image credit: Dougal MacArthur)

Dress, £4815, by Maison Margiela

Dress, £4815, by Maison Margiela

(Image credit: Dougal MacArthur)

Feathered friends: plumed evening wear is tickling our fancy

Wrap, £5,000; top, £1,890; top (worn underneath), £460; skirt, price on request, Fendi. Tights, £35, Wolford

(Image credit: Dougal MacArthur)

Feathered friends: plumed evening wear is tickling our fancy

Dress, £3200 by Numerventuro by Alessandro Dell’Acqua. Tights, £35, by Wolford

(Image credit: Dougal MacArthur)