Main SQUEEZE

Cinched waists are all over the runways, but the silhouette is less about cutting an hourglass figure (and appealing to the male gaze) than feeling a sense of power and control.

- LIANA SATENSTEIN

Lately, I’ve been ruthlessly cinching my waist. The obsession started with a leather jacket from Phoebe Philo’s rabidly awaited first collection; the coat takes a viciously sharp turn at the drop waist, creating a 90 degree angle at the midsection. Inspired, I found a butter-soft doublebreasted vintage leather jacket with a belt on eBay. When I tied the belt at my midsection, using a grip so tight that I launched my spleen into my esophagus, the bottom portion branched out into a severe peplum and I cut a Coke-bottle figure. For the record, I’ve never felt better. I don’t feel constricted when my waist is tightly cinched. The jacket’s clutch around my torso transforms my most banal tasks into militant missions. I feel a glimmer of Grace Jones in her waist-sculpting leather jackets as I stomp through the supermarket with linebacker shoulders, hunting for fibre-packed cereal. I march to the subway with my whittled midsection like a bootleg Alaïa Amazon, making the stroller-laden Park Slope, Brooklyn, my very own Fifth Avenue. It’s almost as if the jacket demands a destination; there’s purpose in every step. I’ve never felt so womanly. I’ve never felt so in control. I’ve never felt so sensual. I’m like an urban wasp, ready to sting.

On the Spring 2024 runways, others were in tune with Philo’s predilection for the hourglass shape. At Schiaparelli Haute Couture, Daniel Roseberry churned out a black vinyl dress that was sucked in at the belly button, subversively adorned with a Ruth Bader Ginsburg crochet collar. In her final collection for Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton drew the eye to the midriff thanks to dramatically nipped coats and blazers. Fast-forward to Autumn 2024: I spotted a subtle concave shape in a denim jacket from Tory Burch, and at Bally, creative director Simone Bellotti showed skirts with a V shape cut from the waistline down to the navel.