October 17th, 2008
The Return of the Poncho: good thing or bad thing?
Back in the summer of 2005 (or was it 2005?), ponchos made a comeback. It was mostly Sienna Miller’s fault: she’d been spotted wearing one, and suddenly every woman and her dog had one, and market stalls across the UK were churning them out like there was no tomorrow. Remember? These were lightweight “summer” ponchos, which were generally crocheted, but as summer changed to fall, some heavy knit ones started to pop up too before they finally faded off the fashion radar again the next year.
The Fashion Police managed to completely resist the poncho trend, although we have to admit there were moments during the depths of winter when we started to see the appeal of them, and we also spotted some people wearing them and making the look work.
And now the poncho has made a return. Or one of them has, anyway. We’re not sure if this poncho from Dorothy Perkins is acting alone, or if it has simply been sent ahead by an entire army of ponchos to find out the lie of the land and pave the way for a veritable invasion of the things, but regardless, we want to know what you think of it.
Will you welcome our poncho friends back with open arms, should they try to return, or will you simply switch off the lights, hide behind the sofa and pretend you’re not at home when the ponchos come a-knocking?
noway !!i consider it totally impractical( how do i wear a shoulder-bag with it?) and unflattering (it doesnt follow the lines of the female body).although i can only imagine it with skinny pants !!
I love a knitted poncho! Perfect for the fall here.
I like to look of knitted ponchos in the fall (not warm enough for a true winter!) but find them too impractical. I like having my arms free.
Have never owned one, and never would, but I don’t mind them on other people.
When I was a little girl I had a mexican poncho and wore it ALL. THE. TIME. Also, I think it’s time to bring some south american flavor to the fashion community. We did the Indian thing…Time for some peruvian type influence.
Some of them are nice, but I don’t know…these are such a ‘trend’ item that I tend to avoid the poncho.
This time it’s a different poncho. In 2005 they had the “triangle” look, low on the front and the back, high cut on the arms. This time around they are like knitted capes with little holes for the hands. By the way capes are in, too. Probably I will get a cape but not sure because I remember how passe the poncho looked in 2005 after a couple of months.
Can’t use my arms properly and does nothing for my figure? I’ll pass.
I don’t actually like ponchos (or should that be ponchoes?), BUT my favourite item of clothing at the moment is a hand-crocheted poncho, with tassels and a collar at the neck. Something’s gone wrong…but it’s just so warm. And honestly not as hideous as it sounds.
The reason they have resurfaced is the appearance of a renagade Poncho on Ugly Betty, not too far off the one in the pic here. Unfortunately someone at Dotty P has not realised it was for humour and is trying to sneak them in on the back of the Cape trend.
The only acceptable one in shops at the moment is at Vivienne Westwood but at £500 we may leave it there.
The worst thing about the last out break of poncho wearing was when people washed them, shrunk them and continued to wear them despite the resembalance of a knitted collar!!!!
Oh, ponchos. I remember those things. I think it was 2004 though, cause I remember buying a poncho in 7th grade when I was the awkward, chubby girl with braces as an attempt to fit in. Even as ponchos go though, it was preeetty bad. It was really bulky and pastel blue, green and purple. I got lots of complements, but most of them were things like “Wow, did you make that yourself?”
I don’t know why I never caught on to the fact that wearing anything that resembled a 12-year-old’s art project was going to do a crappy job of making me cool.
So no, I do not like them. I don’t want them to come back because every time I see them, I will think of that horrible thing that I wore in 7th grade and want to crawl into a little embarrassment hole.
I feel sorry for the experience of Anna and have never been a fan of the poncho.
So, let’s ban this “trend” before it spreads too far!
Is there that much of a difference between a poncho and a cape?
I’ll admit that ponchos make bags and coats difficult and they tend to droop into my food, but they are so snuggly!
Mini poncho: http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/2007/01/harvest-colors.html
Fur ponocho: http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/2007/12/winter-white-denim-with-fur.html
i don’t mind them but if sienna miller wears them i definately won’t.