944

I was watching Gossip Girl last night (laugh if you want, but the clothes are amazing and the soapy plot lines are delicious), and I was distracted by an awful dress worn by the Serena character, played by Blake Lively (the Alice+Olivia dress above in the bottom row). It was like it was trying to be too many things - short, and draped, and slinky, and strong shouldered. My biggest problem was honestly the shoulder pads. They were huge, and I could clearly see their outline because the dress was made of jersey. The poor girl looked like a linebacker.

The current strong-shoulder trend caught fire when Christophe Decarnin sent his spring 2009 Balmain collection down the runway. Jackets, dresses and tops with padded, peaked shoulders were paired with jeans and studded skirts for an undeniably cool futuristic rock star feel. Beyonce was seen wearing the white jacket above, and Rihanna wore a version of the lace top. Bal-mania had begun.

As with all trends, the following season there were a slew of imitators, some more successful than others. There's a fine line between a power shoulder and a Dynasty flashback or football gear.

If you're going to try out the trend, the trick is keeping the proportion right, which is the trickiest part of strong-shouldered silhouettes. The Torn leopard top and Herve Leger dress above in the second row succeed because the silhouette is more peaked, whereas the Donna Karan and Herve Leger coats in the bottom row are cut more straight across, making the look too broad - you don't want your head looking like a pin standing on a table. And the studded William Rast shirt in the bottom row is just a disaster - it looks like she's wearing a denim box. The Donna Karan red dress in the middle row works because the shoulder is subtle, and the William Rast coat works because the shoulder is subtle and coat's skirt brings balance.

So remember: proportion, proportion, proportion if you're looking the try to the strong shoulder trend.