How to dress: peplums

Do my hips look big in this? Thought so. They are sporting a peplum, which makes them look big. To be fair, they are also sporting a couple of packets of biscuits each, which also makes them look bigger, but for some reason Vogue refuses to endorse biscuits as a style statement, even in January when they are clearly the literal meaning of To Die For Must-Haves, even more so than a toggled Aztec cape or whatevs, so I am writing about peplums by default.

A moment to define our terms. A biscuit is – oh no, sorry. A peplum is a gathered strip of fabric at the waist of a piece of clothing, which forms a freestanding flounce over the hips. The peplum idea encompasses everything from a soft ruffle of fabric such as this one to a dramatic, crinoline-stiff flourish.

The revival of the peplum – a 1940s shape that was popular again for a few years in the 1980s – seems a bit baffling. But it is not as random as it first appears. The peplum is in fact the third instalment in a trilogy of fashion trends that began in 2007. We can call this trilogy Hourglass: The Action Movie. The hourglass silhouette was once something soft and yielding, but it has been given a sharp-edged makeover. The three-parter kicked off five years ago with The Waist: a season in which wide, studded cinch-belts were briefly a must-have accessory. In 2009, Here Comes The Shoulder broke box-office records for sales of high-street jackets with silly-sized shoulder pads. And now we have The Revenge Of The Hips, starring a bottom-exaggerating peplum.

The most modern take on the theme comes from Stella McCartney's catwalk: a stiffened shell top tailored from shoulder to waist that springs out below. With a simple pair of black trousers or pencil skirt, this is a winning early-spring look. However, as I found while trying on clothes for this week's photo-shoot, many high-street versions seem to have been designed to look good on a hanger, rather than a body. A peplum frill on a jacket, or on the hips of a dress, is an easier look to pull off. Sometimes, the best thing about a remake is that it jogs your memory about the original.

Jess wears dress £79, by Marks & Spencer. Shoes from a selection, by Russell & Bromley.

Photograph: David Newby for the Guardian. Hair and make-up: Charlotte Lowes at Mandy Coakley.