Emily in Paris, the hit Netflix show that follows the American expat Emily Cooper as she navigates the French capital, is known for outraging Parisians with its cliches about berets, their rudeness and fondness for long lunches. However, it was millennials this week who were left horrified after the release of a trailer for its highly anticipated fourth season. In the sneak peek, its protagonist, Emily, is seen wearing a bright pink bolero, reminiscent of the tiny shrugs that dominated wardrobes circa 2000.
“Been there, done that, no need to revisit,” reads one comment on social media. “Hideous,” reads another. One user simply wrote “NO”.
But in a summer where erratic weather has made getting dressed to maintain a comfortable temperature difficult, there is some rationale behind the bolero’s resurrection.
“On first glance, there isn’t much to recommend a shrug as it seems to have very little purpose; it’s basically a piece of fabric with arm holes,” says Natalie Hammond, Grazia’s senior fashion news editor who has written about the trend. “When you’re living through a gloomy summer like the UK’s, however, I actually do see the appeal of a micro-cardigan. It covers your arms but doesn’t tip you over the edge temperature-wise.”
Just as with low-rise jeans and baby tees, the bolero resurgence taps into a wider trend among gen Z for all things Y2K. Boleros are being worn over white vests, teamed with sporty crop tops and sometimes, somewhat bizarrely, styled with swimwear.
The pop star Olivia Rodrigo and the models Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski were early adopters of the trend, and on TikTok the hashtag bolero has been used more than 400,000 times. One of the most popular videos, which has amassed about 700,000 views, is of a user demonstrating how to make a bolero from a pair of tights.
Cos’s new Atelier collection includes boleros with extra-long tubular sleeves designed to “create a fluid effect that is intensified with movement”, while J Crew’s recent collaboration with the cult New York-based designer Maryam Nassir Zadeh features sheer and short-sleeved boleros. At Rat Boi, a sustainably focused LA-based brand, boleros are its most popular product. They are sold alongside matching tube tops and thongs.
Tiffany Hsu, the chief buying officer at the e-tailer Mytheresa, says she first noticed the trend last season. Hsu describes luxury designers as “reimagining them”, name-checking Loro Piana’s cashmere iterations and Alaïa’s miniature version with micro-cutout detailing around the shoulders.
Emily’s version is from Jacquemus, the French label that previously made micro handbags and giant straw hats desirable. The £305 mini-shrug features an even more minute gold logo charm that fastens at the front. Unlike the model on the brand’s website, who wears nothing underneath the bolero, for the screen, the show’s costume designer, Marylin Fitoussi, styled it with a green floral co-ord.
For those who are scarred from the Y2K bolero, there are ways to style them that makes them feel fresh. Plus, says Hammond, “there are some much cooler versions than what a lot of us had to put up with the first time round”.
