A broderie blouse with jeans; paisley, crochet, silk ombre and cowboy boots. If it all sounds a bit like your wardrobe circa 2004, then it should come as no surprise that the woman wearing them again is the very same who persuaded us into precisely this garb at the time.
Sienna Miller is the face of, and famous guiding hand behind, a new Marks & Spencer collection that launches on Thursday, and the range is a sort of hymn to the early Noughties greatest hits that cemented her style-icon status. From a high-necked Victoriana lace blouse to a paisley sarong and quilted block-print jacket — there’s even a coin belt for you to sling around your hips in one of the ombre dip-dyed silk dresses in purest homage, and a minimal take on a leather gladiator sandal (what else?).
Miller has been the doing the rounds of front rows and red carpets to great effect of late. If there’s one thing you might have taken from what the meme-makers are calling her “Sienna-ssance”, it is that she has “snapped back”. Not in the dreadful sense of looking human despite having had a baby about six months ago (although, credit due), but to the bangle-bedecked boho spirit she was when she rose to fame two decades ago.
Fashion’s obsession with what was going on 20 years ago has recently brought us a resurgence of all things Y2K, from low-rise jeans to very baggy ones, tiny handbags and cargo pants, even thongs. It is also 20 years since the heyday of Primrose Hill, Miller, Jude Law, Kate Moss’s skinny jeans and vintage blouses — and here they all are again, although Law is playing an end-of-life Henry VIII these days rather than Alfie.
Miller, however, looks as she ever did — part just home from Woodstock, part just spotted by model agents in the basement of Topshop Oxford Circus (RIP). Back then my friend and I cut out photos of her from Heat magazine and stuck them on the wall of our university sitting room. This time around Instagram has taken all of the effort out of admiring her, which is helpful because we have much less spare time now.
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Witness Miller at the Cannes Film Festival last month in a baby blue and full-length gauzy Chloé gown, taken straight from the debut collection of the label’s new designer, Chemena Kamali, as shown on the catwalk in Paris in February. That show was full of Miller’s Layer Cake-era dangling chain belts, aviator shades and lacy frills, and the muse herself sat front row, dressed in a white silk handkerchief-hem skirt and oversized leather blouson with platform wooden clog sandals.
This sort of hard and soft combination feels very Boho 2.0 — and very important for not looking too naff should you attempt to give it a go. Given we are living through a time of unbridled cynicism, going the full Millais’ Ophelia is ill-advised. Instead, Kamali’s new Chloé (inspired by Karl Lagerfeld looks from the archive) is a good template, and looks set to decide the coming season’s biggest new trend. Take a leaf out of her book and temper your ponchos, paisley and other dangly bits with a bit of sleek casual: tailoring, black trousers, good jeans.
Back within real-life budgets, Miller’s new M&S collection contains a good army green shacket (£55) and pair of white jeans (£49.50), for example, that bring a bit of necessary chorecore sleekness to the rest.
Miller was snapped out and about last week wearing nothing more boho than wide-leg jeans and a blazer, but with key 2004-adjacent accessories — cowboy boots and a slouchy suede bag. (Hers was Jimmy Choo’s £1,495 Cinch bag, but you might have something more cost-effective knocking around from last time.) A large part of my first boho age was spent shivering — now it’s more chic to have a jumper wrapped round your shoulders at all times.
• Sienna Miller: ‘I want to be doing this at eighty’
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If the very notion of boho’s imminent return is giving you the vapours — this is the look that ended with every man wearing a trilby for some time, after all — then this is the way to do it: softly, softly. I’ve been wearing my Isabel Marant cowboy boots on and off for six years now and haven’t yet felt compelled to wear feather earrings again, but I also like the M&S take on a cowboy slip-on: a pointed toe and Cuban heel, but backless, so great for summer and especially skirts.
I appreciate that there is so much nostalgic fashion around at the moment as to feel like either period costume or fancy dress, but let us end by celebrating an outfit that the era of Primrose Hill boho birthed and endures to this day: the vintage blouse and jeans. M&S has gone big on the broderie top and the lace blouse, not to mention a sailor-ish shirt, but it is likely that you own a version already — or check out the collaboration between Gap and the LA brand Doen for more.
Just don’t get too ahead of the curve and wear it with your skinny jeans again. Those aren’t scheduled for a comeback until — checks the 20-year fashion almanac — autumn.
