Flossing for fashion

Bella Hadid. Pics/Instagram

In the early noughties, celebrities such as Britney Spears, Lucy Liu, and Christina Aguilera made waves for accentuating their bare waists with crisscross tie detailing. Fast-forward to 2021 and supermodels like Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski and Hailey Baldwin are bringing back the trend with flair. This time, it has a brand-new name, midriff flossing. "The trend is so named because of the resemblance to dental floss. The details enhance your curves by highlighting your waistline," explains fashion stylist Mitali Ambekar.

Kendall Jenner

The trend is a versatile one that can be sported with crop tops that have tie details, skirts with intricate crisscross wraps, cut-out dresses or maxis, high-waisted trousers or shorts with long overlapping belts and bikinis with lace-tie details, she adds. The detailing can be incorporated in lounge wear, party and beach wear, street-style fashion, vacation outfits and casual clothing.

Komal Pandey

"A good way to try it to choose a wardrobe piece of clothing and add the flossing detail. You can pair a denim skirt with a crop top that has flossing trims, for instance. Another great way to wear this is to stick to monochrome outfits - a black bikini top paired with black high-waisted flare pants with tie details along the waist will make heads turn," Ambekar says. The trend is also incredibly versatile. If you're a more modest dresser, choose a wrap top with tie details and pair this with a high-waisted skirt. By doing so, you can still flaunt the tie details without over-emphasising your midriff. Influencers such as Komal Pandey often layer floss-embellished tops over fitted tanks, for more coverage.

Mitali Ambekar

If you're trying to be more mindful about your shopping, midriff flossing makes for fun DIY projects. You can make your existing outfits a tad quirky by sewing on tie detailing, she concludes.