Hot pants & boy shorts: women's fashion trend

Many recent fashion trends have pointed to it, and given the popularity of the likes of lingerie as outerwear it should really come as no surprise. Yes, hem lines continually become shorter as time marches on, but Spring 2010 may be the first season where hem lines can be predominantly measured in negative figures.

Hot Pants

Once upon a time hot pants were considered more suited to a gymnasium than the streets. But then, in late 2007, the leotard came back into fashion. While it didn't peak on the streets until 2009, and was often worn under skirts, shorts or long furs, in the case of Kate Moss, its prevalence guaranteed that hot pants would indeed be worn by forward thinking fashionisers.

And so there it was on the Spring 2010 catwalks. And again in the front row. Always on the confident personality. Always on a great figure.

Those two latter parts are key to this fashion trend. It is not for the faint of heart, nor those who aren't confident about their figure.

Two hot pant styles for 2010

One of the two styles for hot pants in 2010, mid-cut hot pants, start at or just below the belly button. A modern interpretation of the look, it was far less common on the Spring 2010 catwalks though was the style favoured by Miuccia Prada for her Spring 2010 collection.

High-Waisted Hot Pants

As it was on the catwalks, so I suspect it shall be on the streets. To balance the fact that a negative hem line is going to reveal a lot of skin high waisted hot pants will be the strongest look for this trend in 2010.

For those who have enjoyed the vintage revival of recent years have, a vintage interpretation of hot pants is definitely on the cards. To achieve a vintage look invest in a good pair of high-waisted hot pants. When wearing them, look to the classic pin-up girl for inspiration. In particular, draw on the girly motifs that are evident in most pictures of vintage hot pants; nautical detailing is a prime example (just don't take it to the level of being a parody) though a fusion of hot pants and lingerie as outerwear is the most predominant for Spring 2010.

Vintage influenced hot pants from Marc Jacobs Spring 2010

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