The Controversial Trend I Swore I'd Never Wear Again Is Back, and I'm Into It

Sometimes, I feel like peplums are a forgotten and controversial trend. Everyone is always up in arms about low-rise jeans, but no one talks enough about peplums. The trend also defined 2010s fashion and is not looked back at with much affection or animosity. If anything, most people will tell you they'd forgotten about peplums entirely. I am one of those people.

When I think of peplums, I think about how we were all wearing peplums when they were in their prime. Collectively, we were wearing peplum tops with skinny jeans and weird chunky statement necklaces in a way that felt extremely business casual. It wasn't a sexy or fun look. It was extremely odd, but not in the good eccentric way. Everyone looked like a child in an adult's 9-to-5 uniform at the club. It makes sense why we decided to forget about it entirely.

When peplums went away, they really went away. I sold all of my old peplum tops to secondhand shops around the city. It wasn't a trend people felt the need to hold onto. It felt like something that once it was over, it was over for good. But naturally, this is fashion we're talking about and everything comes back around eventually.

The 2025 revival of peplums is here, and it feels distinctly different. This isn't a business casual peplum; it is less austere. It adds shape and intrigue to a look with flow, movement, and volume. Today's peplums create a fun silhouette that makes it easy to experiment with layering.

I'm starting to realize that perhaps the mistake we all made with peplums in the past was feeling like nothing else in the outfit could be too voluminous. The go-to was to wear it with tight pants so the peplum top wouldn't be too much. But that's the whole point! It's supposed to be too much! That's the fun.

And so, yes, I'm extremely into peplums right now. I think it's the kind of funky, weird thing we should be experimenting with to make outfits feel more interesting. This past season, I saw some really great peplum tops in person on the Ashlyn runway in New York during fashion week and couldn't stop thinking about them after.

I just love the new outfit shapes a good peplum top can unlock. One model wore an orange peplum jacket with a loose skirt. Another wore a beige peplum top that jetted out from the hips with a pair of loose trousers. Without the peplum, the looks would have felt more typical. With it, they were taken to another level that feels more fantastical. I love how the material of a good peplum top just floats around your hips, creating a silhouette that would otherwise be impossible.

So while peplums didn't get their time to shine when it came to controversial nostalgic trends, I think we're going to see it finally have its time to shine in the high fashion sun right now. Even I, a self-proclaimed peplum skeptic, can get behind that.

Shop the peplum trend below: