Why This 1950s Silhouette Is the Secret Weapon Women Are Using to Dominate the Workplace—And You Need to Know Now!
“POV,” wrote 23-year-old Hannah Wu in a TikTok posted in late May. “You find the perfect work top.” The video depicts her prancing around in a blouse that has elements of a classic men’s shirt with a completely reimagined silhouette. A series of pleats at the waist creates an exaggerated hourglass shape and causes the fabric to bubble over at the chest and peplum at the hip.
Wu first purchased the Exquise Tobie Top (which launched exclusively at Anthropologie in February of 2024) because she saw another TikTok creator posting about how flattering it was, noting that it “accentuates one’s waist while drawing less attention to the arms.” Now, she often wears it to work at her corporate finance job in New York City, but also in more casual environments. “I like it because I find it flattering for my body type,” she explains.
Wu is one of many young women publicly declaring their love for the Tobie silhouette, which now comes in 15 forms of blouses, mini and midi dresses, and jumpsuits across 30 colors and patterns, extending from petite to plus sizes, and retailing from $138 for a top to $198 for a long dress. Its most distinctive characteristics are that waist-pleat detailing, an exaggerated sleeve, and puffed hip, which, in the context of the dresses, extends to a full skirt. With more than 100,000 searches on the retailer’s website, the Tobi has become so popular that Anthropologie has had to restock its most popular style 20 times.
It’s also been rented tens of thousands of times on the resale site Nuuly. According to Sky Pollard, head of product at Nuuly, “The younger customer (under 30) is using it to dress ‘office appropriate’—perhaps this is their first summer working in an office—while the older customer (over 30) appreciates the flattering waist definition and versatility of this shirt-dress-inspired style.” Despite its recent tumble into the zeitgeist, the design is not technically new but many, many decades old.
Related Posts
Post Comment