Runway to Retail: The bouclé or tweed micro suit

What is the difference between tweed and bouclé?
Bouclé (derived from the French term for ‘ringed’ or ‘curled’) is woven from a specific type of looped wool yarn. Bouclé is softer, coarser and has naturally larger slubs than tweed. On the other hand, tweed, which is also made from wool, is a little more durable and sturdy. The bouclé or tweed micro suit, a jacket with matching shorts or mini skirt, has trended in recent seasons. The fabric is versatile enough to be suitable for year-round wear; with micro suits showing up in both spring and fall runway collections.

Fall/winter 2022

At Chanel, Virginie Viard provided an update to the traditional bouclé suit showing a long line black, white and red plaid jacket over short shorts. Accessories included a satchel, thick knit thigh highs and Wellington boots with the Chanel logo.

Resort 2023

New York designer Frederick Anderson showed a jacket and matching short shorts in blue and gold tweed.

At Philipp Plein, look 24 consisted of a jacket, bustier and short skirt in pink and black plaid, trimmed with pink fringe. Accessories included a pale pink croc print bag and matching slides.

Spring/summer 2023

From London designer, Bora Aksu, a very detailed ensemble: lemon and lime-colored shorts suit in tweed over a cardigan in the same colors. A white shirt with a black sketch design and a lemon dickie bow, was shown underneath. A lime and grey colorblocked crossbody bag, white hose and knee-high boots completed the look.

At Chanel, a sky-blue bouclé jacket and matching short shorts shown over a white shirt and pink v neck embellished with Chanel motifs was shown. A white crossbody bag and white sneakers accessorized the outfit.

From Paul Costelloe: a broad collared jacket and miniskirt in red and yellow bouclé was accessorized with red hose and strappy metallic sandals.

On the street

At Paris Fashion Week, an attendee was snapped wearing a Giambattista Valli ensemble from ss23. A lemon and beige tweed jacket and mini skirt was embellished with braid, black bows and gold buttons. Black high heeled ankle boots completed the look.

Retail options

Customers shopping for a micro suit, either in-store or online have plenty of options at the retail level.

The Alice & Olivia ‘Renae’ black and white windowpane check tweed jacket and matching mini wrap skirt are available through the Neiman Marcus website.

From Self-Portrait, a jacket and matching slit front mini skirt in ivory bouclé, both trimmed with pale blue braid, black buttons and a black velvet dickie bow.

From Mango, a jacket with a matching bustier and shorts in a red and white check tweed is available on their website and in their stores.

Available on the Bloomingdales’ website, the Maje ‘Vitalo’ jacket and matching shorts are rendered in ecru and black plaid tweed.

From Ted Baker, the ‘Cremla’ cropped bouclé jacket and matching zip front skirt in ivory is embellished with cargo pockets and silver buttons.