Entertainment

THE INSIDERS: LENA DUNHAM AND ALLISON WILLIAMS

the coolest girls ever on fashion week, peplum tops, and haircuts.

by ray siegel

Ever since the HBO show Girls has aired, we (along with every other girl) have more than strongly identified and with the stars of the show. Probably because it's like watching our own New York history: The bad internship experiences, the way-too weird dating situations, the wanting to become an important writer in New York, and maybe we'd even admit to owning a pink Shoshona-esque track suit in the way past though any such photographic evidence has been buried.

We saw Girls co-stars Lena Dunham and Allison Williams at fashion shows this week and even though we've had access to pretty much every fashion icon you could imagine, we would much rather hear about their take on fashion week. It turned into a girl fight without any hair pulling—over peplum tops.

Allison, a peplum top enthusiast, admitted to not catching on to the being "fashionably late" to fashion week thing. "This is the first time I've gone to shows since girls has aired. I came to the Peter Som show one year ago and it's so funny to contrast the two experiences. I was the first person in the room last year because I like being early to everything. Everyone was like, "no one is early to fashion shows!" But since she was so fashionably punctual again this year, we had time to ask her what her spring trend predictions are. "I'm thinking peplums are still a big thing. It's very feminine and beautiful, but it's also body-conscious. It's a nice thing to be able to wear if you're worried about a tummy or something like that. Peplum is very forgiving and it gives you that beautiful hip line. If we're not all built like Christina Hendricks we can pretend that we're built like Christina Hendricks. I also think burgundy might be a thing. I think there's also a lot of loose fitting structured shapes going on."

We tried not to act star struck while dissing peplum tops with Lena Dunham at the Rachel Antonoff show (I've since burned all of mine). "Allison loves peplums. She's peplum-crazy. Let the record show that I'm done with peplums. I never started with them. Allison looks great in peplums. I just don't need them in my life. I don't need anything that makes me look like I have more waist than I already do. Wearing a peplum is basically being like "I'd like to accent my pseudo-pregnancy." If not peplum tops, then what? "I like this sweatshirt that I just got from Rachel [Antonoff] today. I love a maxi skirt—though not in a jersey fabric. I love a collared blouse. I just got into shorts this year and it's been a real odyssey."

There was one more objective insider that served as a mediator. Ken Weinstein's nine-year old daughter Lili, who spent the duration of the Rachel Antonoff presentation hand-in-hand with Lena, offered us a fresh alternative worth noting. "You know what you can do with peplums? If it's a peplum dress, you can take a skirt and put it over the peplum part." Then we offered her a job in our fashion department.

The second season of Girls just wrapped, which Lena admitted was the reason for her recent short haircut, "It was fully a Miley Cyrus-inspired. I wish I could be like, I watched Breathless, but no." Will peplum tops are banned from the HBO wardrobe department? We're siding with young Lili on this one; you can always work it or work around it.