The big cover-up is ON

THE fashion world dislikes boobs. What qualifies as erotic capital holds little currency on the catwalk and in glossy editorial spreads.

The truly committed clothes horse understands the value of a flat chest. How else can one master Stella McCartney’s signature androgyny or those boxy Céline shapes?

There’s a good reason why ‘clean and lean’ is an industry mantra and it doesn’t involve ample cleavage. It’s simple. Boobs interrupt the business of clothes and in this economy — designers can’t afford to go bust.

The desire to lift and separate has underpinned sartorial history since the super cinching corsets of the 16th century.

It was Dior’s post-war New Look, however, that usurped the presiding flapper fashion, with silver screen sirens Lana Turner and Jane Russell its pin-up girls.

Come the 80s, cleavage usurped coverage once more with pop icon Madonna fetishising underwear as outerwear — not forgetting her 1990 Blonde Ambition bullet bra designed by Jean Paul Gaultier.

As for style statements, who could forget Liz Hurley’s buxom 1994 Versace safety pin dress — a frock which catapulted her to overnight fame?

It was also at this time, the fashion industry’s biggest pair of retail rivals — Wonderbra and Victoria’s Secret — burst onto the scene. Wonderbra’s 1994 “Hello Boys” campaign, featuring Czech model Eva Herzigova, garnered estimated sales of 3,000 bras a day and it wasn’t long before Victoria’s Secret became common knowledge with its bevy of zaftig ‘Angels’ beatifying the bosom.

Despite such empirical evidence, it looks like the cleavage is being put firmly back on the shelf. Celebrated models of the moment include British tomboy Cara Delevigne and Serbian transgender Andrej Pejic — while the autumn/winter 13 runways were chock full of stiff menswear fabrics and oodles of layering. As for this year’s Oscars red carpet, the mood was more Downton Abbey than Hollywood Hills. The real question is whether this is merely a passing trend or indicative of a deeper shift in consciousness.

“It does suggest a certain new confidence — the knowledge that we don’t need to let it all hang out to be deemed attractive,” says Prudence fashion editor Laura Cunningham. “A defined waistline, effortless poise or carefully honed curves might be the new heaving cleavage.”

Fashion blogger Aisling O’Toole (thestyleaccountant.com) disagrees. “I can’t see it taking off for real women,” she argues.

“Given that the average Irish bust is 36C, high necklines just don’t flatter us. Throw into the mix that more than 50% of us are in the wrong size bra and the reason high necklines look clumsy becomes clear.”

Indeed. Reality star Kim Kardashian has recently borne the brunt of the fashion police in a bid to stay on-trend while pregnant. Struggling with straining buttons, fabric gapes and the dreaded ‘mono boob’, the busty beauty is proof positive of how alien polo necks, buttoned shirts and tailored tux jackets are to an inflated bustline.

Designer Victoria Beckham, once the proud owner of a surgically enhanced 34DD cup, is rumoured to have had a second breast reduction. Whether this is an extreme fashion gesture or merely an attempt at deflating her Spice Girl past is anyone’s guess but the bid to be taken seriously is evident.

If that is the case, just what does a cleavage say?

“For me it’s all about degrees,” says O’Toole. “I don’t see anything wrong with appropriate cleavage. After all, if you’re blessed with big boobs where exactly are you meant to put them? Every woman knows the power of the cleavage, and those who say they’ve never used their boobs for their own gain is telling an untruth.”

One only has to look at the power of Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks, Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton or our own Georgia Salpa to understand O’Toole’s point and the money-spinning potential of a deep décolletage.

Former child stars Emma Watson and Miley Cyrus can also testify to the subtle power of a ‘side boob’ cleavage in successfully expunging a squeaky clean image. Hannah Montana, who?

Sure, androgyny may be this season’s serious fashion statement but, as history goes — a killer cleavage is a lot more uplifting.