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AFTER all that blubbing at the Golden Globes last week, Kate Winslet redeeemed herself at the Leicester Square premiere of her new film, Revolutionary Road, this week by wearing the perfect dress. The black Narcisco Rodriguez shift with crossover straps showcased her tanned, toned shoulders beautifully, while her blonde hair, in a casual chignon, revealed enviably taut upper back muscles.
Forget acres of heaving bosom, or last year's slashed-to-the-navel affairs, shoulders are fast becoming the new erogenous zone for red-carpet celebs.
New First Lady Michelle Obama certainly knows how to work those stately shoulders in a series of lean shift dresses, accessorised with statement jewellery. Crucially, cleavage is off limits. In fact the sleeveless black-and-red dress she wore on US election night - accessorised by a black cardigan - is also by Rodriguez.
And shoulders are a major fashion trend for Spring 2009. Stella McCartney sent models out in strapless bandage tops; Preen and Givenchy had dresses with cut-out shoulders; while Prada was channelling the Black Widow look with black-lace halter tops. And, for fans of 1980s dressing, shoulder pads are back - as seen on the catwalks at Jean Paul Gaultier and Balmain.
Traditionally, women have had a complicated relationship with their shoulders. Fearful of looking too muscular, we cover them up. If you're over 35, there's the fear of the dreaded bingo wings. But there's little sexier than a pair of well-toned biceps.
Great shoulders take work, of course. Michelle's upper physique comes from daily gym sessions (starting at 4am) plus treadmill, weights and spinning classes. While Winslet credits her long, lean curves to daily Pilates workouts.
Throughout history, shoulders have come in and out of fashion. In Ancient Greece, drapery was fastened at the shoulder with a clasp or brooch. At the height of the 19th century, the décolletage bodice was pulled by wide sleeves to expose eye-popping quantities of chest and sloping shoulder.
By the 1920s flapper era, necklines plunged at the back, sleeves disappeared and sides were cut away; while in the synchronised swimming films of the period, the newly invented one-piece swimsuit made a fetish of strong shoulders - a look evoked by Keira Knightley in Atonement.
More recently, Olympic stars such as Rebecca Adlington have proved that you can be both athletic and womanly. Even skinny minny Posh Spice is styled in the new Armani underwear adverts to look as if she has a powerful trunk and shoulders. "My God," my friend marvelled when she saw the black-and-white snaps. "She's pretending to have a size-14 body just like ours!"
For once Posh is on the money. Shoulders radiate strength and grown-up sensuality. Plus you can go out wearing the minimum of accessories be-cause the fine frame of bones is such a statement in itself.
