Textured Black Nails With Gold Foil Details At Tadashi Shoji Fall 2016

Most of the nail looks seen during New York Fashion Week Fall 2016 thus far have been almost jarringly subdued given that the autumn and winter months are typically rife with decadent chocolate and creamy toffee hues, not to mention jewel-toned emerald and ruby shades, and bling-y accents. In stark contrast to preexisting norms, however, the majority of the nail looks showcased have involved near-bare nails, some with veil-like coatings of sheer color. It was refreshing, then, to see a truly daring nail look at the Tadashi Shoji Fall/Winter 2016 show, one that felt tempestuous and theatrical, at once stormy and sophisticated.

The nail look was masterminded by butter LONDON Global Colour Ambassador Katie Jane Hughes, who hoped to echo some of the themes explored in the designer’s collection — among them body ornamentation, from tattooing and boy art to piercings, as a means through which to express and even reinvent personal identity.

To create the look, Hughes started by shaping the nails so as to create rounded yet pointy tips that weren’t quite dagger or claw-like. She then dipped a fan-shaped brush into the butter LONDON Nail Lacquer in Union Jack Black, wiping off any excess before gliding the brush atop nails using side-swiping motions reminiscent of windshield wipers. Next, she applied a small amount of glue to the tips of nails in a random pattern so that every nail had a different distribution of glue. Using a manicure stick, she applied gold foil (purchased from a craft store) on top of the glue, creating high-shine gold tips that were far from symmetrical or perfect.

The helter-skelter quality of the nail look — particularly the deliberately inconsistent and almost impromptu feel of the black paint strokes and the gold foil-adorned tips — only worked to intensify its inherent edginess.