The New Nail Style For Autumn 2011: Ladylike Ovals Are Back

Autumn/Winter catwalks abounded with elegant silhouettes earlier this year and no, I'm not talking about the boniness of the models' carapaces. I'm talking about their talons. At the time I clocked the trend for a move away from the squared-off nail, or the squoval, which had held sway for years, and a move back to a much more retro and elegant tapered shape.

Lynnie gave us the heads-up on the new shape earlier this year and tipped (I kill me) the nod to it for summer, but I'm seeing it all over the shop in advertising images for autumn/winter and now that Tom Ford himself is using the shape in images for his new beauty line as above ... well. Well, I think we know the answer. It's back, and it's probably going to go mainstream.

But is it practical? At the time Lynnie pointed out that she was going to stick with her neat, squared-off tips, thanks, as they were practical and suited her lifestyle. Yep, beauty's got to fit in around you if it's gonna be workable. The thing is though, if you've a long nail bed then neat filed nails look great (and she does, the lucky wagon), but for those of us who don't, an oval shape can be more forgiving.

Filing the nail into a gentle point from the bed gives an illusion of more length, helping to elongate and slim the hand, so chosing this is actually all about the shape of your hands. I only have a medium depth nail bed and always want more length in my nails which I can't achieve generally because they're weak, so will definitely give the shape a go. And, y'know, I do like how elegant it looks too.

What about you? Witchy or wonderful?

Dior pic credit: vogue.co.uk