There was a glimmer of sunshine for at least twenty minutes on Monday morning, enough to warm the heart and show that spring, like a wandering royal family in a farm shop, is making its strange return. Throw away your winter coat, start moth-proofing your knitwear and lean into it.
When it comes to refreshing your wardrobe, you might want to shift your perspective a little. I think it’s safe to say that the tyranny of the floral dress has loosened the petal-strewn grip around our décolletés. There’s a bit of Sloane’s soup in the air, mixed with a bit of Provençal louche attitude. The new vibe is a mix of tailored and relaxed, a striped city boy shirt with wide-leg trousers. A touch of red can’t hurt right now. Small styling details and ways of putting things together will bring a little more life to your existing wardrobe. Step by step of course.
Here are 12 tips to get you started…
The vertically striped shirt
Big news in stripes: ditch your Breton and go vertical. This may feel dizzy, but a fresh shirt with a chic colored stripe is totally A Thing. If you have extra to spend, I can’t recommend Yaitte, a super sweet independent brand from London, enough. The Buoy shirts are a signature (in mustard and green, £225, yaitte.com). With Nothing Underneath is a great one-stop shirt-stop and has a lovely green-striped boyfriend iteration for £120 (withnothingunderneath.com); see also the brown and white striped Indy oversized version from Hush, yours for £79 (hush.co.uk).
Indy brown striped shirt, £79, hush.co.uk
The Boyfriend Tencel Shirt, Forest Green Stripe, £120, withnothingunderneath.com
Embrace a denim skirt
I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent finding decent denim skirts that go beyond the boring knee-length style. But just like that, here we are drowning in things. Stock up before they run off again. Levi’s has great maxi-length ones (in black, £80, levi.com). Zara has lots of styles, but I absolutely love the fish-hem panels (£35.99, zara.com). See also Jigsaw for its stylish midi style with frayed hem (£95, jigsaw-online.com).
Mid-rise Denim Midi Skirt, £35.99, zara.com
The easy dress
For those who are looking for a more au courante solution to the previous attempt at a floral midi dress and are done with it, may I present the easy dress? Which does exactly that. Get started, look ready and forget about it. The key is a loose but not oversized silhouette in a neutral color that you can play with by layering – place a polo collar underneath, an open shirt over it; endless combinations will work. ME+EM is a great place for a beautiful dress, the Textured Maxi Dress in Cream (£195, meandem.com) is ideal. See also Albaray’s two-tone cream and black jersey tank dress (£69, albaray.co.uk), Hush’s Tatum denim maxi dress (£95, hush-uk.com) and Cos for its T-shirt dress with pleated skirt (£95, cos.com). Combine now with your trench coat, later on its own.
Textured Maxi Dress, £195, meandem.com
Tatum long denim dress, £95, hush-uk.com
The Shaket 2.0
A workwear jacket is the reliable staple that every wardrobe should have. Conveniently, American brand Everlane has teamed up with London Fashion Week returnee Marques’ Almeida for a rather cool collaboration. There are a few choices, but the canvas patchwork in khaki green (£232) is a real keeper. Available from March 24 on everlane.com. Wear it with everything and enjoy the abundance of pockets.
Everlane x Marques’ Almeida, canvas patchwork jacket, £232, everlane.com
Loafer versus kitten heel
Choose your shoe fighter. Ballet shoes and Mary Janes are still on the rise, but ubiquitous is the loafer, more useful for getting around the subway. Uniqlo’s C-line by Clare Waight Keller has a great chunky pair (£39.90, uniqlo.com), while really, you can’t beat a classic GH Bass Weejuns – the new white and black penny loafers are perfect (£160, ghbass-eu.com). The other revival comes through the kitten whole. Russell & Bromley has a cute pair with silver bows (£295, russellandbromley.co.uk) that will elevate your dullest outfit; see also Charles and Keith’s cream tweed pair (£65, charleskeith.co.uk).
From left to right; Sepphe cut-out mules with tweed heels, £65, charleskeith.co.ukLow mesh heel with pointed bow, russellandbromley.co.ukEasy Weejuns soft penny loafers, black and white leather, £160, ghbass-eu.com
Personality socks
Your easiest styling trick: socks. Especially the ones that instantly make your outfit look more interesting. Example: your old jeans, white T-shirt? Add a cheerful sock in block colors with a loafer and voila: instant personality outside the crowd. Uniqlo and Arket are both good places to stock up, as is Pairs Scotland, which has a fine red merino wool pair (£15, pairs-scotland.com). Please note: this contains absolutely no pattern. Horrible.
Red merino socks, £15, pairs-scotland.com
Get on board with shorts
The young and nimble-legged may be tempted by the micro styles that abounded on the runways, but for anyone with a real job, keep your mind on the new short mood on the board. Treat them as you would trousers, i.e. make them as chic as you need them to be. I love the idea of pairing with a T-shirt, under a shirt, under a blazer and then removing a piece of clothing as the weather warms up. For weekenders, Cos has a great pair of jeans (see also matching shirt), while Ghost London from the premium Studio line, which will be released in early April, has the cute Bella shorts in black satin, which are very beautiful.
Frayed denim shorts, £85, cos.com
Bella shorts, £129, available early April, spook.co.uk
Bake again
Rejoice, giant bags are back with us, for all your strolling needs. Look at Kate Moss in the Cotswolds at the weekend with her large woven basket bag; see also Taylor Russell with ample Loewe matching with friend Harry Styles and his The Row Margaux. Will the couple that wraps It together stay together? Watch this space. Sézane and Whistles both have excellent basket bags suitable for the city (important unless you’re going to a country market). A little leather upholstery works wonders here. For something spicier on the go, I’m quite taken with ANYDAY’s hot red tote bag for a very attainable £49 (johnlewis.com).
Whistles, Zoelle Paper Weave Eyelet Tote, £99, available April 5 sezane.com
Sia East/West Minimal Tote Bag, Red, £49, johnlewis.com
A pair of blank jeans
No one was more surprised than me when I found a wardrobe savior in the form of white jeans. I can also reveal that I wore them on a flight and all day and didn’t spill anything on them, which shows that maturity comes to all of us. Mine is a palazzo leg from Good American (currently on sale on Net-a-porter if you’re quick). These want to be loose in their legs – we are not entering the Liz Hurley territory of the nineties. I don’t know what it is about white, but it’s an instant sharpener. Jigsaw have a great pair that are conveniently cut above the ankle (£95, jigsaw-online.com). See also Arket’s roomy Cloud pair (£97, arket.com).
Marsh wide leg jeans, £89, aligne.co
Dress-down tailoring
Smart pants are such a winner when worn with a T-shirt or other low-key top. We are very much in high-low territory here. M&S has a great pair of beige trousers for a very reasonable €29.50, while Uniqlo:C’s lovely gray wide-leg suit (worn by designer Clare Waight Keller with white trainers at a brand preview this week) is machine washable (€ £79.90 for jacket, £39.90 for trousers, uniqlo.com). For a slightly sexier mood, see Reiss’ camel jumpsuit (£248, reiss.com), which Saint Laurent does really well. A word of advice: ditch the slightly boring tie belt and add your own leather one for better punctuation.
Cotton Blend Wide Leg Chinos, £29.50, marksandspencer.com
Liliana, wide leg lyocell jumpsuit, £248, reiss.com
The joy jacket
Understated chic is all well and good, but where is the spirit you may wonder? Sometimes you just need an addition to your wardrobe that will bring you unprecedented pleasure; step into spring with a jacket that does just that. Pink City Prints’ Block Print Margaret Jacket in lime and pink is so cheerful (£175, pinkcityprints.com). See also Toast’s kantha jackets, made from recycled saris (£175, toa.st). For something wilder, Ganni’s leopard print is great fun (£295, ganni.com).
Lime Jungle Margaret jacket, £175, pinkcityprints.com
Leopard Print Cotton Canvas Jacket, £295 ganni.com
The sleeveless knit
Get into it and you’ll never look back. Sandwich dressing is the new term floating around, which is essentially what we used to call layering, which is really just another way of saying wearing several pieces of clothing at the same time. It’s tiring, isn’t it? Still, a sleeveless knit will be your friend for now over a shirt/top/dress and under a blazer/trench/bomber, and later all on its own. Reformation is one of my favorite places for knitwear, the Marnie is a great roomy option in soft brown and cream (£148, thereformation.com). See also Uniqlo:C’s camel version with a cute red border (£24.90, uniqlo.com).
Marnie oversized cotton sweater vest, £148, Thereformation.com