The biggest brag in fashion circles right now? Not how brand new and up to the minute your look is but instead how long you’ve had all of its constituent parts. These boots? From a sample sale eight years ago! My coat? Bought it just before the crash — no, the 2008 one!
Even the most Ab Fab wardrobes have ceased their revolving door policies in recent years, and not just for the simple reason that trends tend to hang around longer these days. Rather, there’s something of the ick attached to overconsumption now — at the British Fashion Awards before Christmas plenty of guests were in rented looks or ones sourced from second-hand sites, while many more were channelling “this old thing” instead of a box-fresh purchase.
Of course, the most fashionable archives are liable to throw up vintage McQueen, say, or old Alaïa — yet, in mine at least, there is plenty of ten-year-old Topshop that has started to look au courant once more. Here are the pieces to hang on to and bring back for 2023, as well as the ones you might want to put in storage for a while.
Bring back
Faux fur
After the dominance of duvet puffers during the pandemic, rock chick furs have come to the fore again for the glamour they offer alongside practical warmth. My Marianne Faithfull look comes courtesy of a decade-old shaggy black fake fur from DKNY, but all types of cosy shearling, fuzzy faux chubbies and fluffy gilets are set to be with us for some time given the cost of turning the radiators up.
Flares
No, really.
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Heels
See above.
Pearls
They suffered a little from overexposure — blame all those people (me) trying to look like Anne Boleyn in their selfies — but, as many begin to tire of wearing only gold jewellery for the past year or two (me again), the oyster-fresh, silvery sheen of pearls is creeping back into rotation. Those who went a bit mad with earrings, necklaces and hair slides in 2018 (yep, me again) might want to dial it back for now, but adding in a few pearls here and there will give January skin a different and purer glow if your party season look relied on tinselly metals.
Knit dresses
A retro item overlooked during a protracted vogue for tent-like handmaid and prairie dresses, the knit dress is a subtle way into 2023’s body-conscious silhouette. Ribbed and clingy or a tunic-like shift — wear with boots and layer beneath cardies if you’re feeling coy.
Bright bags . . .
My sources in high street design studios and posh ateliers alike tell me they’re prepping for the collective belt-tightening by focusing on small, bright bags, aka an affordable bit of cheer. Get a head start now by rooting out the ones you already own.
. . . and haute totes
How many canvas shoppers are too many? Start 2023 by making an inventory of all the ones you have squirrelled away — keep only the nicest and combine with a smaller handbag day to day. Your shoulders will thank you.
Keep
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Tall collars
Funnels, polos or even Sloaney pie-crusts. Anything that will keep your neck warm until spring.
Midis
The everywoman dress — aka the long-sleeved midi — is also going nowhere for 2023. This style has become such a permatrend it’s practically a pair of jeans by now. I’m pepping up my old faithfuls by layering them with tank tops, gilets and the odd indoor leather jacket (which I wear in lieu of a blazer) to try to give them a different look. I’m also — and I’m aware this won’t be a popular opinion — not wearing them with trainers any more, sorry.
Trainers
Which is not to say that trainers are “over”, only that the big trainer look for next year is set to be with tailoring: sporty gym styles with sleek black trousers. Retire your white trainers until the summer, and pair dresses and denim with leather shoes and boots, classic Nineties-style.
Boots
On which note: the pointier the toe, the better (bring back your cowboys if you haven’t already) for peeking from beneath wider-leg trousers. Your clompy bikers remain key as well, though — another great foil to make your midis look more modern.
Birkies
Another hardy perennial. Such is their hold on fashionable feet at the moment, the most chic-abiding editors were wearing their Manolo Blahnik Birkie two-straps teamed with cashmere socks even during last month’s freeze. There are, of course, shearling-lined versions so you can dispense with the socks entirely during the colder months. Keep hold of any footwear that even vaguely resembles a clog for 2023 — and yes, that includes Crocs.
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Anything khaki
Army jackets, shackets, chinos, puffer coats, trenches . . . there’s a certain shade of green that refuses to budge. I’ve even painted my sitting room in it. Keep it very much at the front of your wardrobe, but beware wearing it all at the same time. I did by accident last week and the effect was a bit Apocalypse Now.
Animal print
Any sense that leopard was on the wane has been averted thanks to a recent influx of cool streetwear — think puffers and jeans — rather than the previous wave’s feminine dresses and heels. If that wave is still in your cupboard, however, by all means keep wearing it. My personal rule is two pieces maximum (shoes count as one) and non-adjacent.
Blazers
Tailored jackets are rapidly becoming something of a security banket for the fashionable but why not when you can wear them with everything else on this list?
Pack away
● Court shoes
● Hoodies
● Dungarees
● Big sleeves
● Miniskirts
● Cut-out details
● Over-the-knee boots
