I know women who spend weeks poring over all those supplements with trend forecasts from the catwalk that come out around this time of year – and they don’t even have the cover of being in the business. The men scoff at this activity, obviously, but knowledge is, well, knowledge.
And as Chic Simple, that hugely influential series of lifestyle bibles that advise us all on everything from quilted Chanel bags to white paint, says: “The more you know, the less you need.”
Perhaps it’s the latent Poor Clare in me, but I still love the idea of this mantra, even though I’m not the best practitioner of it. Furthermore, the more dealings I have with fashion, the less it seems to me to be about tightly prescriptive trends. That doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate a bit of hound’s-tooth or tartan this winter, should the urge mysteriously come upon you, because provided the item in question is stylish in its own right, you’ll be able to wear it again in a couple of seasons. It also doesn’t mean you can’t opt for a parka, which is obviously a one-season hit (this winter being that season), because we now know that parkas come around often enough to be a good investment. It doesn’t even mean you can’t invest in something that’s so uncompromising that it can’t be disguised as something else in six months’ time – eg, drainpipes – because, hell, sometimes you have to factor a little wastage into being au courant. Anyway, if you get in early on a trend (to be advised where possible, see columns passim) you’ll have worn your drainpipes to death by now.
What this is all about, of course, is expiating the guilt implicitly involved with fashion. I can’t be the only one who feels major twinges every time I draw up a list of all the looks I like from the new collections – Scheherazade Goldsmith and all those greenies must be racked with moral dilemmas. So here, for the guilt-ridden fashion follower, is what I reckon to be the least greedy, most planet-friendly route to fashion satisfaction.
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1. Clompy shoes. They really will update everything in our wardrobe. I do mean stonkingly chunky. And patent, and either round-toed or open. Try Burberry, Russell & Bromley or Christian Louboutin for the utmost in temptation. One pair only.
2. A loose tunic or smock-type top. Wear it belted over slim, boyish dark trousers.
3. A cropped cape-like jacket, probably with three-quarter sleeves. Wear it over your tunic and trousers.
4. Either the aforementioned parka, for the urban-warrior look or, if you prefer something less androgynous, a loose coat that belts, probably with a round collar and a Fifties cocoon-coat feel.
5. Sleeveless jumpers, aka tank tops, but silkier, slinkier and slicker than those of yore. Wear (instead of last year’s cardigans and jumpers) with blouses and slim skirts you already have.
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Or try one of this winter’s knitted cardigan jackets. Remember that, generally, bags are bigger and squashier, hair is shorter and straighter, boots are longer and flatter and lips are redder and bolder. You never know; a few judicious adjustments here and there and you may find you already have most of what you need in your wardrobe.