Every so often — usually when there’s an outbreak of tartan or tweed on the catwalks — there is talk of an English moment in fashion. Generally, it means a haphazard but charming mix. But autumn 2004 is different: it’s an all-out pedigree-conscious homage to the English rose. Designers have fallen in love with the privileged daddy’s girl who has a wardrobe full of granny’s heirlooms, plenty of plaids and tweeds for walking on the moors, and drawers full of cardigans and shrugs for throwing over her chiffon dress at dinner, because who can afford to heat a stately home these days?
At its best (and this is the part that we want to buy into), it’s glamorous in a soft, almost demure way — an antidote to high- maintenance Botox chic and the teenage slut thing that has been driving fashion for so long. Designers think we’re ready for a bit of class, and what better place to look for it than the England of Virginia Woolf, I Capture the Castle, or even the pussy-bow era of Margaret Thatcher.
But the ladylike look hinges on the way your wear it. The first rule is mixing unlikely textures (rough tweed and sheer chiffon). The second is polish as opposed to tidiness (don’t try this with done hair or you’ll end up looking like minor European royalty). Likewise, you want to cultivate a hint of “something handed down” (frayed edges and gauzy unfinished hems will create the right effect), and avoid anything flash or gaudy — with the obvious exception of “real” jewellery. Also key is quirky detail: a velvet ribbon tied at the waist of a jacket; a fur shrug worn over a sloppy knit; a brooch or a corsage fastening a cardigan. Note: what this look is not is Princess Diana on honeymoon at Balmoral in that tweed two-piece. That’s not flighty or sexy.