Never have I felt happier to see blossom frothing on the trees and new trends blooming in the shops. Regeneration, not to mention a fresh perspective, is what we are all in need of at the moment. There’s bigger — much bigger — stuff in play right now obviously, but an addition or two to your wardrobe can still help.
Actually, when it comes to buying into new trends I do tend to take the blossom approach, treating them as add-on flourishes to my root-and-branch stylistic constancy. At 50, I know the shapes and colours that suit me, so I don’t mess around much with those. But I also know that looking your best means staying in touch with what’s contemporary, so I like to tweak around the edges.
The work/play suit
A colourful and/or patterned trouser suit is my investment of the season. It’s the ultimate way to ring the changes after two years of casual, except the right one doesn’t require you to give up on comfort. This will be your friend not just on Monday (message: I am pulled together but cool) but on Sunday too (message: I am cool but pulled together). Forget mere power dressing. Think power/play dressing. What’s more, just like a frock, a suit will do all the work for you. No worrying about what goes with what.
Boden’s is a suitably vernal floral (£150 for the jacket, £90 for the trousers, boden.co.uk), Me+Em’s is the yellow of lemon bonbons (£295 and £185, meandem.com), Claudie Pierlot’s white on green (£329 and £219, claudiepierlot.com) or lilac on black (£379 and £249).
White shoes or boots
Oh gosh. These are also my investment of the season. So that’s investments in the plural. I promise I won’t use the i-word again! We have all learnt the youth-giving potential of white trainers in recent years. White shoes or boots deliver similar, but with added polish.
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The Foundation flat from Essen the Label comes in the softest leather and offers slipper levels of comfort (£154, essenthelabel.com), while Russell & Bromley’s white Topform also ticks the box for the present platform sandal trend (£225, russellandbromley.co.uk). The dreamiest boots are by Dear Frances (£475, dearfrances.com), but there are more affordable options at LK Bennett (£299, lkbennett.com) and Ted Baker (reduced to £89 from £150, available in some sizes only, tedbaker.com).
Lace and crochet
What better way to run with that blossom directive than to add some froth to your wardrobe? Mango’s creamy openwork shirt is a case in point, as is its crochet dress in the same hue (£69.99 and £79.99 respectively, mango.com). Continuing with a hawthorn blossom palette, there’s Reiss’s stunning lace Aspen dress, which would be my choice for a summer party this year (£378, reiss.com). The brand’s lace knit cardi delivers a similar feel with brunch-appropriate slouch (£158, reiss.com).
The stylist Martha Ward, queen of vintage froth, has teamed up with Bamford to produce a collection of pieces that balance retro charm with a modern edge, my pick being the lace-trimmed tuxedo shirt in cornflower blue or white (£250, available from May, bamford.com).
And another small British brand, Wyse, has taken crochet very seriously indeed this season, with its multi-stripe tank (£150, wyselondon.com), Paris bomber (available in navy with a gold and ivory trim or rose, £185) and Lucia short-sleeved fitted knit (available in black or white, £120).
Feminine denim
I am really loving denim again after largely eschewing it for the past couple of years. That was because it felt too constricting. Now it’s the very fact that it can make you feel almost corseted — while still looking casual — that is its appeal. Yet I want something feminine about its finish. I might call it fenim, if it weren’t for the fact that this could be confused with yet another misguided form of female contraception. (A friend still felt the need to revisit a long-ago Femidom-related trauma with me only the other day.)
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Mango’s ditsy-embroidered jeans would be perfect (£49.99, mango.com) or Ganni’s more roomy version of similar (£225, ganni.com). Ditto Phase Eight’s frill-shouldered wrap-style washed black jumpsuit (£99, available from June, phase-eight.com) or pale pink button-through one (£99). I also like Thought’s bow-fronted dark blue blouse (£59.95, wearethought.com) and Wyse’s frilled denim shacket (£180, wyselondon.com).
Wyse’s signature scallop-edged denim dungarees in summer-ready white are now reduced too (£55.50 from £185). The denim jacket of dreams is Ralph Lauren’s nipped-in waist number, the aptly named Bacall (£1,525, ralphlauren.co.uk).
Small bags
Far more significant than the hemline index over the past decade or so has been the bag size index. Small bags are in the ascendant at present. Which tells us what? That we haven’t been venturing that far from home recently, so don’t need to carry much with us? That during a period of history when it is all too easy to feel burdened, we want to travel light?
Either way, I am a fan. Not of the preposterously tiny ones, but of those that fit the few bits and pieces you really need and nothing else. It makes you feel — and look — carefree, for which read youthful. The ultimate is Dior’s black quilted Vibe Hobo with white strap (£2,350, dior.com). More real-world is Strathberry’s chic multi-hue Melville, which ranges in price from £255 to £425 depending on the colourway (strathberry.com). Dune’s squishy Dignity — in cream or black — is also just the ticket (£120, dunelondon.com).
Asymmetry
I didn’t have any truck with this trend until recently. I didn’t like the way it looked. What’s more, putting on anything that wasn’t entirely symmetrical used to make me feel slightly seasick, and I am not even joking. I don’t know what’s changed with my inner ear. I do know that, aesthetically speaking, I have realised this can be a way to appear interesting — always important to me — while not too try-hard.
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The va-va-voom bodysuits of Alix NYC were my gateway drug (from £110, net-a-porter.com). Indeed, I think top half-only is definitely a good way to start, be it Essentiel Antwerp’s slinky rib knit in cream or brown (£145, essentielantwerp.com), the Summer Edit’s floaty black and white polka dot silk top (£95, thesummeredit.com), or Anthropologie’s ruffled red one-shoulder top (£58, anthropologie.com). The ultimate quirky classic is the pleated Glow style from Issey Miyake’s Pleats Please range, available with or without sleeves and in assorted shades (from £255, isseymiyake.com). Layering any of the above under a blazer is a great way to walk the line between strait-laced and eccentric.
For a full-body approach that is still on the stealth side, try Massimo Dutti’s geometric print side-buttoned mididress in khaki on cream (£149, massimodutti.com). To go more full-on, there’s Kitri’s red and pink bare-shoulder co-ords (£105 for the top and £125 for the trousers from April 24, kitristudio.com), or Mango’s single-strap fuchsia sundress (£59.99, mango.com). Still too nippy to get your shoulders out? Kitri’s red and pink Rory knit will send you askew in the right away (£115, kitristudio.com).
