It’s ridiculous how short these posts are.  I’m uncomfortable with writing in such a sparse way but as we speak, I’m topless, trying to find a top in the suitcase that is swallowing up my clothes and my hair is dripping on the keyboard which might blow up if I’m not careful and I was suppsoed to leave six minutes ago.  I have a bit of a tale to tell about this outfit which was taken outside the Maison Martin Margiela show but it’s a long one… I’m calling it my Good Deed of the Year…as I generally don’t do good deeds…

Emilio de la Morena jacket/dress, Preen leather trousers, Tristan  Blair wedges, black socks stolen from boyf, Vivienne Westwood bag, Marios Schwab for Topshop cigarette box, Paraphernalia camera necklace

Photo by dear Tommy

Just when you think Christopher Bailey has done everything that can possibly be done with a beanie, a trench-coat and a loosely fitted dress, he makes you fall in love with them all over again.

A couple of mitigating points. First, he tweaked his beloved style props slightly. The beanie is now a brimmed cloche, the shift dress is in gauzy, dip-dyed chiffon.

Secondly, he does what he does very well. When a model mooches wistfully down that catwalk in a sweetly subdued grey, gently flared coat, her sandy coloured chiffon dress fluttering slightly, her chunky wooden jewellery (this is a brand steadily evolving its accessories) nicely underplayed by her dun-coloured ankle socks, for a moment this almost looks like the fashion equivalent of cinéma vérité.

But the high-waisted tulip skirts and skinny long cardigans have been pre-crumpled, the muddy hems on those coats are an expensive trompe l’oeil, courtesy of state-of-the-art dyeing techniques.

Just so the guys don’t feel left out, I thought I’d share with you what I have been buying for myself and for my male clients so we can look oh so cool as the weather (finally) warms up.

1. The off white blazer. It’s the transformational piece of the summer. It has the formality of a dinner jacket, but it’s made of cotton and, ideally, it’s a bit cropped and tight to the body. Dress it down with jeans and wear it everywhere you want to look “oh so cool.” Think Ashton Kutcher on the cover of Details.

Buy the Gucci one he’s wearing if your budget allows. I bought the version from Philip Lim 3.1 (shown here) for $695 at Jake on Oak Street. It feels amazing on! Banana Republic makes a shawl collared version from their Heritage Collection for $375.

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