The 1970s have improved with age. We are in the middle of a month of catwalk shows and along the front row, the flared hems pool like bridal trains and the chocolate-and-beige colour palette makes every selfie look sepia-filtered. But there is no tie-dye, nor crocheted tank tops. Definitely no kipper ties. This season’s 70s look is smart-casual, not hippy-dippy.
This is good news. I make an effort to be open-minded, within reason, but tie-dye is an aesthetic crime for which there is no excuse. It’s a certain kind of bad-fancy-dress-party 1970s fashion which has given an entire decade a bad name. The latest take on this era is smart and polished. It carries a whiff of Elnett hairspray, not incense.
In other words, do not let it all hang out. In fact, best to err on the side of buttoned-up. The gold buttons are my favourite thing about these jeans, a decade-old treasure of mine by Made In Heaven, from the last 70s revival, or possibly the one before that.
Flares require careful handling. A high waist makes the silhouette more grown up than a hipster waistband, as does teaming them with sharp pointed courts or sleek boots, rather than chunky platforms. I am ever wary of a retro shoe, which is often the trip hazard that unbalances your look and flips it from evocative nostalgia into comedy retro.
The flares are the eye-catcher here, but the blazer is the piece holding it all together. And yes, I am going to keep on writing columns about how useful blazers are until you cave, if you haven’t already. Resistance is futile, my friends. A checked one goes with more outfits than you would have thought possible, but corduroy – in deep red, or navy – is also super chic. Not purple. If you really, really want to wear purple, think about a lilac silk blouse with a caramel trench coat, perhaps.
Blue jeans are a 70s classic, but dress them up with a silk blouse, blazer – or both.
White jeans work with heeled boots and a blazer, rather than a T-shirt and sandals. The insinuation that you absolutely will not be sitting cross-legged on the carpet in those white jeans, thank you very much, is a good thing here. A silk scarf can work. Beads need not apply. The 1970s are all grown up.
• Jess wears check blazer, £79, marksandspencer.com. Blouse, £100, by Modern Rarity, from johnlewis.com. Jeans, Jess’s own. Heels, £90, dunelondon.com. Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Lucy Ridley
