There has been a fair bit of seismic change to take in this year, one way or another, so you’d be forgiven for having missed one important shift: at some point in 2016, we passed peak jumpsuit. For the first half of this decade, the all-in-one was a visual shorthand for the busy modern woman who engages with fashion to look up-to-date as much as pretty. From the Chiltern Firehouse waiting staff in their sleekly tailored jumpsuits to the dungarees and Stan Smiths accessorised with a Bugaboo, the all-in-one has been everywhere.
And for several Decembers on the trot, the jumpsuit came into its own. In the season of office parties and friends’ nights out, a jumpsuit is in many ways the perfect look: upbeat without being gaudy, practical without being killjoy. At this time of year, you want to tread a line somewhere between Scrooge and the person wearing the novelty Santa hat; that is, to exude festive spirit in an infectious way, rather than being the Compulsory Fun Police blasting Mariah Carey on repeat.
If the jumpsuit you already have remains your go-to, then you are all set. One of the happy side-effects of the slow death of fashion’s strict trend cycle has been that when a look works, it sticks around for a while. But if you are in the market for a new party look, the jumpsuit is no longer the freshest item on the shelf.
This season’s update is the cold-shoulder party dress. The shoulder has been fashion’s erogenous zone of 2016 but, more importantly, previews of next year’s collections make it clear that it will rule 2017 as well. The joy of a cold-shoulder dress is that it works well as over-the-table dressing if you are out for dinner in a setting where, say, a feathered skirt would be pointless. Also, it looks more daring than it feels: shoulders don’t jiggle, so the focus remains on your face rather than your body. And if you have been used to wearing a jumpsuit, it feels like a dramatic change. What could be more 2016 than that?
• Jess wears dress, £49, topshop.com. Shoes, £199, kurtgeiger.com. Chair, £395, grahamandgreen.co.uk
