I have worn all kinds of weird trends over the years, as you may have noticed. Flares, capes, pinafores; T-shirts with frayed hems or French words. In 2009 I was into pannier skirts so wide, I sometimes had to enter a room sideways; two years later, I was squeezed into Carine Roitfeld-esque pencil skirts. There have been bare legs in the snow and ankle boots in winter.
The one look I have almost never worn, though, is a suit. I don’t have to, so why would I? Wearing one would be like wearing uniform to school on mufti day. Also, I’m not sure I could pull it off. A suit says: I’m above frivolities. It says: my mind is clear and laser-focused, and entirely unburdened by stray thoughts of whether the St Pancras branch of Whistles might have that nice new leather jacket in stock. Like I said, it’s a look I can’t pull off.
But this season’s suits are for people who don’t do suits. The trousersuits in Prada’s autumn collection come in synthetic, Play-Doh colours and awkward, off-key proportions. The double-breasted jackets are a little too severe, the trousers cropped slightly too short. Done like this, suits become subversive – as Charlie Chaplin, whose awkwardly fitting tailoring was the perfect foil for slapstick, knew very well. Miuccia Prada said after the show that she wanted her clothes to be sweet, but to have impact. Impact is probably a polite term. Wearing one, I look like Prince Charles made out of Angel Delight.
But then, awkward and subversive is where style is at right now. Smooth, easy-to-swallow chic is as o-ver as Instagramming your avo-on-toast. Style icons of now run from Iris Apfel and Chloë Sevigny to Margot Tenenbaum and Guinevere. Being interesting, this season, is the new being thin; which, frankly, is my kind of bandwagon. It’s not enough just to dress quirky, though. To nail this season, you need to take a look that should by rights be strait-laced and turn it into something a bit odd.
I have worn all kinds of weird trends over the years: this autumn, suits will be added to that list.
• Jess wears jacket, £65, and trousers, £38, both riverisland.com. Shirt (just seen), £140, whistles.co.uk.
Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Laurence Close at Carol Hayes Management.
