This trouser suit isn’t actually mine, obviously. I don’t own a trouser suit. I don’t think I ever have, and in fact I don’t think I’ve ever wanted one, until recently. But in the past couple of months, the mental ticker tape of Things I Want Slash Need that flickers at the edge of my vision has begun to feature A Trouser Suit I Can Wear With Trainers.
I would love to make a case for this desire coming from a front-row epiphany with fancy Paris catwalk backstory, but I don’t really think that’s where this look comes from. If we’re completely honest, us girls nicked this look off boy bands on the red carpet a couple of years back. Posh suit, snazzy trainers, clean white T-shirt, dirty hair: that was the Baby Man Of The Year look, wasn’t it? And now that “tomboy” is A Thing, in fashion, and Karl Lagerfeld has decreed that trainers are the alpha shoe of the year, we’ve appropriated this and made it our own. (Also, those boys are all in navy tuxedos and shiny black shoes now, so don’t worry, you won’t get marshalled into a Range Rover in the Simon Cowell convoy by mistake.)
I have notes, though. Styling notes. First of all: the ankle. This is very important. The trousers have to be cropped just above the ankle bone, so as to show an inch of bare ankle. (And before you ask: yes, it does have to be bare.) This is crucial, because it makes what’s going on at foot level look deliberate. If the trousers are too long, it will look like you’re wearing trainers for the commute to work and have your real (heeled) shoes in your bag.
Second: it’s time to move on from the white T-shirt. That part really is a cliche now. And I know what you’re thinking: how about a T-shirt with words on, so that the words are wittily half-hidden under the jacket? Well, I have a question for you in return. Are you Rita Ora? There’s your answer.
The million-dollar question, of course, is which trainers. This is a question that I am frankly not remotely qualified to answer. Phoebe Philo wears Adidas Stan Smiths. In my dreams, Santa will be bringing me Chanel; in the meantime, I’m happy with my Nike Flyknits. Now all I need is a trouser suit of my own to wear with them.
• Jess wears suit, £87, topshop.com. Shirt, £60, by Levi’s, from fenwick.co.uk. Jumper, £39.95, gap.co.uk. Flyknit trainers, £125, nike.com.
Photographer: David Newby for the Guardian. Stylist: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Laurence Close.
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