Suits are back (and we like it)

The two-piece is your new go-to for day, night, whenever

it’s 6.45am, and you’re rifling through your drawers. The bottom one is sagging due to your strange and unfathomable predilection for buying stripy T-shirts that all look exactly the same, and are crammed into said drawer in the hope that one day you’ll pluck one out that will make you look as effortless as Stella Tennant. You know what you’re looking for, but it isn’t there. You’re looking for the T-shirt that goes with the skirt that goes with the cardigan that goes with

Everyone needs to call on a uniform from time to time, whether they work in a formal office environment or a more casual one.

the shoes you fancy wearing. Soon, it will be 7.15am and you’ll be late. Worse, you’ll be no more office-ready than you were this time last year, when you vowed to streamline your wardrobe after reading a Marie Kondo story. Was it always this way? Searching for this many components to complete your office look?

No, it wasn’t. Life used to be simpler, and the reason was suits. Suits were our saviours because everyone needs to call on a uniform from time to time, whether they work in a formal office environment or a more casual one. Yet recent seasons have favoured ‘separates’ – sweaters with skirts, dresses with cardies, culottes with shirts. And while these combinations are expressive and creatively pleasing, they can also be a pain in the bum to get right. Especially when it’s 6.45am.

So it’s tremendous news that suits are back this season. Partly as a reaction to the finicky nature of recent trends (we love you, maximalism, but not always when we’re in a rush) and partly as an extension of the androgynous aesthetic we’ve come to love, the time feels right for suits again. We’re craving the crisp simplicity of Claire Underwood, the boyish appeal of Ruby Rose and the insouciant way Kate Moss rocks a tux at night and suddenly makes her dress-wearing contemporaries look a bit… basic.

Happily, we can be all these types of women, because the new suits are as far removed from the ‘drab grey accountant’ spectrum as it’s possible to be. Thanks to a slew of designers, they’re imaginative and varied. Fancy a slouchy, roomy suit with shades of Sonny Crockett from Miami Vice? Take inspiration from Bottega Veneta or Tibi. A softly tailored suit with a sporty twist? Check out what Giorgio Armani is doing. And if office-appropriate isn’t a concern, get your ideas from Gucci. If there is one designer pushing the suit this season, it’s Alessandro Michele, whose offerings run the gamut from sober check to sexy lipstick red with black lapels. That’s the thing about these new suits: they, ahem, suit way more occasions than merely the office.

Designers know that women are far too busy with the demands of modern life to come to work in one outfit, then go home to get changed.

Designers know that women are far too busy with the demands of modern life to come to work in one outfit, then go home to get changed. Who has the headspace? Who has the time? Which is why the best suits have one key thing in common: versatility. Tamp them down for daytime with a simple shirt or tee, then ramp them up for evening with a cami top, drop earrings and skinny high heels ( yes, they’re back, too). These new suits aren’t workwear. They’re a way of life: designed to fit your life, wherever it might take you. ➻