The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
DUST OFF YOUR… PINK SUIT
Victoria Moss weighs up the pros and cons of a hue that just keeps on coming back
Honestly, I didn’t think we’d still be worrying about pink suits in September ’18. They cropped up a few seasons back, and I was all “Sure, sure” – lovely for those who like to exploit their youth and charmed looks on Instagram, but do women really want to walk around dressed up like an Executive Barbie? Well, blow me down with a blancmange – clearly, the answer is yes. Fashion doesn’t ditch a money-spinner, and so here we are, sizing up these rosy offerings.
Being a fickle sort, I’ve grown quite fond of the things: so evidently have Glenn Close, Amy Poehler, Blake Lively and Cate Blanchett.
Pink suits were once more the preserve of prepubescent Gainsborough subjects and other 18th-century dandies fond of a cursive ruffle and jaunty cerise ensemble. Gatsby unwittingly revealed his murky origins in his (by that point the pink suit signified low class).
Yet the pink suit has become an icon – as much for its Doris Day good-wife appeal as its gender-fluid side: Elvis, late-period Beatles, Mick Jagger, Elton John and Rod Stewart have all worn them in a rumpled rock’n’roll style.
Its most famous moment came when Jackie Kennedy visited Dallas in a Chanel two-piece which would become stained with her husband’s blood: “Let them see what they’ve done” were her immortal words when she refused to change out of it.
A pink suit might seem like a banal, Stepford choice, but there is power there, too; a different kind of feminine strength, a softening of sharp tailored lines, an addition of lightness and a soft touch and a sense of refinement. This season’s version is not just office or event wear – see Boden’s sweet corduroy offering – the idea being it should be a versatile two-piece, worn casually with trainers, paired with flat brogues or a light knit sweater.
Equally, that jacket may look fine with jeans, or a midi dress, the skirt (the longer length reigns) or trousers (a wide-leg corduroy, or slim tailored style) with a grey jumper (pink and grey is, after all, the holy grail of hipster-middle-class colour combinations).