10 easy wardrobe updates from Milan

Pop socks and souped-up PJS: spectacle aside, Milan’s catwalk shows were a wearable feast for all women

Fashion critics often complain that Milan’s designers lack cutting-edge creativity. Most of them are interested in delivering clothes, rather than theory – especially right now, when the market is tough and customers are less easily parted from their money. But guess what? Clothes, not theories, tend to be a much more accurate window on to the human predicament.

So what did we discover from the catwalks? That mixing masculine and feminine together is now a de-facto way of life. Trainers with tea dresses. Bustiers with blazers… That comfort has become a non-negotiable. The trussed-up bombast that used to pepper the shows here in various guises, from Versace’s body-con, limpet-like dresses, to Prada’s recurring love affair with ladylike Fifties tailoring, has dissolved into a softer, blurrier proposition. Light, filmy maxis and midis fluttered their way across catwalks – a reiteration of what has already been selling this past summer.

Trousers – and there are many – are slouchy and easy, high on the waist, but loose everywhere else. Denim is ubiquitous, but sliced and diced into office-sharp jackets and skirts. Shoes are mid-height or lower, often with chunky heels all the better to walk in, and the high-fashion trainer is a best seller. Yes – you can wear them to the office or even with an evening dress. When Jimmy Choo (the British label shows here) introduces a 50mm block heel as its star turn, you know the 100mm stiletto is still on ice for the foreseeable.

A popular coat style here

(and in London) is the anorak – gussied up, of course, with shine, feathers or transparency. And hoods have become a shortcut to that all-important relaxed-but-grown-up vibe – see Bally’s luxe poncho, worn with, yes, trainers, for the template:

Milan wants you to dress down, but not act down. This is feminism 3:0. We like it.

Lisa Armstrong