All hail the return of the trouser suit
I’m feeling pretty smug right now. Finally, there’s a trend I may have got to before Victoria Beckham. “There’s nothing quite as useful in a woman’s wardrobe as a great trouser suit,” she told me this week. “When it’s perfectly cut, it can work for so many different things and prove to be a timeless investment buy. I love dressing my favourite suits up for evening with a blouse and down for daytime with classic tee.”
Well, so do I. But honesty compels me to highlight one teensy detail: the trouser suit isn’t quite as straightforward as everyone might lead us to believe. The first navy trouser suit I ever bought was made for me by a tailor – thought I was being so clever, so mature – with zero experience of cutting for women.
There’s a reason why men are called men and women are called women and it’s got nothing to do with Venus. We’re talking shape. You can go to the best Savile Row has to offer, pay £6,000 plus for something exquisitely cut and have endless toiles run up in canvas, but if your tailor doesn’t know how to handle boobs and hips (in the darts-seams-and-padding sense), you won’t be happy with it, mark my words.
Keep this thought at the forefront of your brainy bits when you go shopping, because a) the trouser suit is officially your new go-to, b) it’s everywhere, so you’re going to be bombarded with options, and c) it’s a big buy and you don’t want to mess it up.
The trouser suit is, finally, everywhere: not just on the catwalks but on influencers. Influencers aren’t, as previously advertised, “real” women (in another era, they’d have been models or muses), so I’m not going to pretend that 400 influencers wearing trouser suits equals a seismic harbinger for your wardrobe. But I am going to cite me, because I’m 5ft 4in and as real as they come (sort of) and if I can wear them, so can everyone.
There are as many moods in trouser suits as there are cuts. From Givenchy’s Chandleresque femme fatal, to slouchy and so luxurious – at Gabriela Hearst, Giuliva Heritage (which bases its cuts on classic Neapolitan men’s tailoring) and Brunello Cucinelli – they probably feel like jim-jams. Each time I saw a new iteration: unbelievably perfect and square of shoulder, with frockcoat jackets at Alexander Mcqueen and designed to be worn buttoned up at all times in order to emphasise their perfection) or cute and velvety at Equipment (the moochy kind you can wear open, over that T-shirt, jumper or toning blouse), I thought “hang on to your bank cards, Armstrong, that is the one for you”. I did this about 15 times.
Then I got to the Victoria Beckham showroom and tried on a lichen green suit with shoulder pads that weren’t quite as emphatic as Mcqueen’s but still pretty sharp (and a jacket that worked closed or open) and made it 16 times.
By the end of the month of shows, even Telegraph fashion desk comrades who’d never worn trouser suits were overcoming their fear and checking out the Joseph
website. How in God’s name had they got this far in their careers without already owning one? For the good reason it turns out, that they, like many women, assumed there are height, curve and age restrictions. One of the twentysomethings in the team fretted that she might come across as a bit “matronly MP” in a suit.
It’s a possibility, but not inevitable. “We’re selling trouser suits across all ages,” says Natalie Kingham, fashion and buying director at Matches Fashion. “We did very well with a grey Prince of Wales check suit from Acne, which sold out. We’ve also invested in ‘disco suits’, embellished with brocade and brooches from designers like No 21 and Acne”.
Like a dress, trouser suits instantly make you look pulled together and grown up. Unlike a dress, you’re not stuck with the same look time after time.
Wear the individual elements with denim or floaty dresses in spring,” counsels Kingham. “They’re very trans-seasonal and work well for different climates and travelling.” An excellent bet, cost per wear, in other words.
The thing is, the fit and cut have to be right. Take the jacket. You think you want it to cover your bottom and while it’s at it, the tops of your thighs. But unless you’re tall you don’t. A jacket that’s too long makes legs look like two cans of Coke.
Half way down your bottom may suffice. You don’t want it stretching and straining over your torso, so opt for a relaxed cut, with working pockets, and wear it as if it’s a cardigan. If you’re tall enough for a long jacket, ensure your trousers are as long as they feasibly can be so as not to foreshorten your legs.
Perhaps you want a bit more body con, in which case sell your home and stomp up for something made to measure (the dream option: Meghan’s black Mcqueen tux last year, which had almost certainly been altered to fit her). Failing that, something with a bit of stretch in it. Avoid super-tightness
– it never looks chic. Think gamine proportions, like this Zara one, or a belted jacket that you can adjust depending how much curve you want to show. Paul Smith has a lovely, deconstructed silky midnight blue jacket with an elasticated back and tie front that looks elegantly understated with cream or white trousers. Keep the cleavage flashing to a minimum (focus on ankles and wrists instead). As Clare Waight Keller says, “covering up can feel very powerful and looks extremely refined”.
If you plan to wear your trouser suit with no top underneath, make sure the buttons do up high enough. Or invest in a good quality camisole. If you’re thinking wedding, or Ascot, wear it with a soft, high-necked toning silk blouse. Matches Fashion has created what it calls “the triple co-ord”: a top, trouser and matching jacket for a complete event look. Try a blouse without a collar, that fastens at the back, maybe with a scarf tie. It will sit more neatly under the jacket.
While black and navy might seem safe choices, unless they’re in interesting cuts or lustrous fabrics, they’ll look too corporate. You’re better off in mossy greens or petrol blues. Brights are one option
– a bit Butlin’s for me – but you don’t have to wear the pieces together, remember. If you’re not sure about wearing pink from neck to ankle, co-ordinate. Me+em, which now has a dedicated page on its website for all its co-ords, has begun selling its blazers and trousers as a package, but also offers them separately. One of their most appealing combinations is this pair of delectable pink kick-flare trousers teamed with a grey and pink checked blazer. “Trouser suits are key for us,” says Clare Hornby, Me+em’s founder. “We’ve seen jacket sales equal our trouser sales – proof that women are really embracing this trend. It’s part of a wider shift towards more considered buying as one investment offers so many styling opportunities.”