BEST OF THE BRAND

PINK TROUSERS

€130 (£117)

BOOTS €108 (£97)

PRINTED VEST

€117 (£105) All Maria de la Orden (mariadelaorden.com) judging by how fast it sells, her knack for design (with great pattern cutting) is not only something we want to “like” on social media, it’s a look I want to buy into, and I think you will too.

This week, I was able to attend my children’s Nativity. They are in the same bubble. Nancy (aged six) was a narrator, Maggie (four) was a cow. It was a socially distanced affair. Normally I would have arrived (late) in any old thing, and enjoyed a cup of mulled wine. This year was different. For starters, the staff have navigated this year in such a way that I want to kneel at their feet and offer them gold, frankincense, myrrh and a large bottle of gin. Secondly, the loss of socialising meant that I treated the event more like a night out than a 19-minute Nativity. What to wear? The night before, Maggie hugged me goodnight and asked, “Mummy, will you wear those cool dungarees you wore for the Telly-graph?” This is a child that is more at home with dragon pyjamas, but Maria de la Orden’s dungarees clearly struck a chord.

This brand will remind you that Parisian style doesn’t have to be sultry or austere. It can be folksy and fabulous and can work for the everyday. It will prove that local artisan talent is a part of the fashion industry we must strive to harness. And it will reinforce that the old ways are often the best. And somewhat reluctantly, as we escape down another Instagram hole, we will have to acknowledge that Mr Zuckerberg opened up our horizons in a way we could never have imagined, making our world a little smaller but a lot more stylish. For me this is a brand that makes my daughter happy – and for that alone, I will wear tartan dungarees until the cows come home.

vchstyle.com