How to dress like a grown up with Shane Watson
Sequins, in case you hadn't noticed, are having a major make-over. It's all part of the Don’t Save It For Best revolution. All the things you thought of as strictly for parties, or weddings, or after dark . . . well, not any more, including sequins. The idea of Everyday Best got going with Gucci and its creative director Alessandro Michele
tearing up the rule book: clashing silk prints, with golf socks, with embroidered satin for day or night. The Gucci philosophy is that the right time to wear your rhinestones and hand-painted chiffon is all the time — and it's caught on.
If you look at what's on the High Street rails, alongside the parkas and the suiting, it's velvet, slippery leopard print, satin — and sequins for day or night. Yes sequins, the sparkliest and blingiest of all the dressing-up options, are now something you might wear to the office. That's the plan. Naturally, we're suspicious. We're not all
Gucci girls. Most of us like to keep things pretty simple. Everyday Best fans, however, would say that is precisely where we are going wrong. You can spend your life in safe navy and grey, and a bit of olive green, or you can live a little and change the way you think about your everyday look. Introduce a shot of the
Gucci spirit is the message. No one is suggesting a Jessica
Rabbit dress and heels. This winter, designers are moving away from glossy structured cocktail wear and putting sequins on simple pieces such as T-shirts, shirts, sweaters and skirts. The idea is that sequins are too good — too flattering — to save for just a few nights of the year. That said, sequins in the day are like alcohol on aeroplanes: a little goes a long way. The sequins have to be small (no discs); not too sparkly; and colour is crucial — we're not talking about gold or black or those rainbow shades that signal the party season. Daytime sequins come in blue and oyster, pewter and bronze and occasionally silver.
By far the easiest way to wear sequins for day is scattered over our favourite staples: a navy shirt with a cross-hatched navy sequined collar a dark sweater with a dusting of pale sequins; or even a jumper with sequin stripes which would look great under a trouser suit. A surprise bullseye in the sequins-for-the-office category is a white T-shirt worn under a jacket or cardigan.