THE NEW DRESS CODE

WE’RE NOW over halfway through fashion month, which has no doubt given you plenty of fodder for your mental Pinterest board: feathered gowns, quietly luxe tailoring and Argyle knits are all on your dream list.

But not all new-season spins require you to actually go out and buy new clothes. Sometimes a simple styling update can prove equally effective as box-fresh shoes/ earrings/trousers. Consider an anklet worn on top of socks, a half-tuck of your top, or a belt over a blazer, as the tactics to keep up your sleeve (worn extra long, BTW).

For now, however, it’s all about wearing a dress over trousers. It’s a trick straight out of the Noughties, given a contemporary rethink, landing on the catwalks at Molly Goddard, JW Anderson, AWAKE and more in recent weeks.

What makes it to the catwalk is one thing, but does this trend actually have momentum in real life? 100% ( if, admittedly, your definition of ‘real life’ is one populated by street-stylers and A-listers). The dress + trousers combo proved to be a new fave for the street-style set in London and New York, and has been adopted by some of the red carpet’s more modern dressers of late: see Yara Shahidi in Fendi at the SAG awards or Victoria Beckham at the Fashion Awards.

But you don’t have to be expecting flashbulbs to nail this trend – although, of course, you can’t just throw on any old dress over any old trousers. It’s all about finding the perfect pairings, balancing proportions and palette, in the same way you would flavours when cooking.

So, tailored trousers offer the perfect foil to pretty-pretty dresses, while minimal tunics look great with wide-leg cropped styles for architectural elegance. Got a mididress you can’t wait to wear? Keep the silhouette elongated with lean, full-length trousers. And frothy evening dresses feel day-ready when worn over jeans. Best of all, it gives you an early start to wearing dresses you thought you’d have to store until warmer days. We’re in!