Times 2 - UK (2020-12-02)

the times | Wednesday December 2 2020 1GT 5

fashion

up a handful of metres away from

where you have spent the past God

knows how long working from home.

I happen to believe that there is

nothing more equipped to get you in

the mood than what you wear. I give

you by way of a Christmas-

appropriate illustration, the party

hat. No one can take anyone

seriously in an out-of-a-cracker

crown. Although admittedly, it’s

difficult to present as chic in one.

For me, festive dressing is

about finding the sweet

spot between the fun

and the stylish. It’s

also about being

comfortable too,

this year more

than ever. Now

it’s even about looking

comfortable too, once

the ultimate sartorial

crime. There’s nothing

more last century than

not being able to

breathe or move or

— as is probably more

relevant for much of the

Christmas period — not

move in a post-feasting

spatchcocked kind of way.

Only one thing should be

trussed up around your

table on the 25th, and it’s

not you.

That’s why I think that

the most contemporary

approach can be clothes

that are luxey re-tools of items that

were originally conceived to be merely

practical. Which means athleisure, on

the one hand and pyjamas on the

other. Just to be clear, athleisure

doesn’t have to entail joggers. It can

be something as far removed

from its origins as a scarlet

silk frock with zip and

elasticated detailing, the

particularly knock-out

number I have in mind

from the small British brand

Lily & Lionel, also available

as a blouse (£252 and £

respectively, lilyandlionel.com).

Athleisure can mean

joggers, though.

Similarly

unimaginable

anywhere near an

athletics stadium are

the midnight velvet

track pants from

another small but

perfectly formed

homegrown

operation, Nrby Clothing

(£150, nrbyclothing.com),

which can be worn with

the matching soft blazer

or shirt (£250 and £

respectively).

I also like the pewter

satin pair with black

side stripe from Pure

Collection (£49,

purecollection.com), and

Reiss’s subtly styled gold

h

pair (£195, reiss.com). Dial things up

further with a pair of heels. It’s not as

if you are going to have to walk or

stand in them much.

As for pyjamas, for me the key is to

choose a pair that are palpably not for

the bedroom, to wit Kitri’s marabou

trimmed leopard pair (£85 for the

shirt, £125 for the trousers, kitri.com),

or Sleeper’s assorted feather-edged

plain options ($290, the-sleeper.com).

I also adore Yolke’s Anais pair,

patterned with a 1920s watercolour, no

less (£365, yolke.co.uk).

And, point of information, posh

PJs don’t have to represent an

extravagance. Nothing is if you

wear it enough. I have been living in

my Kitri trousers — worn with a big

knit, and stompy Russell & Bromley

Everglade knee-high chelsea boots

— for a month, and feeling much the

better for it.

Ah, yes, a knit. I love a jumper. I

think it is the most British thing about

me. The idea of living somewhere you

didn’t have to wear them for a lot of

the year just does not appeal. Indeed,

it’s my respect for the genre that

considers the newfangled notion

of a Christmas jumper so appalling.

A jumper is for life...

So buy colourful; even better, buy

embellished, and continue to be

cheered up by it through January and

February. Wyse — another London-

based endeavour — is a reliable

purveyor of superior sweater-y. Like

its black cardigan speckled with silver

stars, and tied at the neck with a very

large bow (£290, wyselondon.co.uk).

Put that on and you don’t have to

make much effort with the rest.

Ditto with Hush’s silver sequinned

sweatshirt (£89, hush-uk.com).

Or you could do a switcheroo, and

pair an old plain crew or a simple

white shirt on your top half with the

brand’s gorgeous metallic tiered skirt

in either silver or gunmetal (£195).

Again, whether that skirt represents

value for money depends on how

much you wear it. To which I say,

just that: wear it, don’t save it for

best — with long boots, or opaque

tights and ankle boots while it’s

chilly, with sandals when the warm

weather comes around in about

85 months’ time.

In fact, it’s that interplay between

the plain and the bling that looks

inimitably “now”. And it can be

achieved by way of add-on flourishes

rather than a whole new item of

clothing. Take your best-loved plains

and give them a Liberace edge. Focus

on sparkle that’s near your face, the

better to make your eyes and

complexion sparkle too.

Earrings and necklaces will do

the job nicely, but I am a fan of the

oft-overlooked brooch. Go for big

and/or dramatic and/or quirky.

Essentiel Antwerp’s outsize rhinestone

and faux pearl flower could pull off

all manner of heavy lifting (£70,

essentiel-antwerp.com), and a friend

has been transforming her Zoom calls

with its black feather brooch-cum-boa

(£80). I also like Uterque’s crystal sun

brooch (£60, uterque.com).

Then there are Maggie Owen’s

beauteous beaded butterflies

and dragonflies, and Philippe

Ferrandis’s cabochon-flanked cameos

(from £65 and £185 respectively,

maggieowenlondon.com). Once the

collective festivities are over, transfer

your brooch to your coat the better

to help to keep your spirits lifted.

As I said, think party hat, but chic.

Instagram: @timesfashiondesk

something she now refers to

as my “mental health days”.

Look, don’t judge — I’ve

turned out fine). Neither

becoming a resident in the

capital nor having a job that

requires me to think about

clothes every day has caused

them to lose their shine.

Obviously, one thing might.

Don’t worry, I haven’t

forgotten about the c-word.

I’m just not very nervous

about it. That’s largely

because I am young and don’t

have anyone vulnerable to

worry about passing it on to.

I accept that. Yet it is also

because these stores are

obsessive about health and

safety. They have strict

guidelines in place and they

will stick to them to stay open.

Frankly, I am also

determined to have some

fun. Which reminds me: the

Selfridges champagne bar is

open. You’ll find Mum and

me there on Saturday, gassing

over fizz — and a small

plate of Scotch eggs.

Instagram:

@hannahlouiserogers

For many,

there is

no fresher

hell than Oxford Street in

December, but not for me.

I buy into all of the tacky

Christmas fanfare one can

at this time of year (eggnog

latte, anyone?) and heavily

decorated, crowded

department stores playing All

I Want for Christmas Is You on

a loop is absolutely one of

them. To that end, and with

(hoorah!) shops reopening

today, I have a date with my

mother on Saturday afternoon

— first at Harvey Nichols,

then Selfridges.

Not that I need to buy

anything. I rarely do when

I push through those heavy

glass doors, unless I have

a gift in mind for someone.

Or, obviously, come across

something fabulous. Hello!

That’s the whole fun of it!

Instead, for me, it’s about

the ritual. London’s flagship

department stores are my

happy place (ever since Mum

used to let me skive off school

to spend the day in them,

Open shops! Will you

go to the high street?

has been pictured not wearing

a mask in a ministerial car and

has denied rumours that he

was drinking past the 10pm

curfew in October, there is

something in his “don’t kill

your gran” bit.

I don’t have a gran, but I do

have parents in their sixties

who were treated for cancer

last year. As a precaution,

I haven’t caught public

transport since September,

walking an hour to work

instead. I haven’t been to

a gym, although I’ve been

dreaming about a proper

stretch on a Pilates reformer

for months. And I won’t be

going to the shops. They’re

open with the economy in

mind, not public health.

Instead I plan on supporting

the little guys, who may be

on the brink of collapse.

The little boutiques on your

local high street may now be

selling online, or even via

Instagram. The online

marketplace Trouva allows

you to buy from hundreds

of independent shops,

and the newly launched

Bookshop.org does the

same for bookshops.

Shopping from your

kitchen table may lack

the festive bustle, but

look on the bright

side: there’s much

more scope for

cocktail breaks.

Instagram:

@charliegowans

Department

stores in the

run-up to

Christmas are argy-bargy

hellscapes, but they are also,

usually, on my must-visit list.

It’s the decorations, the

windows, the buzz. Normally

I am wildly intolerant of other

people, tutting at those who

stop dead at the top of

escalators, or faking coughing

fits (pre-Covid) when

surrounded by clouds of

strangers’ cherry-scented vape.

Yet at Christmas I embrace

the crowds and queues. Half

an hour spent queueing for

florentines in Fortnum &

Mason is half an hour spent

in a festive wonderland,

and what’s an elbow to the

ribs weighed against the

joy of buying handmade

baubles in Liberty’s carved

wooden atrium?

This year, though, I’ll be

shopping online. Sorry to

be the sanctimonious

voice of reason, but

going indoors with

thousands of other

people to paw goods

previously pawed by

thousands of other

people isn’t the

responsible thing

to do, no matter

how magical the

atmosphere might

be. Although

I don’t want to

side with Matt

Hancock, who

Yes

Hannah Rogers

No

Charlie Gowans-Eglinton

Sweater, £89, and trousers, £99 (hush-uk.com)

Brooch, £

(essentiel-

antwerp.com)