4 Wednesday April 13 2022 | the timesfashion
I
have seen most things
before, fashion-wise, so
it’s rare that I get
properly excited by
something. This is
especially the case, it has
to be said, when we are
talking about the high
street. The raison d’être of
a catwalk show is often
clothes conceived to get
your pulse racing, but not
necessarily to work for
you in any meaningful,
real-world way. It is
theatre, and theatre
needs costumes rather
than clothes. Depending
on who you are talking
to on the front row,
this tendency is to
be celebrated or else
it is cross-making.
Unbelievably, some
fashion journalists
in the former camp
use the term
“commercial” as an
insult. I heard someone
do it last week.
Woe betide the high
street brand that
doesn’t come up with
clothes that are
commercial. These are
businesses that can’t
afford to be confused
as to what makes
clothes clothes rather
than art. Which is
good news for us, of course. But it
means that, while a heart flutter is
not that hard to come across, full-on
fashion palpitations are elusive at a
price point one can afford.
All of which explains why I am
properly excited by these wool-mix
Reiss dungarees (£198, reiss.com). I
mean, where to begin on why I love
them? Do I even need to explain? Idon’t
think I
do, but
here goes,
just in case...
They are
dungarees,
which means they
are cool, yet they
are chic and grown-
up-looking. No one is
going to accuse you of
not making an effort in
these, yet you are not going
to look try-hard either.
They would be great in
the office but just as
good for a night out at a
posh restaurant, not least
because, what with the
absence of a waist plus the
modicum of stretch, you
would be able properly to eat.
As for the gold buttons,
there is something so playful
and jolly about them — as
well as smart — and that’s
before you factor in the
quartet of buttons at the
back, a pair on each strap.
Then there is the sexiness,
something Reiss is particularly
good at as a brand. I’m
someone who usually eschews
slinkiness for being a bit of a
cliché, but this slightly left-field
approach — the love child of
Carole Lombard and Andy
Pandy — is one I can
work with. It’s date
night later this
week. No prizes as to
what I will be wearing.A gift to myself
I mean, yes, I absolutely
want an egg for Easter, it’s
just rather different from
the variety I coveted when IDungarees, £198;
reiss.com. Right:
T-shirt, £55; tsptr.comwas a child. What
I have my eye on
is this stunning
turquoise enamel
pendant with pavé set
diamonds, from the
small British operation
Kirstie Le Marque (£335,
kirstielemarque.com). And
why wait for someone else
to give it to me?
As far as I’m concerned,
nothing marks out more clearly
that a jewellery brand is getting it
right in terms of covetability and
price than the fact that its designs
are bought by women for
themselves. Only the other day
I spotted a colleague with one
of Kirstie Le Marque’s lock-style
pendants — another signature style
— and when I admired it she told
me, with a broad and only very slightly
guilty smile on her face, that she had
bought it for herself for a recent big
birthday. So happy Easter to me. And
possibly to you.Comic relief
I have always had a thing about
Peanuts, which is one reason why the
T-shirt brand TSPTR is close to my
heart, because it does too. I also love
the quality, which is just the right
amount of faux worn-in. Favourites
include a purple tee with an image of
Lucy holding a placard saying
“Power to my kind!” (£55,
tsptr.com) and the
Charlie Brown socks,
with a hand-drawn
zigzag that channels our
benighted hero’s famous
black-on-yellow knit
(£14, available in assorted
colours, including said
black on yellow).
Instagram:
@annagmurphyAn unlikely item has been made sexy, says Anna Murphy
Who said dungarees couldn’t be
alluring? Just look at this pair
Grab a crisp shirt
or go head-to-toe
— white is the hot
shade to wear. Just
steer clear of salsa,
says Anna Murphy
Necklace, £335;
kirstielemarque.comLighten