Talk about velvet. It is the season when the shops are flooded with it, but the rules — for those of us who’ve been wearing velvet every winter since the 1980s — have changed.
Your old, fall-back velvet may be dangerous for your health. However, there are exceptions to every rule. You can be sure to find Jane Birkin in a black velvet suit, Carla Bruni in a stunning column gown. But assuming you are old enough to have young adult children, keen to look good (and keen to avoid looking like you’ve been rootling in your mothballed 1980s wardrobe), it’s a good idea to set aside everything you thought about velvet and start again.
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- Black is gone. My twenty-something stepdaughter gave me everything in black last month, except for a pair of trousers that were palazzo-style. I didn’t even bother to try any of it on. Just knowing that black is too depressing, I didn’t bother to try it.
Shane Watson offered advice on how to embrace the velvet trend this season at all occasions. Pictured: In Gucci mark II: Gwyneth
It can still look good alongside lashings of colour, but after all those years of wearing it head-to-toe in party season, I feel like I’ve done it. It makes me glow, my stepdaughter looks radiant in it. . . Six years younger and drained.
Apart from looking brighter, you’ll get twice as much wear out of navy. Switch to a dark blue blazer like Me+Em’s cotton velvet boyfriend one-button jacket (£325, meandem.com) and you’ll be wearing it with a cotton shirt and jeans now and right through to summer. Ask Kate Moss who wore hers to London Fashion Week September wearing it with bootcut jeans.
- Meanwhile, the brighter- coloured velvet blazer has emerged as this season’s after- dark quick fix. You can sling it on over a silk shirt or camisole and wear it with black trousers (velvet if you want) and you’re all set. Cefinn does a cotton velvet blazer in forest green (£390, cefinn.com), while Me+Em’s comes in mustard (see opposite). But my favourite is Zara’s emerald green blazer (£89.99) and matching straight tab front trousers (£59.99, zara.com) — more on velvet trouser suits in a bit.
I’m wearing the jacket now with a black silk shirt (old habits die hard) and black jeans. And when the party mood ramps up, I’ll wear it as a suit and switch to a lace- trimmed camisole, or a pink or oyster satin pussy bow-tied blouse. Easy.
- The secret of looking fresh in velvet is strong colours — red, green, navy blue or burnt orange — worn with a sliver of black or clashed with pink or sky blue. It looks much more glamorous and modern than soft colours. The eau de nuils and the sage greens look too boring for now.
- Sharply tailor it. A crisp cut is even more important than the colour. This is why retro trousers are back. Gwyneth Paltrow was recently seen in a red velvet Gucci trouser suit that she wore in 1996. Hers is part of Gucci’s Spring 2022 collection — so take note, a velvet suit is not just for Christmas. It’s available from Matches Fashion (matchesfashion.com), but be warned the jacket alone is £2,000.
For something similar, try Zara (see above) or Massimo Dutti, which does a jewel green jacket and ankle-swinger trousers (£169 and £119, massimodutti.com) or Cefinn, which has green cropped trousers to match its blazer (£230, cefinn.com). It’s also worth noting that Gwyneth wore her red suit at night, but kept it simple with a blue, man’s shirt.
- Don’t dress velvet up like Oscar night. Another reason black doesn’t work as well is because the way to wear velvet now is not blinged up with skyscraper heels and diamante, but with a mid heel and earrings. We should be wearing velvet in the day, too — cotton velvet, not silk.
- Forget the LBD and opt for a jumpsuit. I’m a sucker for a velvet jumpsuit at this time of year, but the truth is nothing works as well as black when it comes to velvet jumpsuits, unless it’s Nrby’s Pip belted jumpsuit in navy blue silk velvet (£250, nrbyclothing.com). Note Nrby also does a simple V neck, midi velvet dress in dark blue or raspberry pink, and cropped, wide-leg trousers (£250 and £150, nrbyclothing.com). If you’re a velvet fan, start here.