Welcome Autumn Winter 2010!

‘No spring, nor summer beauty hath such grace,

As I have seen in one autumnal face.’ [John Donne, Elegies, ‘The Autumnal’, c.1600]

Welcome Winter Fashion!

It’s raining, gales are blowing...leaves are gathering in the doorway.....the heating is on..... HURRAH! Time for proper clothes ...... time for Autumn Winter fashion! I challenge any bonafide fashion-lover to not consider Autumn/Winter (A/W) as being infinitely preferable to the Spring/Summer (S/S). In short, it’s so much more tactile, substantial and charismatic..... AW has ‘balls’. You only need to look at the covers of the glossies, especially Vogue, to see that the arrival of the AW collections makes this season the industry’s ‘favourite’. Of course, the precise start of AW depends on who you are talking to. Fashionistas will tell you it in begins in August, while astrologists will maintain that winter officially begins at the time of winter solstice on November 1^st. Personally, I became rather excited about A/W ’10 in February! It was that cadet style closing of London Fashion Week in February by Burberry in their aviator shearling-lined jackets – the luxury brand expert at keeping us dry – that had me biding my time through the summer for the season worth waiting for. I officially announce that my summer clothes are going in the loft as of.....after writing this. We may yet have an blip of Indian summer – I’m no weather forecaster – but the opportunity to indulge in A/W 2010’s offerings is simply too good to delay any longer.

I find the evolution from designer wear to the high street especially incredible in terms of the price of the best fare in the market. Take the case of the aforementioned shearling aviator – ubiquitous and faultless as a quality emblem of style. But from £1,895 a pop – there are few of us mere mortals who will have one on our backs I am guessing. Now look at the price whittle down from £750 or £1,140  at Acne; £350 at Reiss; £150 at Oasis and...... predictably, though not advisedly, £30 at Matalan . That’s the first sign of a style that won’t be jumping on the Fashion express out of our lives as the next season arrives, which is lucky since this is a piece which will - like a good wine and unlike our own looks sadly - definitely improve with age. It’s got to have staying power and longevity as a look if it’s been interpreted in so many ways, so diversely and yet has not been bastardised too, too much by the high street (okay, except a few predictable cases...see above). The leather jackets are equally delicious this season. The waterfall collars ooze elegance and the belted versions throw a few punches too – definitely giving us girls and ladies the status we deserve out there in the challenging climate of.... [fill in your own daily gripe]. Kello have done a great affordable line in these although the stockists are few and far between. I would warn against be tempted by the leather or shearling being touted too far down the fashion chain economically. Quality of leather and cut are the watchwords here and are the essential core of the style (without them you’d have a cipher of the real thing; a concentrate rather than freshly squeezed juice if you will) – such beauties are susceptible to the curse of the dark side of democratic fashion. I bought a leather blazer from a popular ‘fast fashion’ high street store a few years ago.....and it’s now as stiff and dry as, well a piece of cheap leather. I have a conscience about this now and feel pretty bad on several levels – the cow, the people who probably made it in less-than-comfortable conditions no doubt.... The leather you will see in most stores today in soft and supple and a timeless piece can be picked up for under £150-200. You needn’t remortgage your house to find two grand for the Burberry Prorsum number. Yes, this season’s fashion is bursting with examples of timeless style. Truly timeless. I have nabbed my mother’s sheepskin military double-breasted full-length coat. She had it made in London in 1970 and it knocks the cashmere socks of anything I’m likely to see this season..... and anything I’m likely to be able to afford! Ever! Fortunately, it no-longer fits her..... in the words of Robbie and Gary.... “what a shame”!