Five fashion essentials every woman needs
A trench coat
There is nothing not to like about a man’s-style trench coat: utilitarian and en pointe at the same time. You can wear it with jeans, with a sweater and skirt or over an evening dress. Fashion stylist Victoria Collison agrees: “A trench coat fixes everything and provides a multitude of solutions on those days when you wish to just chicly cover up.”
Photo: Carlotta Moye
A white shirt
“I have been writing about white shirts for thirty years now, but it remains a truism that they are always in style,” Clements says. With jeans, with shorts, with a tuxedo, with an evening skirt, over a swimsuit, in silk or in cotton, you can never have enough.
Photo: Carlotta Moye
A little black dress
“A black dress that makes you feel like a million dollars is what we at Vogue always called a solution piece,” she says. It doesn’t have to be little, either - it can be a knee-length sheath with sleeves, a strapless full-length gown, a cocktail-length cocoon dress, a shirtwaister, a wrap dress, a full-skirted lace dance dress; anything at all, as long as it’s black and suits your body shape. Black provides a blank canvas, so you can accessorise as you desire, from layering on the jewels to simply adding a flat sandal. “In recent years, I’ve lashed out and replaced black with navy,” reveals Clements.
Photo: Carlotta Moye
A classic handbag
Clements says: “I have found that it is the discreet handbags in my collection that have stood the test of time and are the ones I want to pull out time and time again. Among them are a beige leather Prada hard- framed purse, a black quilted Chanel 2.55, a navy stealth-wealth shoulder bag that isn’t covered in logos from Louis Vuitton and a plain satin clutch for evening. Of course, these are big-ticket items, which I couldn’t afford until I was in my thirties, but it is ultimately far more economical to save up and buy one great bag that you always love to carry, rather than have half a dozen okay ones.”
Photo: Carlotta Moye
A leather jacket
“I own a number of suede and leather jackets, and I find they get better with age,” Clements says. Buy the most expensive one that you can afford, in shapes that are timeless: like a biker jacket, a blazer or a three-quarter coat. They look super luxe, but are comfortable and low key at the same time.
This is an edited extract taken from
Impressive: How to Have a Stylish Career
(Melbourne University Press; $45).
